Towing with Tahoe or Yukon?

[atlatl]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8082554]
Since this was directed at me and my 4 hour minimum hauls, the speed limit here is currently 75 mph.

…

So apples and oranges.[/QUOTE]

Actually, it wasn’t “directed” at anyone, I just happened to pick your same numbers. Sorry for offending you.

The intended message was that saving time is not good criteria for selecting a speed limit when pulling a loaded horse trailer, and I stand by that.

As has been pointed out by me and others, including you, there are many factors that go into safely hauling horses that include but are not limited to: tow vehicle, trailer, road conditions, weather conditions, traffic conditions. There is NO one size fits all answer, it’s one big fruit basket full of more than apples and oranges.

I’m amused that some think I know little of driving at “interstate” speeds. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m from Nevada and lived through the days of no speed limit at all in that state. I currently live in So. Cal and frequently make the drive between LA and Vegas, in well under 4 hours (Valentine One, the best radar detector out there) without the horse trailer.

I’ve only heard of one accident where a trailer was rear-ended by another driver, who fell asleep in this case. I’ve heard of several single vehicle accidents involving horse trailers caused by bad driving. Just my experience, but the plural of anecdote is not data.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I’m not offended. Really. I have pretty thick skin.

Most trailer accidents I have observed or directly talked to people about are due to overdriving the weather conditions (rain, wind or snow). I’ve seen some terrible accidents with goosenecks too.

[GoForAGallop]

@atlatl;8082591

The intended message was that saving time is not good criteria for selecting a speed limit when pulling a loaded horse trailer, and I stand by that.

Did I miss where someone said that?

[Gloria]

I don’t know. If the suggested speed is 55mph, or you run the risk of killing your horses, that seems to me a clear indication that you are under-powered.

By the way, we haul our three horses trailer with a large dressing room regularly at 70mph. But of course ours is a 3/4 ton truck, goose-neck. I cannot imagine pulling any trailer larger than the one horse or the Brenderup type using Tahoe…

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=atlatl;8081539]
I’ve towed with a Tahoe for years, warmblood sized 2 horse straight load with a dressing room and a 22 foot long Airstream, but not at the same time obviously. If your trailer has properly working electric brakes and you don’t drive irresponsibly and have a suitably sized tow package you should be fine.[/QUOTE]

You are assuming that everything will be fine always. I suddenly had my trailer brakes lock up once when I was pulling. I had to finish my haul home without electric to my trailer. I was thankful to have a truck and even then I could feel that trailer pushing me at every stop ( i was going at a crawl). I had a 2 horse BP , no tack. Sometimes you can’t have it all. Get a commute car. Get a tow vehicle.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I have also had trailer breaks go out while towing. Not the most fun. Wasn’t my rig, but it was a pretty heavy steal gooseneck behind a gas 3/4 ton. I went very slow…

[faybe]

My vet truck is a 2014 Tahoe, and I just pulled my 2 horse BP Eby down to FL (from PA) and back this winter. So yes, it works and I didn’t feel unsafe (I do not have sway bars). I hauled 1 horse plus hay for 2 months on the way down, and equipment/4 wheeler on the way back up. I definitely notice a difference live load vs. dead weight, but I haul really conservatively and generally don’t go over 55 mph either way. I’ve never felt like my stopping power was inadequate, but I have good brakes and excellent trailer brakes. Is it the ideal towing vehicle? No. Does it work for what I need? Yes. If it was my primary towing vehicle or I were regularly taking long trips (FL once a year aside, it hardly ever has to go more than an hour from home, all on back roads), I would have gone with the XL or Suburban, or, honestly, probably a pickup.

DH works out of a Ram 3500 Cummins diesel (we also have a 4 horse with LQ)- tows like a dream and 9 times out of 10, that’s what we use. But it sure is nice to be able to hook up my little rig and go down the road for a lesson or just to have on hand in an emergency.

I will say though- if you are looking for best commuter gas mileage, you are probably better off with a pickup. DH’s Ram gets better mileage than my Tahoe (yes, yes, I know, it’s diesel). Mine does have the E85 Flex Fuel option, but that’s so rarely available around here that I haven’t seen any financial benefits of that feature.

ETA: when I first bought the truck they installed the trailer brake box incorrectly so the first time I hooked up, I did not have trailer brakes (was not hauling a horse in that case, only going to pick up a load of hay). I was driving very conservatively, but I did not have trouble stopping the whole rig with just the truck brakes. Obviously I would never set out to haul a horse that way, but the engine and brakes of the truck itself did not mind the weight of the trailer + hay in normal driving conditions… now, if I had to stop on a dime? Different story; but then again, even the Ram 3500 doesn’t stop on a dime with a fully loaded rig behind it.

