anybody tow with a 2007 GMC Yukon

[cakirk2004]

I tried one out to tow my boat with and the dealer let me take and tow my boat with and the transmission temp went up to 237 deg. and the coolant eng. temp went up to 225 deg. towing down the road at 65 mph. Has anybody else seen this or tow with a Yukon or Tahoe, or even a suburban? Really like the vehicle, but the main purpose is to tow the boat, and nice travel vehicle.

[Rangertrace]

RE: anybody tow with a 2007 GMC Yukon

I tow a 2004 SV-211 with a 2003 Chevy Tahoe. The Tahoe has the towing package and I always put it in tow mode when I pull the boat. Most of my trips to the lake are less than 20 miles one way. However, I have pulled it over 200 miles a couple of times with no problems. I have surge brakes on my Dorsey trailer and because of the weight of the boat, I give myself plenty of room to stop. When towing the boat or any trailer for that matter, my Tahoe only gets around 10 mpg. I don't think you will have a problem as long as you have the towing package. The new Tahoes have about 30 more horsepower too!

[Erik]

No offense intended here - someone recently posted a question like this on WakeWorld. In that case it was about whether or not a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 can pull a wakeboard boat.

. . . seriously . . .

How does anyone not think a truck like that could pull a wake boat - even a bigger v-drive? In England and other parts of the world they would laugh hysterically at the thought of us gas guzzling Americans wondering whether or not a gargantuan, V8 equipped vehicle like a full size pickup (or an SUV built on a full size pickup truck platform) would have issues towing a 3000lb-4000lb boat and trailer. They'd laugh right into their pints of ale and their fish & chips, crepes etc. I have a lot of friends in the UK, Ireland and Australia from the time I spent in the Land Rover community and they tow enormous loads with what we'd consider to be pretty "small" vehicles. Such as Land Rover Defenders, Discoverys, Freelanders, and countless other SUVs that are sized similarly to the Ford Explorer Sport 2 door. They also drool at our F150s and F250's like we drool at something like a Chevy 6500 Topkick. I guess it is all relative.

I tow with a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe. It has the stock transmission cooler which is a plus for towing anything, at any time and if I am not mistaken all Chevy pickups have them stock after 1998. The trailer does not have brakes and the brakes on the Tahoe leave something to be desired (anyone familiar with Chevy trucks can attest to this). That said, the tight turning radius, solid torque, and tow/haul mode on the Tahoe makes it the best towing vehicle I've personally used. In the past I've towed the SAN with a 1996 F150, a 2002 Land Rover Discovery, a 1998 Toyota 4 Runner and the Tahoe is by far the best.

Unexpectedly, the Land Rover was second. Even with its short wheelbase and large turning radius it towed my boat quite well with its small-ish V8 and full time 4wd. The V6 4Runner did an admirable job but was squirrelly on the highway and struggled on hills. The F150 was nearing death but towed well (gosh I hated that truck so much...).

But I'll go out on a limb here and say that for all intents and purposes, full size pickups and SUV's based on full size pickup truck platforms can tow our boats. Period.

[wakecrashin]

What he said! Heck if my 215HP Land Rover Discovery can pull my 07 210, you could pull (2) 210s w/ a Tahoe/ Yukon.

[BigBald]

I would say something might be wrong with that Tahoe. I have towed my boat and larger boats with my 99 Tahoe and my 2003 Burb and my parents 2004 Yukon XL. All tow incredibly well. That's why I purchased my Burb.

[sstexan]

I have a 2007 yukon xl denali that I tow with a 99 supersport. Totally loaded on the trailer it comes in at 5300Lb. That yukon tows better than any other vehicle period....I just got back from a 3,000 mile trip with it. The outside air temp was well over 100 and hilly, the transtemp went to 203 one time and averaged around 185. The coolant stayed on 210 with the exception of a couple of long hill runs at 75mph when it just barely moved away from the middle. Once getting back to level ground, the gauge settled back....The tow haul mode actually downshifts when braking is noticed, very cool feature. You were driving a lemon, or something was wrong with it! Try a denali version.... 6.2 litre, 6 speed tranny....No other SUV comes close except the slade albeit $14k more.... One more thing, over 3,000 miles at 75mph I averaged 13.2 mpg....

[Erik]

sstexan can you post a picture of you towing your Yukon XL with your 99 Supersport? I would really like to see that, particularly on the freeway.

Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Just messing.

[todicus]

I have a 2007 Tahoe......... the question is about the temps when towing; my trans temp never goes over 200 unless climbing hills for a long time, and engine temp stays at 200.

[Rick]

I tow a 4000# 196 with a 2005 Tahoe. It tows it like it isn't there. Even up to Lake Tahoe over the grapevine form San Diego the temp never was above normal. Were you towing in 2nd gear the whole time?

[skiswm]

I towed my 97 SS with a v6 Jeep w/out much problem. My Silverado now has no problem going up the Sierra Nevada Mtns towing at 55-65 w/out an issue. Never has overheated and that's been in 100 plus weather. I would be curious how you were towing, use the "tow/haul" mode so the gears are in line. Don't run the AC on high the entire drive etc, basically just common sense things. I don't see a way that a brand new Tahoe wouldn't be a GREAT tow vehicle.

[wakefun]

I will second SSTexan's comments - We have a 2007 Denail (not the XL) and tow a 2000 SAN with it. With all the gear I have packed in it plus a double axel trailer it must weigh north of 5000#.
Previous car was a 2003 3/4 ton Surburban. The Denali tows the boat every bit as well as my old Suburban. The best part, however, is the HP and torque pick up from the Burb to the Denali. The Denali has buckets of towing power and, so far after 10k miles, have had no transmission or temp issues. One more thing, the Denali gets 2-3 more miles per gallon over the old Suburban.
John