Newb trailer question

[why_fly_high]

I went and picked up my new to me AR240 last week. It is tucked away in storage until it warms up. Our normal tow vehicle will be a tow package equipped tahoe. I have towed a much bigger and heavier RV with it so I am not concerned with it towing. On pick up day my wife needed her car so I borrowed the 1 ton diesel pick up from work to go get the boat. When I was almost home I realized I hadn't and don't know how to check the surge brakes. I have only towed with electric brakes and those are easy to test with the brake controller.

So, I how do I verify that the surge brakes are really working?

Thanks!

 

[Rumbo]

You can unplug your trailer lighting connector from the tow vehicle and back up your trailer. The disc surge brakes should dang near lock up the wheels if the brakes are properly working. Other than that, if you have 5,000 lbs behind your Tahoe you should be able to tell if the trailer brakes are helping stop you or not.

FYI, if you have the 5 wire connector on your trailer, that 5th wire actuates a bypass so your brakes don’t apply while in reverse. It’s powered off the reverse light of your tow vehicle.

 

[Rumbo]

Also, I would recommend verifying the tow rating AND gross combination rating (GCWR) on your specific Tahoe. My wife has a 2016 LTZ Suburban and it’s GCWR is only 12,000 Lbs. When you start adding stuff up, the 12k gets eaten up real quick...5,600 lbs curb weight, 600 lbs of people, 5,100 lbs of trailered boat, and 50 gallons of gas in the boat and we have less than 400 lbs left to work with for all our gear, toys, food, etc. The max tow package has a higher tow rating and GCWR because of different gearing and other stuff so defietwly worth checking into.

 

[why_fly_high]

Thanks! Before buying a travel trailer I did all kinds of research on towing and capacities. You are very correct. It is much more in depth than just towing capacity. Our Tahoe is a 2015 and does have the max towing package.

 

[DavisAR195]

@why_fly_high unrelated question but I have a 2013 Tahoe with the same tow package and looking at getting a travel trailer. What was the max weight that you wanted to stay under when you were looking?

 

[why_fly_high]

@DavisAR195 OK, I will give you my experience and you can use it as you will.

I wanted to keep a loaded weight of 6000 or less. We didn’t dry camp often so didn’t need to carry tanks full, lots of stuff, etc. Everything worked fine. Pulled fine, etc. The short wheel needs to be taken in to consideration. I wanted to stay at or below 24’ box. I never towed in big crosswinds.

I just sold the rv. We didn’t sell it because of towing issues. We love lakes. We just decided we would rather rent a cabin and take a boat than take an rv and not have a boat.

 

[DavisAR195]

@why_fly_high thank you that confirmed what I was thinking. I’m looking for a bunk house with a slide between 21’ to 23’ and under 6,000 lbs.

 

[why_fly_high]

Get a good weight distribution hitch with anti sway and you will be fine. Also I should mention it’s pretty flat around here. I have no idea how well it would do in the mountains.

 

[biffdotorg]

Also, I would recommend verifying the tow rating AND gross combination rating (GCWR) on your specific Tahoe. My wife has a 2016 LTZ Suburban and it’s GCWR is only 12,000 Lbs. When you start adding stuff up, the 12k gets eaten up real quick...5,600 lbs curb weight, 600 lbs of people, 5,100 lbs of trailered boat, and 50 gallons of gas in the boat and we have less than 400 lbs left to work with for all our gear, toys, food, etc. The max tow package has a higher tow rating and GCWR because of different gearing and other stuff so defietwly worth checking into.

That's why the tow capacity of that model year Sub is 6,000-6,300lbs based on configuration. So yes, with your math, that equates to roughly 12,000lb GCWR.

Wet weight with trailer on a 2015 AR240 is 4914lbs. That did surprise me that you came that close, should be fine, but that was a surprise. Also what was surprising, was a Tahoe LTZ of the same year was 6400-6600lbs, why would that be?

 

[why_fly_high]

@biffdotorg The only reason I can figure is the drive train, brakes, etcc are the same between the 2 but the tahoe is shorter and in turn weighs less to begin with.

 

[Rumbo]

@biffdotorg The only reason I can figure is the drive train, brakes, etcc are the same between the 2 but the tahoe is shorter and in turn weighs less to begin with.

I agree. The difference in tow weight is because of the difference in curb weight between the two vehicles.

I should stress that GROSS COMBINATION WEIGHT is as important if not more so than tow ratings. The tow ratings are figured primarily based on GCWR. There are so many variables in the tow vehicle itself such as passengers, cargo, and vehicle configuration that you should always consider the GCWR.

 

[Rumbo]

Get a good weight distribution hitch with anti sway and you will be fine. Also I should mention it’s pretty flat around here. I have no idea how well it would do in the mountains.

These vehicles are beasts in the mountains. We live at 7,000 ft. in elevation and have a towable rv that we load up to about 5,500 lbs when we take it out. We can’t leave our home town without traversing a 6% grade. Other than a downshift or two we hardly notice something is behind us. We can run 70-75 mph up 6% grades at elevation all day long.