I have tossed out the towing double idea but am now stuck in a harder place. I have to get all my stuff down to Texas by next weekend. I found an awsome deal on a 24' Pace and plan on loading all my household belongings in it. The trailer I guess weighs about 3K, and I know all my other stuff weighs at least 7500lbs. I think the 2200 mile trip will be long, but with air in the rear and good breaks on the trailer is there anything else I should worry about? I have towed 9500lbs with my Silverado no problem, but the Yukon is much bigger itsself. I'm guessing total gross will be @17,500.

I figure as long as I stay away from I-79 the entire trip will be pretty flat, no major hills.


Aside from that, thank god its still under warranty.

 

DOT I guess

 

My 24ft Haulmark weighs in at 4200. I moved my family 1400 miles to AZ with it full to the brim with our life......with our old 95 1500 ram. WRONG tool for the job. I've never spent so much time driving so slow!!! What I would recommend.... Make sure you have an equalizer hitch. This isn't even an option towing a trailer like that with a 1/2 ton. Try to keep the trans locked up. It will keep the trans temp down. Hope the DOT doesn't get ahold of you. It seems they are finally cracking down on illegal sized loads. That said, be carefull and I'm sure you'll do ok.

 

With a short wheelbase Yukon pulling a heavy trailer I see lots of potential problems. Hitch weight is critical. Too heavy you lose steering axle control and too light you will have major sway. 10% is the rule of thumb. On top of the equalizer hitch you will appreciate sway bars, I'd get two, one for each side. Actually, I don't think I'd attempt towing 10,500 with a light weight SUV, it is plenty of work for for a full sized Dodge/Cummins.

 

I’d look into renting a U-Haul 2 ton box truck. My 24’ car trailer weighs in at about 4200 empty (with a few tools, jacks etc). I’ve hauled an old Oliver Cletrac crawler weighing around 6K and that put me right at the limit of the axle and tire ratings. Don’t think I’d want to try it with a half ton SUV.

 

The Yukon is still under warranty . What is the factory GVW and what happens if you break down pulling over 10,00lbs. and get towed into a dealership ? I once read in one of the Mustang magazines about a Bronco towing a custom Mustang in an enclosed trailer in the rain . They lost control , flipped it and blamed it on a passing semi blowing them off the road . In reality they probly had the weight distributed wrong in the trailer . I wouldn't recommend U-Haul . Check out ABF Freight . They will drop a '28 trailer at your house , give you a couple of days to load it then drop it at the other end and give you a couple of days to unload and much cheaper than U-haul .

 

That ABF is a good idea. It just wont work for me right now. If I blow my tranny I will just hook the trailer to my other truck. The Yukon has a huge tranny cooler, extra deep pan, and I will be DATA logging my trans temps. I can also force the tranny into any gear I want with the convertor locked. With the conv. locked in 3rd gear it should pull just fine.

As for my Yukon not being big enough to tow a 24'er, its an XL, it has the same wheel base as a quad cab. The totaly empty weight is 5850lbs. I'm pretty sure aside from TQ it will pull as easy as an ext cab Diesel.

I am on a $4,000 budget to get this stuff home. That includes gas, food, hotel, trailer ot truck rental, tolls(there is alot up here). Sorry to all you older richer guys, sometimes you have to do the best with what you have. I do realize the dangers, I just dont have alot of options. Thats why I made this post, incase anyone had any helpful tips or insight to make this trip as safe as possible. I'm really not doing this for fun and if I had the extra money laying around I would buy another Cummins right now, but I dont have extra money right now. Its a long story but SCREW the US Navy.

 

If that is all you can afford to do right now, do it. Just be careful and don't push it too much. I'd personally be scared to pull it with the Yukon, but then again I've pulled over #35K with this truck.....just take 'er slow!

 

That bears repeating. Go slow, be careful, and you should be ok. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Edited: Didn't read sig completly...

 

i would repete that you need an equalizer hitch even if you had to use part of your budget to get it new. about 300 wd and anti sway.
Clark

 

As far as power, you'll pull it no problem. We towed our 20 foot eclosed trailer to the beach once with a 97 Tahoe (chevy's version). Same thing, plenty of power, no sway, this and that (be sure to load it up right) We didn't have the weight you have but like others have said, get a good brake unit for the trailer brakes, and a set of weight distribution bars, and you will be good to go.

You sound up to date on things so doing the speed limit, not traveling at 90 mph with that load, blah blah blah. It'll be a long ride but we've done that before in the tahoe, it did tow good. The load will be up there with your vehicles max weight, but again check out to see what the towing Capacity is, and CGVW, and you'll be good to go. Sure the motor will use some gas, but hey it'll get yout here. I believe the big boys all have the 350 (not sure what the newer ones have) but you'll be good.

Post some pics of the trailer, truck all the goodies

 

way to much weight for 1/2 ton short wheel base (Safety First!)

 

I'd like to know if he made it OK.

 

Um, you didn't even tell us the gvw of the trailer. The majority of them out there have a gvw of 7000lbs. That only leaves you about 3000lb for cargo and you would be way overweight. That would be very dangerous. I'd at least make sure you have a spare tire or two with you....

 

I second that about the GVW of the trailer. I had a 24' enclosed trailed with 6,000 lb axles loaded it to 12 and max 13,000lbs. very important to get the weight loaded correctly and have the trailer hooked to a good hitch. I am using a titan class V hitch rated at 12,000lbvs and 14,000 lbs with weight distibution. most trailers only have a 7000 lb GWR. My wife's Yukon have a tow rating of 8,000lbs. Just take it slow and remember to check the bearings and tires on the trailer.