Greetings Phillip and Pamela!
Welcom to the Forums!
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When we travel will have both LP tanks full and plan to carry at least 1/3 a tank of fresh water. Along with bikes, food and other gear I project our trailer to weight about 9000 pounds ready to camp. Empty weight is 6650. With this in mind, does anyone feel a 1500 will do the job nicely?
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Your coach's empty weight tells the story. The C/K 1500 (1999 and before) series Suburban when equipped with the highest rated trailer towing package didn't have ratings higher than 6,800 pounds - - so even empty, your trailer would put a 1500 series Suburban over its trailer tow rating as well as its GCVWR. You will need at least a C/K 2500 with 7400 VORTEC and 4.10 differential gearing to achieve the 10,000 pound trailer towing capacity that you will need with your projected 9,000 pound trailer weight. My '99 K2500 Suburban with the 7400 VORTEC and 4.10 gears has a 10,000 pound trailer tow rating (3.73 differentials reduced the maximum trailer tow rating of the K2500/7400 VORTEC by 2,000 pounds in '99).
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My wife is concerned about the mileage we will get with the larger engine. I am making a guess that the 454 2500 will get about 9-10MPG towing and the 1500 350 will get about 11-13. Am I way off mark here?
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My Suburban was special ordered for me by my local dealer, and in 125,000 miles I can verify the following about my fuel economy: solo highway is 14 to 15 MPG (cruise set 3 MPH below posted maximum); solo mixed driving 11 to 12 MPG; towing (6,100 pound Overlander) highway 11 to 12 MPG (cruise set no higher than 55 MPH); towing mixed driving 9 to 10 MPG; and towing Rocky Mountains 9 MPG. With the weight involved with your coach, it would be ill-advised to consider the 5700 VORTEC - - my previous tow vehicle for the Overlander was a 5.7 Liter K1500 Z-71 pickup (3.73 differential) and it struggled under most conditions and was deplorably under-powered in the mountains. I will admit to being very partial to Suburbans after having owned a pickup as well as a van - - the Suburban (or the pre-1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer) is my ideal trailer towing and travel vehicle since the full-size Cadillac DeVille Convertibles of 1970.
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Any feedback here from Van users?
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In a '99 or earlier van, you would likely be looking at a one-ton series in order to get adequate trailer towing capacity for your coach. This would mean a rather long search as most one-ton vans were typically the commercial variety.
One thing to consider with a van, especially if you are not a do-it-yourselfer, is the additional cost for routine maintenance. I know that the two short years that I used a G20 GMC Vandura for towing my 4,000 pound Brand X trailer, my dealer charged an additional 1/2-hour labor to both remove and then again to re-install the doghouse cover during service calls - - this amounted to every oil-change as the doghouse had to be removed to check the condition of the air filter.
Another thing that I realized during the period that I owned the van is that you either love or hate the driving position in a van - - I am afraid that I fell into the category of those who despise the driving position in a van. Even with convex spot mirrors on the passenger side, I still never felt like I knew what was beside the van with any certainty - - especially in heavy city traffic - - the high window line meant that most cars (especially subcompacts) were not visible through the side-windows when they approached on the passenger side - - had a number of scares when driving in heavy California traffic. I will admit that my van was a compromise as I wanted a Suburban even then, but it (the van) seemed like a much better buy and there wasn't a two-year waiting list for a new van as there was for a new Suburban at that time - - but then again it (the G20 Vandura) hit the used market early after only two years and 45,000 miles.
Good luck with your tow vehicle decision!
Kevin