In our search for a new home, Mr. TCP kept mentioning this topic of “weight of the Airstream” and the “towing capacity” of the Tahoe. He was very adamant that we stay under a certain weight so the Tahoe would have the power to pull it through our journey. I didn’t really think much of it because, well, I don’t really think about much honestly. And I usually just leave most of everything up to Mr. TCP. Literally. Can you say dependent?
We made sure the new home didn’t weigh more than what the Tahoe could handle and we did just fine. The Airstream weighs 5,500lbs dry and with our crap it weighs roughly 6,000lbs. Early on, we made the mistake of pulling it with a bunch of water in it. Oops. We now make sure the Airstream is completely empty before heading out on a long haul. Oh and the Tahoe’s towing capacity is 8,200 with the added tow package it has.
I dropped the Tahoe off at Master Lube, great little place in Waco, TX, to have it serviced and they sure did fix her up nicely. She was running smoothly and happy as a clam. I even got a couple, “You’re going to pull the Airstream with this?” from some folks. But shook it off.
After we had put a few miles between us and Waco, my dad would ask “How’s the Tahoe doing?” “Is it pulling the Airstream OK?” Well duh, dad. It’s doing great. At this point, we had only traveled through the flat lands of West Texas and a bit of New Mexico.
When we arrived in Arizona, at Catalina State Park, we had an older gentleman stop by and ask us how the Tahoe does pulling our “rig”. Why would he ask such a thing? It does fine!
Well well well, we hadn’t hit the mountains yet. And let me tell you, the Tahoe DOES NOT like the mountains. It’s a struggle going up and then equally as not fun coming down.
But we made it to our next destination and then my dad asked again, “How is the Tahoe doing?”. On top of that, we had another neighborhood gentleman ask us again, “Does the Tahoe pull your trailer well?”. What is with all the questions people?! If I were the Tahoe, I would be feeling very special that everyone was so concerned with my well being.
And then it happened, we finally figured out we might be putting our SUV through too much. Especially when we hit mountainous regions. We both uttered the words, “How about a diesel?”.
Next, I did what I normally do with any big decision. I called my dad and said “I think we might need a diesel.” Much to my surprise he returned with “Well, I do think I see a diesel in your near future.” Where was this wise advice when we were still in Texas?!
I do wish this was something that would have been thought harder about while still at home so we could have made a vehicle change before hitting the wide open road. Right now we are in a bit of a pickle. While, yes, we could go purchase a big ol’ diesel pusher but then here we are with two vehicles. We can’t exactly trade-in the Tahoe, or even sell it to a private party, because we are missing all of the seats. Yes, that is right, we took out the second row bucket seats along with the third row and left them at my dads. At time, it was a great idea! More space for all of our stuff. But now, we are sitting here with a vehicle, if need be, we can’t do anything with.
We do have a few options though.
Option 1: We can live with what we have. While it’s not an ideal situation because we are worried about the ability of the Tahoe to pull through the regions we are headed, but it’s shown us that it’s capable of going through the mountains. Even if it makes it a bit angry.
Option 2: Buy a truck up here, hey no sales tax in Oregon! We’d then either ship ($$$$) the Tahoe back to my dad OR I have a good friend that has offered to fly up and drive it back ($$). I like part II of that because we’d get to see our good friend AND it would be a little easier on the wallet.
Option 3: I’d fly down to Dallas, pick up a truck, then drive to Waco get the seats to the Tahoe and then haul it all back to Oregon. This one sounds pretty miserable. But doable.
So there you have it. Our current pickle. And it’s a bit sour.
