2001 Suburban 1500 4x4 which ball mount for towing 6000+ lbs?

[nvetro]

I am going to be towing an 20' or 22' open trailer which will end up weighing about 2100-2300 lbs with my race car on it which will weigh roughly 3600 lbs.....for argument sake lets say the total weight will be 7000 lbs....

My burb has the 3.73 gear package + HD towing package...when I bought the truck it did not come with a ball mount....i was wondering:

1) What class hitch do we have? 3 or 4?

2) What type of ball mount should I get for an open car hauler? Most I see are rated at 6000 lbs....I see a few rated at 8000 lbs and 12000 lbs but I am not sure which to choose when it comes to the drop and raise ammount...

I was looking at this one:

http://www.etrailer.com/pc-BMC3~v77010.htm

Will this fit my truck? And also....is the drop enough for a car hauler?...i think most car haulers when level have a ball height of about 15" or so....

Someone point me in the right direction please

[dwill3015]

Why not look at getting an adjustable hitch? Here the a LINK for one on Ebay for the Rapid Hitch. I also have towed with our 2001 Suburban, 2006 Silverado, and 87 Blazer and have at least 4 drop hitches in different lengths. I have bought 2 rapid hitches (6" and 10") and are rated for 8000-10,000 lbs. And, They look awesome! Here is the 6" on my Silverado. I ended up purchasing a 10" drop Rapid Hitch because of my lift.

[nvetro]

Gotcha, I think ill pick that one up. I had a question with regard to your lift...if I decide to do a 4" or so lift to my burb how would that efect the towing capacity/handeling? Thinking about doing a lift + bigger tires + bigger wheels...is it a bad idea towing that much weight?

[dwill3015]

Towing and handling will not change with a lift. i have towed my 24' Weekend Warrior toy hauler with my lift. One thing i would like to add to my truck is airbags to help level the ride with a load on. I first decided on a 4" lift until i found out there was only a $100 difference between a 4" and a 6". I'm so glad I want with the 6"!

[nvetro]

Dwill,

Does the same apply for my suburban? Wont the larger wheels and tires also effect towing and allow me to tow less? I think the max towing for my 2001 suburban is 8700 lbs...wondering if that will still hold true if I do a 4" lift..w/ bigger wheels and tires (not to large)....

Also when you mean air bags....isn't that same feature my suburban already has with the autoride air suspension in the rear for auto leveling under load?

[dwill3015]

One thing you have to consider is yours is the 5.3 and putting a lift and bigger tires would change the gearing making it strain even more towing heavy loads. If you changed your gearing then you could tow any weight without problems.

As far as the auto-ride suspension, that is the shocks where the air bags or "air springs" they call them actually mount between the frame and the leaf springs. The kits usually run $250-$500. My truck is a 2500 and it still sags a bit and bounces in the rear when I tow so having airbags in the rear I could add some air and it would stiffen up the rear and also make it ride level. Here is a LINK to what I'm talking about. My Dad has a 2005 Silverado lonbed and bought a camper so he nede the air-springs to level his truck . He found his kit on sale at 4 wheel Parts for $247.

[nvetro]

Dwill,

According to my RPO codes i have 3.73 gears in my rear end...stock I believe are 3.42 correct? Should I have a problem towing with the lift?....also....I have another question with regard to towing:

What is the limitation of towing? I know trucks can pull pretty much anything but I hear stopping them is the tricky part which limits the towing....what can I do to increase the max tow capacity of 8700 lbs on my burb? bolt on engine mods, trans cooler, brake upgrades?

Lets say I wanted to tow an enclosed car trailer and the total weight would be roughly 8000-8500 lbs..which is VERY close to the max towing capacity..what is the best way to acheive that? Stock ride height? etc.. any insight you can give me would be great.

Is towing an enclosed trailer going to cause more strain on the truck because of the drag intorducted with air hitting the face of the trailer and holding the truck back? I assume this causes more trans strain then anything.

One last thing If I install a B&M tranns cooler but do not remove any factory coolers will that void my gm factory warrenty I purchased? If the trans blows can they say that caused it?