Looking to step the wife up from a two door s10 blazer to something a little bigger. looked at the 98 99 yukon tahoe's and seem to be her fit. just wondering how they do on gas and how they tow(5.7 auto). i'll be towing my cherokee four door with it and was wondering if this thing would be worth it for her a daily driver, and me to tow my cheroeke once a month.

I have a 97 Thaoe with a 5.7/Auto that I have pulled my Cherokee with. It doesn't do too bad. I have only pulled the XJ once, but I have pulled multiple RV's with it. Keep in mind, it is a 1/2 ton with a SBC, so you won't be winning any races with it. Mine gets about 10mpg in town, and when towing, 20mpg on the highway when not towing. The only problem I have had is the Service Engine light comes on when pulling up steep grades in 2nd gear. I suspect it is the O2 sensor going goofy. The light eventually goes out.
I think it will work fine for you. If you don't have a trailer yet, get one with a lower deck height, to keep the wind resistance down.

I had a 95 4 door Tahoe,350 auto. I got about 8-10 mpg towing and in town and 12-14 highway. I towed my 73 bronco with it a couple times, generally it wasn't to bad, on steep hills it was pushing the truck big time and stopping down hills was asking a lot of the brakes. Trailer brakes would resolve the braking issue. I also think that my bronco weighing 4500 lbs didn't help anything. For what I am doing it wasn't enough truck.

Tim

got a friend who tows with a 99. 5.7,auto. Tows a fairly small xj on a 12 foot light weight trailer I built him. Seems to tow pretty well. holds speed well enough. Gets about 9-10 towing. HTH. dave

Marginal towrig, but it'll get you by if your rig isn't too heavy. Tow in 3rd, not OD (regardless of how flat it is or how fast you're going).

TEX

Marginal towrig, but it'll get you by if your rig isn't too heavy. Tow in 3rd, not OD (regardless of how flat it is or how fast you're going).

TEX

I tow with a 94 2-door, TBI 350, auto. Its not the fastest thing in the world and on long grades you have to keep an eye on the tranny temps but it does the job just fine. Anything over 4k really needs trailer brakes, and the front rotors warp really easy. I tow my 4200lb rig on a 1500lb flatbed all the time without trouble.

Dallas

FYI-I think it's the 96 and newer that have the Vortec motors.

FYI-I think it's the 96 and newer that have the Vortec motors.
that would be correct.. Vin code K=TBI and Vin code R=Vortrec..

I towed with a '98 Tahoe for about 5 years. My pickup on the trailer was close to 6000 lbs. When I got married and started taking the wife and stepson with me I realized that I really didn't want to kill them or me. I bought an F350 superduty and would never go back.

The Tahoe is really only good for about 5000 lbs. I know it is rated for more but the trans is weak, the rear suspension is too soft, the brakes SUCK, and the frame is weak. I upgrade the brakes on mine to slotted rotors and that helped alot. I had the trans built with a big cooler, but 2 years later it needed to be rebuild again since there is a weakness in the trans that is aggrevated by heavy towing. I was planning on putting some airbags and a big sway bar in the rear because it couldn't really handle much load, and was really unstable. When I traded it in the trailer hitch was angled down several degrees and upon further inspection I found that the frame was bent and cracks were developing.

Having said that for a truck it was really nice. Mine was an LT and fully loaded. I loved driving it. With the built trans, an K&N filter, and throttle body spacer, and a big exhaust it really moved. The best mileage I ever got was 18, but that was with some super shitty little skinny tires. Average mileage daily driving was 15mpg with 31" BG ATs, and 10mpg towing. My big @ss F350 crew cab, long bed, 4X4, gets 16 highway and 13-15 towing, and I now I will make it there ALIVE.

Basically it was a fun truck but I wouldn't recommend it for towing anything more than a light load, and if you really just want a family car with room there are MUCH MUCH MUCH safer, more comfortable, roomier, more practical cars out there. If you are going to get one, upgrade the trans, brakes, shocks, suspension, and buy some sort of sway control for your trailer ... I got the Tahoe and trailer on 2 wheels once because of out of control sway, aggrevated by the short wheelbase and shitty suspension. My suggestion would be to get a family car(like a mini-van) for the wife and buy an older 1-ton crew cab truck to tow with.

Looking to step the wife up from a two door s10 blazer to something a little bigger. looked at the 98 99 yukon tahoe's and seem to be her fit. just wondering how they do on gas and how they tow(5.7 auto). i'll be towing my cherokee four door with it and was wondering if this thing would be worth it for her a daily driver, and me to tow my cheroeke once a month.

You may consider a 2500 Suburban instead. Heavier brakes, frame, tranny, rearend, suspension, but only about a foot longer then a 4 door Tahoe/Yukon. Lots were sold with Vortec 5700s, although most probably have 4.10 gears which will drop the mileage some.

I would guess 15-16 Hway, 10 ish towing and around 12-14 town depending on the traffic. The deeper gears actually help with mileage around town.

I tow my TJ with my '01 Tahoe. It does fine. It has the 5.3 Vortec and it has plenty of power to tow the Jeep. I wouldn't want to do any really serious towing with it and it's definitely not what you want for a dedicated tow vehicle. But, for the daily driver that doubles as an occassional light/medium duty tower, it's perfect! My parents have a pre-Vortec Suburban with the 5.7 in it. While my Tahoe has more power, the Suburban with it's longer wheelbase is noticably more stable while hauling. Like others have said, the Tahoe's suspension isn't great for towing, so use a weight-distributing hitch.

In reply, to the previous post about 2500 Suburban's, while there are quite a few 2500's with the 4.10's, I'm pretty sure you can also find them with 3.73's.

I bought a new Tahoe in 1995 and towed a 6000 lb. Bobcat several times w/ it. Worked as good as any 1/2 ton truck I've had.