Towing Issues with New Rig
Just bought a 23 foot travel trailer—dry weight ~4,800; GVWR 5,650. First larger towable…before was a (large-ish) pop up.
My tow vehicle is a 2020 GMC Yukon with max trailer package rated to tow more than 8,000 and with a payload capacity of ~1,600. Yukon has 18 inch wheels with essentially brand new Michelin Defender tires and rear air suspension. Hoping to make tow experience as good as possible, I bought a blue ox SwayPro WDH that RV dealer installed for me.
The first drive off the lot, with trailer at ~5,200 pounds (trailer plus full fresh water and propane tanks; no cargo) and Yukon with only 2 passengers, was HARROWING. Felt like every vehicle that passed me on the freeway, which was most considering I was under 60 MPH at all times, pushed my setup to the side. And I felt like I was swaying side to side way more than expected. When I wasn’t bobbing and wobbling back and forth, I felt like I was gliding/floating down the road, not planted securely to it.
Since then I’ve experimented by changing Yukon tires air pressure, WDH tension, trailer load (that is, I dumped the water). Same issues persist.
I borrowed a friend’s 2022 Chevy Tahoe that is rated similarly for towing purposes and towed using the same Blue Ox WDH. No issues whatsoever. I had said friend try towing in my Yukon and he noticed the difference immediately. So I think I can rule out the trailer itself as the cause of the towing issues and assume it’s something with my Yukon.
Any thoughts? At this point I suspect WDH and air suspension aren’t playing nice together (which is to say I think dealer followed the wrong procedure for setting up the WDH and I’ve since been making the same mistake). But could it be something else? Could the extra couple inches of wheelbase on the new Tahoe make a difference? Any other things I should be doing?
Seriously hoping I don’t have to join the “bought new truck because I can’t tow new trailer with old truck” club.