[soloudinhere]

I’ve towed my 2h Aluminum Merhow w/short dress with a Jeep Grand Cherokee WITHOUT the brake box hooked up and lived to tell the tale (for emergency reasons). Wouldn’t do it on a regular basis but it was hardly the death defying adventure people would make of it. It stopped from 30-35mph just fine without shoving me across any railroad crossings.

It actually stopped better than with my yukon XL, but the jeep’s brakes are off a Ram 2500 and are about 2x the paltry brakes that are on the Yukon. A brake upgrade happened after that adventure since the factory brakes on the Yukon SUCKED.

[DMK]

OK, this is keeeling me. For years I drove an expedition (2000 version which was rated to pull about 8000lbs) and a 2 horse trailer - usually 1 horse, so assume a total weight of 4500-5000 lbs with gear, horse, etc.

No lie, I think the brake line in the plug was pulled loose and Miss Oblivious (me) didn’t notice the brakes were not there for ummm, longer than I would care to admit (it was an older non-digital controller that only had a light, so easy to overlook for Miss Oblivious). The reason why I didn’t notice is because that freakin’ SUV was a TANK. It ate up regular tires and (its own brake pads) at a brisk rate because it was such a beast - heavier than an F150. Safe to say 1 horse and a trailer didn’t push it around.

I’m not advocating not using brakes, but I can safely say the same situation with a GN 2+1 Trail Et and an F350 resulted in me being much more aware of the immediate lack of trailer brakes!

Now as trottrot and I discussed in another thread, apparently not all expedition model years are the same, but I would think the same holds true of ANY large SUV. You need to look at the actual specs of the model/year you are talking about pulling with before passing pat little judgments (obviously along with what is the weight of trailer+horse+gear that you are pulling, what is your geography as well as frequency/duration of planned trips), and then make a determination.

I mean I haul a 2 horse bp with an F250 and overkill, I has it. I like it, but it is overkill.

[Jumper_girl221]

DMK - I’m not really showing this year, so hauling one horse for a student to some local shows, some are 2 hours away. Overkill is me rolling up in a F350 duelly 4 horse with a little 14.3 hand pony on the rig! I’m trying to find some friends to “car pool” with for some of these shows lol.

[Hinderella]

I would vote with those who recommend a truck rather than a large SUV. OP, you have to ask yourself: how much hauling will I do? Will it be short distances on relatively flat roads or will you haul long distances, and/or up & down mountains? And why do you want an SUV? Can you do the same thing with a crew cab truck, or a truck with a cap you can put on when you need to cover things?

[DMK]

Those are the things I evaluated when I traded in my F150 for an expedition in 2000. I worked in the city, had to navigate through a garage everyday, and needed to cart people around for business occasionally. This all sucked in an F150 supercab (4 door F150s didn’t exist back then) and would suck even more in a super duty.

I was showing often for most of the time I owned it - locally and regionally, but in general most driving was not in mountains. The SUV made sense and worked just fine for my needs. And that sucker worked like a dog for all of its 200K miles and didn’t give me hardly any problems outside of routine stuff. Not any big dollar repairs, for sure.

Fast forward to 2012 and I want to get a GN and SUV has 200K on it. F250 made a lot more sense… although best laid plans and all… I stumbled on to a good price on a newer 2 horse BP, sold my 1994 trailer and I just haven’t got around to selling it and buying a GN. But I did by a used Focus (38mpg!!) that I drive most of the time. So now my plan is to keep that F250 forever, or at least 15 years. But seriously, I may ask to be buried in it.

[IPEsq]

I towed find with a Suburban of various pre-2000 vintages. I had the most stable towing steel 2H, no DR ever but also used a WD hitch, sway bars, and had pretty good trailer brakes. Sometimes, they were too good and would grab. I towed all over the east coast, including in NC and VA mountains (more typically with only 1 horse in the trailer at those times). If I’d had the 2500 engine I would have been happier for the going up part on a couple of those roads.

All that said, I would not tow with a regular Yukon-- 100% I would want the longer XL, and I’d still go with a minimalist trailer and all the rest. I also can’t say too much about the newer models. Only thing I’ve towed with a 2003 vintage Suburban has been a U-Haul trailer.

[MSP]

I have a 2008 Yukon XL, P3 break controller and an Anderson Hitch. I am towing a Hawk Balanced Ride 2h rear facing trailer. Tows like a dream. Watch the trailer weight and the tow vehicle hitch capacity. Definitely go with longer version vehicle, xl or Suburban. If you need to haul a bigger two horse then get the 2500.

