Towing a 2014 30' Classic

[Pat Cassity]

I have the opportunity to replaced my totaled 2014 27FB International Signature with a 2014 30'Classic. Can I safely tow this with my 2014 Yukon Denali?


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[SteveH]

I would say it would be marginal, but it seems that if you were towing your 27FB with it, the 30' wouldn't be THAT much more. What are the weight and tongue weight differences?

[terryV]

Hitch wt on the 27, Intrnl is 770 lbs.

Hitch wt on the 30' Classic is 773 lbs.

That sounds OK.

GVWR on the 27' Intrnl is 7600 lbs.

GVWR on the 30' Classic is 10,000 lbs.

That's over a ton more weight. You might want heavier WD hitch bars, and you probably would want to load it as light as you can. (The Classic will carry over 1000 lbs more than your International was rated to carry.)

I think it would be OK. However, there are folks here who are real experts. Their opinion would be much better than mine.

[Alumaholic]

If it's a 1500 Denali with a 5.3 liter engine and a 3.42 axle ratio, pulling a 10,000 Classic is going to be a struggle. I believe it may also exceed the combined GVWR of your Denali.
If it's 2500 Denali with a 6.2 liter, you should be okay.
Sounds like you have some homework to do.

[dznf0g]

Pat,

I have towed my Classic with 6.2 liter Yukon XL Denali and it pulls fine. The issue is with rear axle capacity. With virtually anything in the Yukon you will be overloading the axle. That said, it performs well. I assume you are talking about an XL and not a "shortie" Yukon. I would not tow a 30'er with the short wheelbase Yukon.

[Pat Cassity]

Actually it is the Yukon, not the XL. I kind of figured I was out of the 30' classic ball game with the TV. I bought it a few weeks ago after totaling my 4 month old Denali and less than a year old 27FB. I had fully intended to purchase another 27 or 25 when I was given the opportunity for an incredible deal on the classic. Sounds like I need to stick with my original plan.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[tjdonahoe]

I tow my 31 classic with a 3/4 ton diesel dodge and wouldn't go any smaller!!!

[beetlebob]

Hope I can pull mine with my truck

[tjdonahoe]

It would be interesting to know how the first under powered unit got wrecked

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

It would be interesting to know how the first under powered unit got wrecked

It's all in another thread "a really bad day", I think.

[ratchet]

Trailer Life puts our an annual supplement with all of the towing specification for all vehicles. All you have to do is look up your vehicle and it will basically tell you if your vehicle is rated for that trailer. Good luck with your new classic, we enjoy ours.

[tjdonahoe]

It would be interesting to know why some people will try to be underpowered, after running big trucks for 48 years I learned there is no such thing as too much horsepower or too much money, it is all relevant, and it all makes life easier...

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

It would be interesting to know why some people will try to be underpowered, after running big trucks for 48 years I learned there is no such thing as too much horsepower or too much money, it is all relevant, and it all makes life easier...

I know that's right!

[Rocinante]

Our trailer 27FB tongue weighed more like 12% - 13% of the trailer's GVW and the TV was heavier than they admitted.

As a result, while towing capacity is more than adequate, when we actually weighed the rig later, there was less available TV *load* capacity than expected based on what Airstream and the TV dealer claimed.

We're fine as long as we're careful not to carry much stuff, but before we buy another TV we plan to weigh the exact model we're considering with 2 passengers and a full tank of gas to see how much load capacity is really available. It will just be part of the final test drive.

[DHart]

You should expect the tongue weight of the 30' Classic to be at least 1100#, and very likely more.

Look on the inside driver's door jamb on the Denali. There will be a yellow sticker and a listing: "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed xxxx lbs." The maximum capacity will probably be a little bit over 1500#.

Compare that number to the combined weight of your expected people passengers, dog(s), other items carried in the Yukon, the weight of the hitch, PLUS about 1100-1200 lbs. of Airstream tongue weight. My bet is that you will likely be well over that maximum listed cargo capacity.

We sold our 6 month old 2015 Yukon Denali with only about 4000 miles on it when we bought our 2016 30' Serenity because the cargo capacity was no where near what we needed it to be.

Your cargo capacity needs may be extremely low (two very light weight people, with nothing else to carry in the Yukon). In that event, you will probably be right at the maximum capacity of the Yukon Denali. More likely you will have cargo capacity needs that exceed the limit of the Yukon Denali.... but only you can determine this for sure.

BTW, we traded our 2015 Yukon Denali for a 2015 Sierra Denali HD Duramax/Allison and have been absolutely thrilled with the choice for towing our 30' Serenity. We have excess cargo capacity available if we want to carry another passenger or put on a camper shell, kayak, etc. And when it comes to climbing the western mountains and steep descents into the valleys, the capability of the Sierra Denali HD Duramax is very impressive and reassuring.

We occasionally like to camp without hook-ups and also carry a Honda EU2000i generator, a 5-gallon gas can, two camp recliners, six gallons of bottled water, leveling blocks and chocks, a tool box, and a few plastic storage containers filled with various miscellaneous items. My wife and I, together, weight about 310# and have a 100# Golden Lab pup. So, without carrying ANY extra items in the tow vehicle, we have 310+100+1100 tongue weight = 1510#. With our Denali we were at maximum without carrying ANY cargo. The additional items we like to carry put us close to 2000# cargo weight in the tow vehicle.

[dkottum]

A couple of things are left out here.

Airstream specifies and provides a warning in it's Owners Manuals that tongue weight must need exceed 1,000 lbs, so if you are over that you are weighing it wrong or need to move some gear around to get within spec.

Then with 1,000 lbs tongue weight on a Yukon, you should be able to distribute 200 lbs back to the trailer axles with a decent weight distribution hitch. That results in 800 lbs added to the Yukon.

Get the Airstream tongue weight within spec and work from there to determine your truck's load capacity. And if you are still over, you just have to put some of it in the trailer, or leave it at home.

[KJRitchie]

My 2008 Classic 25fb is heavy on the tongue and even though my 2010 Tundra towed it OK I decided for our extended travels in our retirement years to go with a 2015 Ram 2500 CTD Big Horn Crew Cab. But it has only a 2089 listed payload but is better than my Tundra's 1465lb payload. The Ram rides higher than the Tundra but drives similar in that it doesn't feel like a large truck other than getting in and out of it. The nerf bars help a lot to get in the cab. The tailgate is higher up but I carry a folding step to get into the bed.

Kelvin