When I bought my Yukon XL a few years ago all my research encouraged me to go with a 3/4 ton. It has a 3.73 rear axle ratio and is the 6 liter engine. I have a 3200 pound trailer and usually pull one horse locally every few weeks. I am going to be taking a horse to a mountainous area of Virginia and will be pulling up 4 or 5 long fairy steep hills. My Yukon is rated to pull 7200 pounds which is not nearly as much as so many other trucks, most of the 1500 models. My friend has a Toyota Forerunner rated to pull 7500?! So can anyone explain why mine is rated to pull so little and did I make a mistake in buying it? I have never been at all unhappy with my towing experiences but have never tackled mountains. Is there anything I can do to enhance its towing capacity? I find most mechanics and car salesmen know nothing about this.
Okay, well, first of all, I can’t find a single source (including the Toyota literature) with anything over a 5k rating for the brand new Forerunners, which are larger than the ones of yore. So your friend needs to do some better research and understand what exactly her vehicle’s capabilities are, because it’s not 7500lbs.
Second, technology is always improving. The trucks and larger SUVs of today are so much different than the ones even five or ten years old.
Third, you get a lower tow capacity for trucks than SUVs, in general, because the SUVs have a lot more weight (passenger and cargo, as well as extra seats, usually come with fancier stuff that weighs things down, etc) that needs to be accounted for when figuring vehicle capabilities.
No, there’s not much reasonable stuff that you can do to up your towing limit; and even if you do from a technical standpoint, it may not fly from a legal standpoint. If you want to improve performance, you could look into transmission coolers, suspension components, etc.
But you’ll probably be fine, if you have not been having issues up to this point. 
[QUOTE=trafalgar;8064210]
. My friend has a Toyota Forerunner rated to pull 7500?! .[/QUOTE]
Says who ??? Toyota says 4700 pounds max for the newest models.
http://www.toyota.com/4runner/features.html#!/weights_capacities/8642/8670/8648
FWIW, I used to pull one horse (a WB) in a 2H with no DR in the mountains of NC and VA with a 1500 Suburban from the mid-90s. The 2500 engine would have been nice, but I had good trailer brakes, and while we went pretty slowly up a couple long, straight drags, those all had truck lanes and I could still go faster than most of the semis. I think you’ll be ok with your setup.
Well, I just looked it up and there was a Forerunner Limited in 2006 that was rated to pull 7000 pounds so that must have been it, not 7500.
Because the 3/4 ton refers to the bed weight capacity and not the tow capacity.
My 1500 Tahoe is rated to tow 7500 pounds with the heavy duty tow package.
New 4Runners are 6-cylinders, but some of the older models are V8s. Perhaps your friend has an 8-cylinder and can tow more weight than the rating on the new 4Runners.
The yukon is a relatively heavy vehicle so a lot of the power goes to just moving the mass of the vehicle. It is also running a small V8 that produces a lower HP and torque than what you fins in similar pick-up engines. For example my ford has a 6.2 L V8 that produces 13% more horsepower torque.
So when you start adding up a lot of these little factors it becomes a big difference in towing capacity. For reference, my 2011 Ford F250 SD has a tow capacity of 14,400.
So I guess I am wondering would I be better off towing with a Yukon XL 2500 rated to pull 7200 pounds or a Suburban 1500 rated to pull 8500 pounds?
I’d hazard a guess that you have the smaller V8 engine in your Yukon XL and that is where your problem lies. We use an '06 Yukon XL 3/4 ton to pull our three horse trailer (5900 pounds empty). I believe the tow capacity is at 11,000 pounds. Ours has a bigger engine and a tricked out towing package. Oddly enough, we bought it as is, brand new off a dealer lot - apparently at the time it was only 1 of 3 made with those specifications, and the only one for sale.
The 6L engine in the Yukon XL is the largest available except for a few years where the 8.1 was available in the 2500 trim.
I have a 2003 Yukon XL with the 6L and it’s real deficiency is in the transmission-- doesn’t have enough gears. Some of the new tow ratings you’re seeing are because the transmission has a much better gear range to allow the engine to utilize the power band much better than it does with the older 4spd that I have.
I don’t understand a lot about these technicalities. I know I have read that the2500 would be better for stopping and pulling in adverse conditions. Many people on these towing threads say they would not pull with a 1500.
[QUOTE=trafalgar;8067580]
I don’t understand a lot about these technicalities. I know I have read that the2500 would be better for stopping and pulling in adverse conditions. Many people on these towing threads say they would not pull with a 1500.[/QUOTE]
wheelbase is honestly one of the most important features, and that doesn’t change between the 1500 and 2500. If you have the 6L you already have a lot of the HD components off the 2500.
I upgraded the brakes on my vehicle and I tow with a weight distributing hitch, which is required for weights over 5000lbs on this vehicle. Makes a big difference in the tow.
I have not had problems towing except there is one grounds I cannot access around here because the driveway is a steep, narrow, loose grave driveway and my truck does not have enough pull to overcome the lack of traction and get in/out of the driveway. Otherwise I’ve not had problems with my truck and trailer at all. If I could fix something, I’d ask for more gears, but that’s all.
Thank you, helpful information for me.
Take a lot of the ‘absolutes’ given on COTH about towing with a giant grain of salt, as the real answer is ‘it depends.’ It depends on the trailer, the hitch, the engine, the tow package you buy (if you’re going to haul a big steel trailer, you need more than most non-commercial trucks will have as their dealer base package,in pretty much any case you need a professionally-installed hitch. We haul a two-horse Brenderup with a 2010 Explorer–that works fine for a B’up, a four-horse steel stock type would burn the engine out.) The most important thing is that the dealer/seller understands what you intend to do with it, and that can be difficult as most people will be hauling at most a boat, more often light utility trailers, not horses.
Of course after riding around a track backside yesterday seeing the pro haulers coming in and out I’ve reacquired a bad case of horse-box envy. Yes, I’d probably need a CDL, but they’re SO COOL…
yeah, it depends on what you get put on the truck- I had 1500 silverado that could pull 8000, but it had a huge V8 and a heavy-duty tow package installed. It was kind of designed to pull. Your 3500 Yukon was probably designed to haul children around.
[QUOTE=wendy;8068221]
yeah, it depends on what you get put on the truck- I had 1500 silverado that could pull 8000, but it had a huge V8 and a heavy-duty tow package installed. It was kind of designed to pull. Your 3500 Yukon was probably designed to haul children around.[/QUOTE]
The 2500 Yukon is a 3/4 ton truck with the option of several different V8s. Current models are rated to tow almost 10,000lbs. (Actually, those within the last five years are, so I think OP may not be correct about her vehicle’s capabilities.) Stock, rolled out of the factory. They are built to the same specifications as the respective 1500 and 2500 trucks, except that they are inclosed/have the extra row of seats/etc. It is why they are suggested every time someone is like “I need a vehicle that can haul eight people but also tow my horse trailer on the weekends.” They are safe hauling vehicles.
The main issue is that her vehicle is an SUV, not a truck, and therefore just pulls less than an equivalent truck due to the vehicle’s extra weight needing to be factored in.
OP: what year Yukon XL are you pulling with? I actually think your 7200lb number may be a bit off, unless it’s older? I’m seeing 9500lbs even for a 2007.
