2011 Tahoe vs 2011 Suburban

[deerefan]

Have you tried towing the load with the Traverse? I know somebody who tows over 5000 pounds worth of tractor with his GMC Acadia and it seems to be alright on the trips of less than 30 miles that he takes.

No and I do not feel real comfortable doing it. It is not really equipped for towing. If i am not mistaken, the acadia is awd. Our traverse is front wd only. The horse trailer is not real heavy but does catch the wind alot. It takes a 2 5/16 ball.

 

[deerefan]

We have started looking at Expeditions also. Any input on these? We like how the seats fold down instead of having to remove them.

 

[joe t]

You can only get the 5.4l in them.

 

[Diamondpilot]

We have started looking at Expeditions also. Any input on these? We like how the seats fold down instead of having to remove them.

In my opinion its a much better overall vehicle. The XL is a great size truck for the family. The one down side to me for a tow vehicle is the independent rear suspension but since its not really your tow vehicle, just a backup it should be fine.

My sister currently drives a 2010 Expedition XL with zero problems. Hers is loaded with 20" wheels, rear entertainment, ect.

My father has had two but both were last generation. Not a single issue with any of them

Chris

 

[jwstewar]

We looked at both the Expedition and the Suburban when we bought in 2008. We felt the vehicle was a much better vehicle and a nicer ride. It has been fantastic. We don't put a ton of miles on it as it only has 26k on it now and it is 4 years old. Not a single problem with it. Was only back to the dealer one time and that was because we took a power surge to the house and it jumped from the garage door opener down to the Onstar antenna and fried the BCM on it. Other than that, it hasn't been back to the dealer at all. It has the 5.3 with the AFM. You know, that one that drinks oil like crazy. I just checked mine for the first time ever, with 30% life left, the oil level is right were it was when I changed it. Ours has the 20" wheels, remote start, PW, PL, all that type of stuff. Though it doesn't have auto-climate control. The rear seats don't have to be removed for most things they can be folded for most things. I pull our 16' stock trailer with it, my 18' utility trailer, and then I've towed Mom's 30' camper (close to 7k lbs) with it as well. It has done all of it well. Overall average 15 MPG, but that was with a lot of short trips taking the kids back and forth to school. Now that we make them ride the bus and it gets longer trips it is gradually increasing a bit. Took it to the Cleveland Clinic a couple of times this fall and running 70 MPH I was getting 19.2 MPG. Ours is 4WD, with the old 4 speed tranny (didn't see where the 6 speed, bluetooth, and 1 model year newer was worth 15k) with 3.73 gears. It has ABS, stability control, traction control, and with the Auto-Trac 4WD (and normal 2 hi, 4 hi, and 4 lo) and the G80 rear locker it is really a beast. It will go about anywhere and is rock solid in doing it. I love to drive it. Very comfortable and rides great. Biggest complaint about it, the rear hitch is integrated into the frame and non-replaceable (not that I needed to), but I had to buy an 8" drop shank for my weight distribution hitches to get the 3 trailers to ride level. That being said, even though my Silverado is a half ton also and I tow our camper with it, I won't hook our camper to the Suburban. I don't feel the coil springs are "sturdy" enough for the 10k lbs and 36' length of our camper.

Not having looked at the Tahoe's with 3rd row, if it is anything like our Trailblazer EXT with the 3rd row (which also was flawless), there was no room behind the 3rd row. Had to fold the 3rd row for anything more than a few grocery sacks. It was about as wide as a 12 pack of pop. That is why we traded for the Suburban.

 

[Peacock]

I wouldn't own the Ford Expedition because in my experience with them they corrode much quicker than GM's do. They ride rougher, get worse fuel economy, aren't as comfortable, wear tires worse(due to the IRS) and have engines that aren't as reliable.

This may not be the case all the time, but I worked as a Ford dealer tech for 4yrs and have been around both pretty extensively in the last 8.5yrs. Those details certainly seem to be the trend.

I even have a neighbor( true story! ) that had his '05 Expedition frame rust through.

 

[firefighter jim]

As for towing, I would think the longer wheelbase Suburban would be a notch better. We'll sell you our Tahoe. Just sits in the garage. 97 with 40 k miles.

 

[deerefan]

As for towing, I would think the longer wheelbase Suburban would be a notch better. We'll sell you our Tahoe. Just sits in the garage. 97 with 40 k miles.

Sweet Tahoe. We decided to forgo buying either one. Just wont fit in our budget. I decided to make the necessary repairs to our 97 F150 and continue to use it as our backup tow vehicle. I do share the same thought you do as far as towing with the suburban.

 

[Hay Dude]

I wouldn't own the Ford Expedition because in my experience with them they corrode much quicker than GM's do. They ride rougher, get worse fuel economy, aren't as comfortable, wear tires worse(due to the IRS) and have engines that aren't as reliable.

This may not be the case all the time, but I worked as a Ford dealer tech for 4yrs and have been around both pretty extensively in the last 8.5yrs. Those details certainly seem to be the trend.

I even have a neighbor( true story! ) that had his '05 Expedition frame rust through.

"Liar" Sounds like another "my neighbor's Duramax......" story lol

jwstewar:
I have a similarly equipped Tahoe. Got our haybine stuck one day in a field. Both Fords were delivering hay out west. Tractors were indisposed, too. Called my wife to bring Tahoe over to one of the farms. Ours has the optional 20" bling wheels and what look like Corvette street slicks on it.
Laughing at what I thought would be a miserable failure, I hooked up a 30' chain and pulled a 12K lb hay cutter out of the mud in high range with our Tahoe. Thing never even blinked or barely skidded on grass.
As you said, were also still waiting for our 5.3L to start guzzling oil according to the TBN "experts" here too. Currently after 75K on the clock, we only use about a 1/2 quart every 5K miles. lol

What else takes a dump early on Tahoes? Give yout sister, neighbor, uncle a call.....lol

 

[fgross335_2210]

I went from a HD2500 Crewcab to a 2007 Tahoe....two years later traded for a used 2007 1500 Crew Cab which I still have...found that the Tahoe did not make a good tow vehicle and with the third row seats there was very little storage in the back. To do it over again I would have tried s Suburban or just stayed with the HD2500. The Tahoe's short wheelbase made it a very squirrely tow vehicle and I had a bad spinout/semi-jackknife situation pulling a 18' enclosed snowmobile trailer...no damage but had to be winched out of the ditch. Not going to go through that again.

If you're concerned with parking the subi, add a rear camera to the suburban and backing up and parking will be a lot easier.

BTW my 2007 Tahoe with the 5.3 used no oil for 65,000 miles. 2007 crew with same engine used none from 22K to 45K, had one oil change where it consumed over 2 quarts in 3000 miles, and since then it's used some but less than a quart between changes every 5K. I find if you're towing or driving highway it uses no oil; light throttle invokes 4 cyl mode and oil consumption skyrockets...now at about 100K and really no change. There are tuners you can buy to disable AFM and those that have report zero oil consumtion afterwards......