I need the Yukon xl for family road trips, we drive everywhere because flying is too much money. It is also my everyday vehicle. When kids are older I will likely switch to a ¾ ton truck but I like a small trailer. I don’t want to deal with a huge trailer.

[lachelle]

I have a 99 Yukon. I haul a 2 horse aluminum trailer just fine. No sway bars.

The truck can stop the trailer just fine. My trailer plug came loose on the drive home one time and I drove the entire time with NO brakes. I didn’t notice until I got home and saw that the plug was basically missing because it was dragging the ground for 30 miles…

I’m usually only hauling 1 horse though.

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=MSP;8084319]
I have a 2008 Yukon XL, P3 break controller and an Anderson Hitch. I am towing a Hawk Balanced Ride 2h rear facing trailer. Tows like a dream. Watch the trailer weight and the tow vehicle hitch capacity. Definitely go with longer version vehicle, xl or Suburban. If you need to haul a bigger two horse then get the 2500.

I need the Yukon xl for family road trips, we drive everywhere because flying is too much money. It is also my everyday vehicle. When kids are older I will likely switch to a ¾ ton truck but I like a small trailer. I don’t want to deal with a huge trailer.[/QUOTE]

Our Yukon was my husband’s family’s road trip car when he was a teenager. Now at ours. And I hauled six teenagers and a trainer to pony club rally last weekend in heated seat comfort.

Seriously if it didn’t get 15mpg unloaded I would just drive that truck every day. I am counting the days until we can replace our Tacoma with a Sierra 1500 as my personal vehicle. My commuter car is a fit but there is definitely something to being the biggest car on the road.

[AKB]

I pulled a 2 horse aluminum trailer with a Chevy Tahoe for years. Most of my travel is local, and it is rare that I go more than 55mph. The only time I felt at all unsafe was when I was on the interstate with 2 horses, and would have liked to go more than 55mph. When I briefly attempted 65 mph on a windy day, I felt a slight sway that scared me. The answer was to stay at 55mph. Now, I have a truck, and 65mph is ok on an interstate.

[aascvt]

Hi all,

I did read all of your responses after my original post. Thanks for all of your input. Sorry that I’m only responding now. Here are some more details.

As previously stated, I’m planning on buying a 2H bumper pull with small dressing room. It will definitely have sway bars!!
I have a loooong drive to work. I can occasionally borrow another vehicle to commute, but want to get the best gas mileage possible without compromising safety when I’m shipping.
If I had my way I would be showing every month, but that is not reality. We’re talking about 3-4 week big shows per season, plus occasional shipping an hour or so for lessons and clinics. This year my closest away show is 1.5hrs from home and farthest is 4 hrs. (The trip to VT IS hilly… but that is the only one).

Most of the time I will be shipping my own horse alone (1200# WB). I would take another horse only on shorter trips and if I felt like I had enough vehicle… that is not a necessity.

There is a specific Tahoe in the running, FYI. Has a tow package & seems in every way powerful enough. Can tow up to 7,400 lbs. The only concern is the wheelbase. (116)

A lot of you have recommended the Expedition… that wheelbase is only 119.

Thanks again…

[stb]

You may want to look at a Toyota Sequoia. The wheelbase of a Sequoia is in between that of a Tahoe and a Suburban. The Sequoia has a rear end ratio that is more set up for towing than that of the new Tahoes/Silverados. I tow a 2 horse featherlite with my Sequoia. My husband has a new Silverado half ton, and my Sequoia pulls better than his truck. The new Chevy trucks are more car-like than truck-like. Makes for a really nice ride and good gas mileage but not so effective at towing, IMO.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

[QUOTE=aascvt;8124695]
Hi all,

There is a specific Tahoe in the running, FYI. Has a tow package & seems in every way powerful enough. Can tow up to 7,400 lbs. The only concern is the wheelbase. (116)

A lot of you have recommended the Expedition… that wheelbase is only 119.

Thanks again…[/QUOTE]

FWIW, I don’t think that (119") is the Expedition to get. The 2015 Expedition EL has a max tow package that has 3.73 axle ratio and 9100 lb tow capacity (in the 4x4). It uses a turbo charged v6. While I loathe towing with my current Expedition, as previously stated, this is something I would consider. The reviews on the engine capabilities sound good and the wheelbase on that is 131 inches (not 119). 20 mpg highway, which is decent for a ship that weighs over 6,000 lbs.

STB–that is very interesting about the Sequoia vs. the Silverado. Good info.

Have you towed with one of the new SUV’s you are looking at? Does a friend have one you could try out? I just brought my trailer in to be serviced and was thinking how I wish I could have tried it out before I bought it.