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Old 04-30-2017, 08:36 PM   #1
Country Suburban 4x4
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Need some real curb weight help!

Hey guys, my boss offered to trailer my old suburban out to Ohio for me so I can have it with me in college, and him and my dad put it on his trailer this afternoon, it fits, but is very heavy. So much in fact that it lifted the whole ass of my boss's truck almost 5 inches off the ground when they backed the Suburban off the trailer again. I have a GM Heritage Center PDF that says curb weight is 4991 lbs on my 1983 Suburban K2500 with the 350. I've heard the factory books can be misleading. Any help is appreciated as the truck is too heavy for the size/design of the trailer and it won't be making the 800 mile trip until we figure something else out
Here's the truck while loaded on trailer, real front heavy, the trailer jack is only about 2" off the ground.
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Old 04-30-2017, 08:53 PM   #2
RDrancher
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

You have too much tongue weight on the towing rig. The Suburban needs to go back quite a bit. The easiest way to judge proper placement without a scale to measure tongue weight is to get the load located where the "squish" of the trailer tires on both front and rear axles looks the same. If the trailer isn't long enough to get the load back far enough, load the Suburban backwards and start the locating process over again. I'm betting that you can get it set right pointed forward though. If you get out on the highway and the trailer wants to wiggle around too much (tail waging the dog), move the Suburban toward the tongue a couple inches at a time and try it again. You'll get it where it feels right.
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Old 05-01-2017, 07:55 AM   #3
Country Suburban 4x4
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

Yeah the trailer really doesn't have a lot of space for moving it around. I've how much of a difference would it might make backing the truck on?
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Old 05-01-2017, 08:50 AM   #4
RDrancher
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

If you try backing on remember you can't get the Suburban more than about even with the front of the trailer deck or you risk hitting it with the tow rig on turns. I would really try to run it like the pic but back it up as much as possible to get the weight right even if the sub's tail hung over just a bit.
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Old 05-01-2017, 12:04 PM   #5
phillipm
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

I'd just drive the Burb over there. Going to cost way more to trailer it with that setup IMO.
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Old 05-02-2017, 01:23 PM   #6
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

How long is the trailer?? Really need to move the suburban back on the trailer and center it more over the trailer axles. I'd guess you want around 300-400lbs of tongue weight....right now you're way over that.
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Old 05-03-2017, 01:44 AM   #7
kwmech
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

Curb weight of a Suburban 3/4 may be over 6k. Lot of sheet metal there
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Old 05-03-2017, 01:10 PM   #8
JoeinT.O.
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

I just picked up my 1990 Suburban. At least two feet of the rear was extending past the rear of the trailer because they are very front heavy. My trailer is 18'-0" long. Towed it with my 2015 Silverado 1500 with 5.3L no problem.
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Old 05-03-2017, 01:19 PM   #9
JoeinT.O.
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

Here is a pic.
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Old 05-03-2017, 04:23 PM   #10
Ski-me
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

That looks a lot better...... like Joe's ^^^^^
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Old 05-05-2017, 02:27 PM   #11
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Re: Need some real curb weight help!

Rule of thumb is this,

Trailer tounge weight should be about 8-10% of the total weight of the trailer and the load it is carrying.

Then, I would suggest using leveling bars and sway control.

The life you save by doing it right, could be mine ;-)

Enjoy,
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