CamaroSuburbanFamily

My boyfriend's Ford Ranger bit the dust. I talked him into looking at some Suburbans since they'll hold the family, dogs, gear, and tow. He settled on a 2005 Burb 1500 4x4. We also looked at a 2006ish Yukon Denali, but it had more miles on it and was rougher looking. While we loved that it felt more powerful and had auto leveling, we just felt it probably wasn't as well taken care of. So we got the Burb with only 93k miles and cost us just $13k.

I had an 85 diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 Burb in the past. So got a lot of learning to do about this Burb.

It has a tow package and there's a button to push when towing, so got to figure out how that works. We've got to find out if there's a tranny cooler. But with the temps in WA state and the fact that our trailer is so small that that even the Ranger could pull it, I don't think it'll be a big deal just yet.

BTW, any info on the towing capabilities would be great as we don't know much about it yet. And suggestions on upgrades that would improve towing would be great. We are already planning on K&N CAI for it.

Hopefully these pictures show up.

intheburbs

Skip the CAI. They're a waste of money, and you already have a CAI in the burb.

Trailer tow ratings are also a sham. My experience with my '01 has me believing that a reasonable max for trailer weight is about 6500 lbs. I'm sure the "actual" rating is around 8000 lbs. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable towing that much with a half-ton.

Use the money saved for the CAI and get a tune. I had my '01 tuned for 91 octane (for maximum power), and I was pulling a 6,000-lb travel trailer.

Look on the codes sticker on the glovebox for Z82. That will indicate you have a trans cooler.

The tow haul button changes the shift points of the transmission, to give you better control and engine braking. Per your owner's manual, it should be used with a trailer that's over 75% the weight of the Burb.

I also installed an HD cluster, which includes a trans temp gauge. All the components are already there, so when you plug in the new cluster, you'll have a functional trans temp gauge. I liked to see what was going on with the transmission.

While you're looking at the codes, look for codes GU6, GT4 or GT5. That's your axle ratio. GU6 is 3.42, GT4 is 3.73, and GT5 is 4.10. The GT5 option is best for towing, but worst for mileage.

I also upgraded to the HD extendable towing mirrors. I hated the OEM mirrors. They're an easy swap, and run about $250 or so for a pair.

CamaroSuburbanFamily

Thanks for all the advice. I will talk to the BF about all that. We won't be buying much till we get our tax returns, so we've got some time to do some research.