MaelynnK

Hello! I've researched as much as I can without it all getting muddled. Please forgive me asking questions that have already been answered. And for the novel. Hoping if I detail everything you'll catch something I missed.

First up: If you needed a third row, what would you tow with? And what are your real world mpg's while towing? (vehicle, rig length/weight)

We currently tow a 2015 Salem Cruise Lite with a 4,300 GVWR (I never go by dry weight) with a 2007 Toyota 4Runner V8 Ltd that is rated to tow 7,000. I've taken the trailer to the Pilot scales and weighed the entire setup when packed for a trip and the only thing we were over was the payload...which I didn't know about until recently. (950 lbs is a terrible payload for a tow vehicle...)

Problem is we need a third row. That can tow better than our 4Runner without being huge (a suburban won't fit in our garage but a regular length Tahoe will) or a gas hog (Sequioa, I'm looking at you with your 10 mpg around town and 12 on the freeway). Around town I'm getting 14 mpg, on the flats on the highway (which I rarely drive) I get 19 mpg. When towing I get 6-8 mpg. Oy. Plus in some places I was flooring it to go 50 mph. We don't expect to win speed races while towing but our neighbor with an F350 is getting 12 mpg while towing and 15-18 around town. So, better tow vehicle AND better daily driver.

I love the VIN decoder on this site and I know I need the heavy duty towing package because I like cushion in my towing numbers (and someday we might want to upgrade to a slightly bigger trailer but really nothing huge). But I'm not sure I know how to read the decoder. We are looking at buying a used Tahoe/Yukon, maybe 2010 or newer. (We live in Utah so newer vehicle with slightly higher mileage is preferable with the salt and rust) under $16,000 or so. I can't "look at the door sticker" to see numbers because most sellers don't post that and I'm not about to bother 100's of owners asking for pictures of the door sticker.

Let's look at this example of VIN: 1GNFK23029R235625 The ad says its a 2009 Tahoe LT 5.3 L V8 Flex Fuel, 4WD. "Come's with trailer break controler" (Not sure if that means factory installed or aftermarket, which I understand makes a difference in the 2009's)

What's mostly confusing me is the decoder's statement for Gross Combined Weight Rating: 14000, 11500 lbs 11500.0 min 14000.0 max. Why does it list a min and max? How do I know which this truck has???

Let's use our current trailer: 11,500 GCWR- 4,500 (weight of trailer with cushion room) = 7,000 left over for vehicle (GVWR)
Curb weight front (2924 lbs) + Curb weight rear (2657 lbs) = 5581
So that leaves me with a payload of 1419??? (2 adults 385 lbs + 2-3 kids 300 lbs + 1 dog 55 lbs = 740 lbs plus some junk but not a ton + 450 tongue weight from trailer? = 1190???

The decoder also lists Dead weight hitch as Max trailer weight as 5,000 or Wt Distributing hitch as 5700.0 min 8200.0 max

It says:
Engine, Vortec 5.3L V8 SFI FlexFuel with Active Fuel Management, capable of running on unleaded or up to 85% ethanol (with gas-320 hp [238.6 kW] @ 5200 rpm, 340 lb-ft of torque [459.0N-m] @ 4200 rpm, with E85 ethanol-326 hp [243.1 kW] @ 5300 rpm, 350 lb-ft of torque [472.5 N-m] @ 4400 rpm), iron block (Standard on 4WD models. 2WD models require (K5L) Heavy-Duty Trailering Package.)Rear axle, 3.42 ratio (Standard on 4WD models. Required with (K5L) Heavy-Duty Trailering Package on 2WD models.)Can I assume that if it has 4WD the heavy-duty package is default/standard with that rear axle ratio?Is a weight distributing hitch a separate thing you attached to your hitch or did it come as an option with the heavy duty trailering package that is part of the car?Are Tahoes/Yukons full time 4WD (like the 4Runner) or do I have the option of locking them out? (Not sure if that's exactly the right phrasing)

Am I missing any numbers? I'm not interested in pushing the limit of the vehicle but I've learned that we seem to keep upgrading. So I don't necessarily want to get something that is good enough for now but too close to the limit. We usually hold onto our cars until they're totally dead so we're looking for a tow vehicle that will last a while, especially considering our budget is forcing us to buy older.

Thank you in advance for your help!

intheburbs

Generally speaking, vehicles with gas engines are going to get poor mileage when towing a trailer. You're double-penalized because of the high altitude, which saps power because of the thinner air. The reason your neighbor with the F350 gets such good gas mileage is because it's a diesel. And diesels are less affected by altitude because they are turbocharged. Diesels have some downsides - high initial cost, the engine is much heavier and that costs you payload, and the cost for repairs is generally much higher, along with higher overall maintenance costs. So unless you want all of that, you'll have to accept single digits for your towing mileage.

With regards to finding a Tahoe/Yukon best suited for towing, it's not the door stickers you want to look at. Those are the same on all Tahoes/Yukons in a given model year. The sticker you really want to look at is the RPO sticker in the glovebox. This lists a whole bunch of 3-digit codes that show all of the components in the truck. And there are specifically two that you want to look for.

The main drivers of towing ratings are cooling and axle ratio. You want to get a vehicle that has the heavy-duty cooling package(K5L), and the 3.42 axle ratio (GU6). Looking at the owners manual for a 2010 Tahoe, here are the GCWRs for the following vehicles:
Tahoe with 3.08 axle - 11,000 lbs
Tahoe with 3.42 axle - 11,500 lbs
Tahoe with 3.42 and K5L - 14,000 lbs

This is the sticker for my Sierra Denali, which has both of those options:

MaelynnK

This was fantastic info. Thank you so much for the time you took to explain! So do you think it’s worth going to a Tahoe from our 4Runner? It seems we can sell our 4Runner and buy without losing anything. (That remains to be seen, of course.) We’d get the same gas mileage. But I’d be able to carpool and haul an extra kid if we have another one.

Maybe you can answer another question: as we drive on our trips I kept an eye on diesel prices and they jump around so much. Like 60+ cents only a hundred miles apart, when the unleaded prices follow a much more gentle curve.

Thanks again!