Hello,

total newbie to this forum and horse trailering as well...

We have a 2005 Z71 Suburban and I was wondering if that was sufficient to pull a horse trailer with. It would be a 2 H BP trailer. So far I have learned that it would be a good idea to put a weight distributing hitch on it.

The trailer we are looking at is a 2004 Equispirit XL, 2H BP w/dressing room. I believe it weighs about 3500 pounds or so. Right now we would only be pulling one "regular" sized horse, maybe later down the road 2 of them, though.

Can we do it? (safely) Or should we look at buying a Brenderup trailer instead?

Buying a new truck is not in the equation right now ;)

Any particular weight distributing hitch you can recommend for our situation?

Thank you, appreciate the help :)

Wow, thank you !! Exactly the help that I needed :) I'm going to look up the Reese setup.

Actually , on the truck itself it shows a rating of 5000/12,000 pounds. I was under the impression that with a weight distribution hitch I could go up to the higher rating of 12,000 pounds? Not that I would ever need THAT much...

The trailer is supposed to have 4-wheel electric brakes. Not sure about the brake controller? We shouldn't be traveling through hills and mountains, if anything, very rarely. The truck has some kind of "towing setting" that is supposed to help it not to overheat and to shift gears quicker. I'm sorry I sound so ignorant about the whole issue. I have finally learned a lot about my truck and even modified it somewhat, but this whole trailer and towing issue is totally new to me. But I'm a quick learner ;)

Your Suburban is equivalent to a half ton pick up which usually has no trouble towing a two horse trailer. If it does not have a trailer towing package, you will have some considerations with which to contend.

 One is the transmission. A stock oil cooler is usually not sufficient for trailer towing. Add ons are available at a nominal cost. If your fluids and filter hasn't been changed in a while, do it before you start towing. The consideration of synthetic fluids will add greatly to the transmission's longevity.

Your cooling system will also be heavily affected. It should be flushed, new antifreeze added and your thermostat should be checked.

Your brakes should be in top condition, inspect, repair and replace any worn components. You will have to buy an electric brake controller and mount it on your dash. Chad is our resident expert and can suggest the best one to purchase.

Your rear suspension will be taxed. Your shock absorbers should be strong and up to date, your rear axle fluid should be changed, and again synthetic fluids should be considered. You will need a proper frame mounted receiver for your hitch, no bumper pulling here.

I would not worry about a WDH until you actually have the trailer and try it out. If it is determined that your rear suspension is too soft, there are also self leveling suspension upgrades that can be considered.

You will need a new electrical plug for your Suburban, one that is compatible with your trailer. This will have to be properly wired to your Suburban. Many trailers are equipped with a six pin plug configuration, many larger trailers use a seven pin plug.

Your tires will have to be in excellent condition, and preferably not over six years in age. You may want to consider upgrading to a higher weight rating.

It's expensive to try to add HP to an existing motor. The best thing you can do is have it properly tuned, and running well. New filters and oil are a must. All your belts, cooling hoses and any rubber components should be checked for wear, and changed before they fail.

If you're underpowered on hills, don't force a full throttle run. Let the transmission down shift and hold the throttle at about 3/4 throttle instead of flat to the floor. Your motor and accessories will last longer and will be more reliable.

If your transmission repeatedly up shifts and then soon kicks down, pull your shift lever into the next lower range to lock the transmission in the lower gear. You may not be the first to the top of the hill, but at least you'll probably arrive home safely.

Gard

Thank you for the great and detailed help ! I feel so much better prepared already. Our Sub does have the trailer towing package, and a certain kind of "setting" for towing. Not that I've ever tried it out yet..;)

The other thing, it has very low mileage yet...only about 16,000. Runs on Mobile One and I've put in a AEM cold air intake after removing the stock one. It got better mileage and performance right away just from that. Also put on some anti sway bars. All that was done with performance and handling in mind, not so much for towing, but perhaps it will help?

I'll make sure to have the brakes inspected and also have the other maintenance work done (fluids, checkups, etc) The Sub does have a electrical plug, not sure if its compatible with the trailer, though...something I need to research. We'll go have a look at the trailer on friday, so I should be able to check then, too.

