1978 Sovereign: towing with 2008 Tahoe

[mattinv]

Good morning Everybody,
I'm planning to pick up a 1978 Sovereign. We have a 2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ with the heavy duty towing package. The ratings for the car are as follow:
Maximum Towing: 8200 lbs
Maximum Payload: 1776 lbs
Maximum GVWR: 7300 lbs
Wheelbase: 116 inch
The engine is the typical 5.3V8 OHV 16V FFV

The 31' Sovereign tag shows:
GVWR: 7100 lbs
I looked online and dry weight for this year's model is around 5,065 lbs (we intend to tow it dry, always).

By applying the standard rule of thumbs (do not tow more than 75% of the maximum towing capacity), we should not exceed 6,150 lbs.

1. I would think that it would be a fairly safe vehicle to tow it dry, but I would like your experienced/expert opinion.
2. What options would you recommend we had to our towing package to make it as safe as possible (I'm new at this so a long list would be great, with the most important items first ).

[ALANSD]

a good weight distribution hitch is all you need.Your truck will have no problems pulling that trailer. Buy the best hitch for your budget.

[mattinv]

Originally Posted by ALANSD

a good weight distribution hitch is all you need.Your truck will have no problems pulling that trailer. Buy the best hitch for your budget.

Hi Alan,

Thank you.
I also find this piece of information on this link: airstreamguy.com - * Length, Weight, Tongue Weight and VIN range
1978 SOVEREIGN 31 CENTER BATH TWIN
Dry weight 4810 lbs
Hitch Weight: 545 lbs
ball height: 19.5"

What are some of the best hitch that combine weight distribution and sway control?

[ALANSD]

I bought my set up from E-trailer online. Very good customer service and nice pricing.
I got a Pro-series set up for under 300. Then you mess around with the adjustments, which you can find info on here about.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by mattinv

(we intend to tow it dry, always).

Just as an observation, we tow ours with full fresh water tanks, almost always, for a variety of reasons.

One, it's nice to have fresh water when needed on a trip, or when unforeseen opportunities to camp arise. It's nice to be able to pull over and just say "why don't we stay here for the night".

Also, traveling with full tanks lowers the centre of gravity of the trailer. Airstreams already track very nicely, add a full tank and that tracking gets even better.

I haven't found that travelling with full tanks affects our fuel mileage in any measurable way.

[drboyd]

We tow a 78 (25') Trade Wind with a 2005 Tahoe. If I had the Dual-Cam hitch set up correctly, it would be an awesome tow - except maybe uphill.

[mattinv]

Thank you all for your feedback.
The Sovereign comes with the Excella Vac-Disc Brakes. Our Tahoe is not setup for these and I was wondering what and where I would find the equipment we need to install on the trailer/car to make the brake works.
I do not feel comfortable pulling 5,000 lbs without the breaks working.
Thank you in advance for your help.