I have a 2013 suburban with the 5.3 L V8. I recently bought a 26 foot travel trailer that weighs 5800 pounds dry . Suburban says towing capacity is 8000 pounds. With the trailer loaded I am probably in the mid 7000 pounds. What is a safe rpm range towing down the freeway? It likes to be at 2500 RPMs when I'm iaround 65 mph. Is it OK to get the RPMs up in the mid-3000 range when going up a grade for 5 to 10 minutes?

 

yep, the engine can rev there all day. when towing, the stress will be on the trans...its severe service so service the vehicle under the severe service schedule.

 

I towed a lot all over the country with my '01 Burb. I towed in third because it was a 1:1 ratio and put the least stress on the transmission. With the 4.10 axles, this meant the engine was at 3200-3300 RPM at highway speeds. I towed THOUSANDS of miles like that. My buddy now owns the truck. It's at 240k with the original engine and transmission.

Easy way to figure this out - look at the engine's peak horsepower and torque numbers. The 5.3 makes max torque at 4000 RPM. It's happy there.

 

I tow a similar weight travel trailer with my 2000 Burb. The speed rating on the 2017 camper is 60mph. I have pulled it at 65 but, I never go over that. A blow out could be really bad. With Tow/Haul the RPMs are at 2500 on the interstate. It's perfectly healthy and doesn't hurt a thing. On hills I let the speed bleed off some because I want to keep my transmission healthy. I had to stop on a mountain last week because the LEOs had traffic stopped for a broken down semi. I started from a dead stop on about a 7.5 degree incline. In tow/haul the RPMs went way up before it shifted out of first gear, like 5000RPMs. I was pulling strong and seemed to be comfortable with that so I didn't fret over it. The 5.3/4.8 likes RPMs when under load. In tow/haul the overdrive should be locked out. Torque Converter lockup happens quicker and causes the transmission (fluid) to run cooler. Don't tow with the tow/haul off because the burb will engage overdrive on the highway and that overdrive was never intended to deal with that much torque. Also, the transmission will be shifting around a lot more. And, torque converter lockup wont happen as quickly meaning that the fluid will get really hot trying to pull that much weight. My next tow vehicle will be a 2500 Suburban or a Ford Excursion.