Tires are good and I've kept them rotated and the pressure at optimum. I've always wanted a nice new set of BFG AT's , so that might be an option ;) The Sub is sort of my "baby"  and I'll make sure that it won't get overtaxed with the towing. I don't mind going slower and keeping everything in order.

Again, thank you for the help, appreciate it :)

Lucy

Good to know that this is working for others :) Puts my mind at ease.

All this help here is great, I feel so much better prepared already.

Next thing to research are those "brake control" thingies ;)

Thank you !!

Lucy

Chad drops by every so often. He'll get you the right info on the controller situation.

Because your Suburban already has the towing package,  much of my posting won't be applicable. However, some of the maintenance issues are valid for your application.

Enjoy your "new" rig.

Gard

Hello Chad,

thank you for the info !! I am def. interested in the direction of educational reading about brake controllers and WDH. As of now its still kind of "foggy". If I could see all that stuff in person it would probably make more sense. We will go look at the trailer on Thursday or Friday.

If we decide to go for it, would it be ok to haul that trailer to the barn we board at (where we'll leave it for now) without the WDH and Brake controller? It would be empty and we could go slow and careful. The truck manual says to not go over 50 mph for the first 500 miles with a trailer attached (sort of like a break in period I guess...)

The manual also said that a "brake controller harness" (cable looking thing) is included with the vehicle and to let the dealer or anyone authorized install it. I haven't had time yet to see where thats supposed to be or what the deal is with that. But I def. need to jump into learning about all of this really quickly here. If we decide to get this trailer , I want this to be safe for US, the horse, the trailer and of course, my Sub :)

I did figure out that we have a 7 pin connector for a trailer.

Thank you everyone for all this help and especially your patience with the "newbie".

I'll probably look over my own questions in a month or so and roll my eyes in embarrassment...

The etrailer.com website has a lot of good reading, here is for brake controllers.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq_brakecontroller.aspx

This page should be close, if not exact as for installing a brake controller on your 'burb.  The Prodigy or P3 are avaliable with a plug and play harness for your 'burb.........simple as plugging in a lamp.  Of course if youre not comfortable doing your own wiring, by all means have it done.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq_cbc.aspx

The Mr. Truck link I posted earlier and these two,

http://www.etrailer.com/faq_weightdistribution.aspx

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/14265335.cfm

should answer most of your questions about WDH.

The factory trailer socket on your 'brub is refered to as a 7 blade round, or 7 way RV....not to be confused with a 7 PIN (rather rare).  The most common plugs for trailers with brakes are the 7 blade round and 6 pin round.  They make adapters for just about every which way, but once you get the trailer I would have it wired to match the truck.

Since there is little excuse to haul a trailer without brakes  (a brake controller can be at your door in a matter of days) I wont tell you it would be "ok" to pull the trailer.  Depending on the state where you live it is probably illegal, not to mention unsafe.......but we've all done it at one time or another. 

Having the controller before will also allow you to make sure the brakes are working. One lady we ride with found out the hard way on her first 'new to her' trailer......... "sure the brakes work".........she wanted to get the controller later.  Well she finally got the controller, and then she got to pay to have the trailer brakes fixed.

Awesome, I will read through all those links later tonight !

I was sure to have read something about a 7 pin connector in the truck manual so I went back to check, and this is what it says...

"your vehicle is equipped with the seven-wire trailer towig harness. This harness with a seven-pin universal trailer connector is attached to a bracket on the hitch platform."

So I suppose they either called it the wrong thing or I have a rather rare connector ? Either way, I guess we'll have to have the trailer re-wired then...Problem with all this is, its being sold from an individual at their farm, so we have to drive it away before we can work on it. Unless they are willing to bring it to us..gosh, dunno how we're going to do all this. I think she said they used a "Yukon" to pull it, so perhaps it will fit?

You are right, we'll need brakes to bring it home.

Off to read up on this all , thank you :)

edited to say: I completely understand the brake system now. Our truck already has the correct harness that just needs to be plugged in (thank you for the links that show where to plug it in) Then we just need to purchase the electric brake controller, wire it up and mount it...from reading over the descriptions, I'm leaning towards the P3. Seems easier to mount and has nice options.

