Towing capabilities ...

[jewelz]

Hi... I have no clue if I'm doing this right as I just joined your Forum! I don't have an Airstream but rather a 1973 30' Silver Streak. Or I will have by morning. I hope u don't all kick me out for that? I didn't realize this was an Airstream only sight! I figured that out when I couldn't find a box to check ! Hopefully, You'll tolerate me just the same??

I was just wondering if my 1996 GMC Suburban 1500 would be able to tow it? Both my Suburban and the trailer will be empty and I'm the only passenger so there won't be any added weight. I also don't know if I need anything to hook it up to the back of my suburban? I've never towed anything before! I've been towed and driven a school bus and an RV and a semi before, but never towed anything before!

If anyone has any pointers or things I should know so I don't kill myself or somebody else, I sure would appreciate it! This Silver Streak has been sitting for awhile so I'm not sure how well it's going to travel? I'm also not sure what I should be checking on it besides the tires?!

Thank you in advance!

Jewelz

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, you have what some call a Vintage Kin; Similar to an Airstream. There are many Vintage Kin members on this forum so feel at home here. As for your tow vehicle, members will need to know more details about it to determine if it should be good to go.

[SteveSueMac]

Hi and welcome. Congrats. Those are beautiful trailers. Pictures would be great (hint!!). [emoji3]

You sound excited as you should! Please don’t let this info rain on your parade or overwhelm you - just some things to think about as you said you have no experience with towing a trailer and don’t want to kill yourself or others (a very good sign! some dive in with no awareness at all!).

So this group can help you figure things out. I’ll offer some thoughts to get started.

I suspect it may be borderline to safely tow it with your 96 suburban but the best way to know for sure is to gather some data including:

- tow rating for the burb
- axle capacities of the burb
- hitch weight rating of the burb
- weight of any cargo/gear you’d be carrying in the burb in addition to yourself as the driver and a full tank of gas on board
- max weight (GVWR) of the streak
- tongue weight of the streak when loaded for camping

Most of that can be gathered from user manuals and placards on the burb and streak.

Let’s say the tow rating is (I’m guessing) 5000# and the streak comes in at 6000# (guessing here too just for example). If it were me, I’d stop right there. I mean if the streak was 5001# I might be willing to try it (though I personally like to have more headroom as a margin even if not technically required) - but being 25% over a weight limit would be a non-starter for me.

So start with as many of those data points as you can and you can get better insight on your question.

As for your never having towed a trailer, I’ll share something that worked great for my wife and me. We bought our first ever trailer in 2013. Never towed a thing in our lives before then. We signed up for a weekend long RV Safe Driver training course at a local CDL (Commercial Drivers License) facility. Best money we ever spent. There’s other ways to learn too but sharing what worked best for us.

Good luck and happy, safe camping and travels to you!