Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Towing A GMC Yukon

September 06, 2015, 01:44:24 pm

Our new (to us) 2003 Foretravel U295 M-3600 has a Cummins Turbo 400ISL.

Our previous MH was a Monaco Windsor 41 feet with a Cummins Turbo 350ISC.  We towed a 2002 Chevy Malibu
(3400 lbs) with it for years and hardly noticed it was behind us.

We have a 2003 GMC Yukon (6800 lbs) that we'd like to tow but it weighs twice as much as the Malibu.  Before I
go to the trouble of adapting the Yukon for towing I want to see if there's anyone here that is towing a 6400 lb
vehicle with a Cummins 400 ISL, and if so what are your thoughts on performance?

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #1 – September 06, 2015, 03:40:24 pm

I tow a z71 full 4Dr PU with my 450HP and hardly notice it behind me.  The PU weighs approx 5300LB empty.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #2 – September 06, 2015, 04:05:21 pm

On the flat, once up to speed, you will not notice the towd, regardless of weight.
During acceleration, or climbing a hill, you will notice the difference between 3000 and 6000 pound towds.
My Suzuki weighs less than 3000 pounds and I notice the difference between towing it and not towing it, even though I climb most hills at 48 mph, 4th gear, 1700 RPM, when towing.
I know a dude with a Foretravel U295 (Cummins 8.3) who tows a 7000 pound pickup and is thinking about changing his towd to a Suzuki which weighs half as much because he slows down on big hills.
Your Foretravel will tow your 7000 pound towd just fine, but you will accelerate and climb hills a little slower.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #3 – September 06, 2015, 04:21:52 pm

At one time a MC member towed a full size military type Hummer behind his FT.  Don't know whatever became of him.
Gary B

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #4 – September 06, 2015, 04:58:10 pm

Towing the 4500 lb toad on a 6% grade using cruise control is the same at 70 mph, with or without toad, drops to 5th, maintains 69 mph and up we go.  Yes being a gear head, I have made a couple subtle improvements. 

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #5 – September 06, 2015, 05:44:33 pm

Back to an ISL 400.  I've towed 2 vehicles with my ISL 400. The Honda Fit weighs about 2600 lbs and the Jeep Cherokee about 4000.  The extra 1400 lbs is noticeable under initial acceleration.  At speed there is no difference and no difference in braking (both with towed braking system).  I will say that after a valve adjustment and resonator upgrade I'm happy with improved performance.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #6 – September 06, 2015, 06:54:58 pm

Yes, you will notice between having hooked up and not having it on there but it will go just fine. Lots of heavy stuff being towed by that setup.  I get about 5 mph less on the same hill between my wrangler and my grand Cherokee. After a while it just becomes normal and you will not worry.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #7 – September 06, 2015, 08:41:44 pm

I towed my 07 Z71 Tahoe with the 400 hp M11 - we knew it was back there - I dropped a good 1mpg from the TDI wagon on a dolly.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #8 – September 06, 2015, 08:54:01 pm

I towed a full size E-150 cargo van loaded behind my U270 with an ISC350.  The loaded van was about 7000 lbs ( maybe a little more) and I towed it all over.  Yes , it is slower off the start and climbing hills, but we always got where we needed to go.  I sure was glad that I had the Blue Ox Aventa 10,000 lb tow bar and heavy duty towing cables.  Supplemental braking system in the toad is a must with that kind of weight.

Now we tow our 2013 Subaru Outback ( 3500 lbs or more with my stuff in it).  I still use the same tow set up, with an Air Force One for supplemental braking - tows great.

I did get a valve adjustment and resonator which also helps the performance.

You should have no problem towing- just be sure you have the heavy duty tow bar set up.

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Re: Towing A GMC Yukon

Reply #9 – September 06, 2015, 08:58:16 pm

I went from a 2011 Malibu to a 6200 lb. Chrysler Aspen.  Like others have said you quickly get use to it and think nothing of it.  Oh, and I have a 350 hp.

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