Still looking into the WDH's, I suppose that is something I can decide on later on, once I have the trailer in my possession.

Now I'll just have to figure out if I need to have the trailer re-wired to fit the plug on our truck...and if that is so, how to get the trailer home first.

Watch me going through all this , getting all this help here, too...and then we won't get the trailer for some reason or another, after looking at it !

At least I'll be prepared for whichever trailer we might end up with ;)

There are lots of adapters out there that can go from a straight 4 pin to a round 7pin, or any other combination.

I keep several of them behind the seat in the truck, Since I never know what kind of trailer I may hook up on a construction site.

It may be cheaper and faster to buy an adapter rather than rewire.  Especially for the ride home.

And as mentioned above, we've all pulled a trailer where the trailer brakes didn't work at one time or another. I suspect with you living on flat land, bringing an empty trailer home could be done with out the brakes working.  Get it home and go through it and make sure everything works before you start using it on a regular basis.

Good idea, I'll see where I can get some adapters from and also ask the seller what kind will be needed, who knows, might be the right one already...

thanks :)

I may have included a little too much info and caused undo confusion.  The adapters I refered to will get you home, then have the trailer wired to match the truck later.  You will just need to know how the trailer is wired then get the correct adapter.  Adapters can be had at TSC, Autozone, Wal-mart etc.  Like PH mentioned, most of us have adapters rolling around in the truck....but they can be troublesome in the long run.....which is why its generally recomended to match equipment.

The 'rare' 7 pin plug looks like this,

http://www.gemplers.com/product/156269/Trailer-Adapter-7-round-plug4-flat-socket

The "seven-pin universal trailer connector", you likely have on the 'burb already will look like this,

http://www.gemplers.com/product/156268/Trailer-Adapter-7-blade-plug6-round-socket

These are actually adapters, but the pictures will do for plug reference.

With the trailer youre looking at being a 2004, and having been pulled by a Yukon, I would expect it to match the 'burb as it is.

I've been using the 7 "pin" plug on two trucks, several trailers and many years. Didn't know it was "rare". Works well, that's all that counts. We find out new things everyday in this forum. Lots of interesting info.

Gard

Come on now guys, I said "rather rare", and we're talking about pickup/suv trailers not semis, JD tractors, and ag equipment.

.......and it would be damn rare to find one on a 2005 'burb.

I see, so its a 7 spade plug, that is what it looks like, too. Not sure why the manual refers to it as a 7 pin plug.

Learn something every day ;)

My manual also states that the harness for the electric brake control is " included " with my vehicle, since it came with the "heavy duty towing package". Even shows a picture off that harness in the manual. Didn't say "where" they would leave it in the vehicle, since its basically just a loose cable. So I called the dealership to see where they usually "tuck" those in.

Well, they don't even know what I'm talking about... They swear its already wired in, but they are talking about the wires going from the connector to the fuse box.

They asked my husband to bring the truck over and they would see if they find it. My husband doesn't really know about that stuff either so they all decided that I must not know what I'm talking about and that the "harness" is already there, going from the connector to the fuse box...

Well, since its only $10 I went ahead and ordered one, also got the Prodigy P3. We'll need all that anyway, whether we get the trailer we'll go look at, or a different one at a different time.

still reasearching WDH's and things that can be done to prevent theft of the trailer, etc etc :)

you are all great here :)

No, you are right, its def. not a 7 pin plug, after looking them up. Its just what they call it in the manual, so they are technically wrong ;)

More of a pOtato - potatO thing, my fault though........TMI.

Look in your glove box you should find a wire with a connector on one end and a bare wire on the other end. Sometimes they get lost, sometimes owners don't know why they are there and throw them away.

Nope, there was never a cable in the glovebox. I've detailed this truck inside and out many times and never came across this harness :( I figured they might have tucked it into some nook or cranny, but I guess not.

Guess they forgot to include it. No biggie, though, already ordered one.

Thanks for the help, though, now I can stop crawling on the floor in the truck, peeking under the seats and everywhere I can think off ;)