towing musings
Hey, I'm Ben. I'm not a writer, photographer or even a social media user as my wife will be posting this up. But, I have some ramblings and even a thought or two that some of you might find enlightening. Those not interested in hearing about our tow vehicle and towing musings can stop here.
My job, aside from an expanding dad presence, is to pull the camper where we've decided to go and to make sure nothing breaks. Our tow rig is a 2001 suburban 2500 series with a 6.0 engine and towing capacity of 8300lbs according to GM. We bought the beast just before purchasing our camper, which weighs 5800lbs dry, with nothing in it (camper, not burb). Fully packed we THINK we're between 7500 and 8000lbs. Getting very close to our max tow capacity. Anyone who knows trucks and towing will see a big red flag here. GM says you can tow this kind of weight if you're doing 55mph on a flat grade in perfect weather with a tailwind. What I'm trying to say is that we're heavy. GM wasn't really planning on us dragging our max load rated RV over 9000ft mountain passes. Sure, the burb will do it... but its gonna be Workin. And ours certainly is.
Our first leg from Austin to Corpus Christi had us on I-35 with a tailwind, mostly going downhill toward the gulf. Amazing experience, threw her in overdrive and cruised at 65mph the whole way. "This towing thing is easy." Kristin and I smiled at our own awesomeness and successful tow vehicle purchase. Our second leg took us to McAllen, TX south along Hwy 37. Bucked a 30mph headwind the whole way and managed to maintain 55mph most of the time; with the pedal smashed to the floor, and in 3rd gear. I'm starting to have scary thoughts about mountain passes at this point... Our trip back up the southwest portion of Texas to Junction was uneventful and, more importantly, not windy. BUT, once we hit I-10 and were on our way into the west Texas desert we again had 35mph west winds and increased our elevation from 1500ft to nearly 3500ft over the course of a few hours. Our poor burb just struggling to propel us into the wind, turning 3k rpm and occasionally jumping into 2nd gear and screaming along at 4k plus. Mmm... "Did I buy the wrong tow vehicle?"
Now that we have some experience with heavy wind and modest climbs I can say that I'm learning to accept the capability of our suburban as a tow vehicle. It does work and will get us where we need to go. We do have to be patient and realize we're not going anywhere fast. With that expectation I'm confident in the beast and don't really want to search for another tow vehicle unless absolutely necessary. And a truck with a larger gas engine, or bumping up to a diesel costs a LOT of money. Money we're not prepared to spend at this time. Also, on a warmer note, we freakin LOVE the burb. Its huge, its quiet, everything works inside, its cheap to fix. Your average American family's mobile command center.
Burb, you're OK in my book. I'm gonna work you hard but I know you can do it.
Other thoughts non-burb related: Kristin and have found all our stops really interesting in their own way. I personally enjoyed our stay at Falcon state park south of Laredo. Seemed kind of scary at the time to be at a park ON the Rio Grande with all our border issues and political uncertainty, but those fears were unjustified. I did get a chance to cast a line in the muddy river and see Mexico on the other side. The fish wanted nothing to do with me, but I enjoyed the experience for what it was; fishing along the Rio Grande in January. Cool. Also, you just can't beat watching wild pigs run around your campsite.
Most of southwest Texas, and now New Mexico is desert. No big trees, lots of rock and brown as far as the eye can see. Majestic in its own right and awesome in its size. I also take this in and appreciate that I've had the experience of crossing it. However, Kristin and I just aren't desert people. Hey, we grew up in Minnesota. Our color is green. Even our long time home of Austin, TX has huge oaks and blue rivers. Out here we're just not in our element. There's quite a bit of desert between here and Southern California, so I'm giving the southwest every chance to make me a believer. Keep you posted I guess.
Ben
