Anyone Towing with Denali or Escalade?

I'm thinking about picking up a 2007 Denali with the 6.2L and 6 spd auto. Anyone towing with one of these? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Peter

I tow with an 07 escalade. I had a SAN 210 and I am picking up my 07 XStar tomorrow. I have pulled a lot of different boats w/it and have no complaints. That motor has no issues pulling! I absolutely love it and the reason I went w/it was b/c of that motor. Get the back up camera option as well, it makes backing up to your trailer no problem at all.

Love my Denali...sometimes you forget your towing your boat with all the power. Mine has the 6.0 liter so 6.2 will be even better

I just bought a 07 Denali XL with the 6.2 at the beginning of this month. It tows my 04 X2 like a dream. It kinda freaked me out the first time I was hitching it up and the air compressor for the air bags kicked on. The rear camera makes it a breeze to back the ball on to the boat.

I have a 07 EXT and it towes awesome. I dont know how the longer wheel base towes compaired to the shorter Esclade or Denalli. Im getting like 21-17 MPG Freeway depending on how hard im pushing it. Towing Im getting like 15-10 MPG

I pull with an 07 Escalade, pulls great. I took out Mobius LSV from San Diego to Martinez Lake (outside of Yuma) just a few weeks ago, pulled like a champ. The mountains were no match for my 403hp Beast. But the best part is the DVD player with headphones. Kept everyone else in the Caddy quiet the whole way out there! The reverse camera makes hooking up soo easy, don't need anyone to help you, backs perfectly to the trailer.

i have an 03 denali with the 6.0 and it tows like a champ!

It has the power to PULL

Had the Denali and loved it tons of balls to pull up the biggest hills. Gas consumption was in question thou. The air bag ride is sweet. Sold the denali and bought a Ford Expedition and hate that Ford. Expedition is nothing compaired to the Denali. If you have an Expedition and think it pull okay try a Denali and you will think your Ford is a pile of dooo.

the expedition probably gets worse mileage than the denali huh?

does anybody know if they're going to offer the 6.2l and 6 speed tranny in the Suburban?

I test drove the Denali and liked it a lot...but I like the front end styling of the Suburban better (and not interested in the caddy). It looks as though the best you can get with the 'burban though is the 6 liter with a 5 speed.

and Brannon...are you talking about the '07 Expedition? We're deciding between the denali/suburban, Expedition EL, or waiting for the '08 Sequoia, which is supposed to be bigger. I like that the Expedition has fold flat third row (not the Denali), and also is about $5k or so cheaper comparably equipped...

(Message edited by tommyg on June 26, 2007)

That triton 5.4 ford is a real piece of crap as far as pulling. I just sold mine and got a older Denali and it pulls tons better.

Now, I don't agree. I have an '02 Expedition XLT 5.4 Triton that I just got finished pulling my Tige 24Ve (4300# appx) up a 3 mile 7% grade without a problem in drive 1.

Denali pwns any boat

I have an 07 Denali and it is by far the best tow vehicle I have owned. The Suburban can get the 6.0 motor, but NOT the 6.2 with the 6 speed.

(Message edited by msutoad on June 26, 2007)

Thanks for the feedback.Do they all have air bag suspension or is an option I need to order?

All 07 Denali's and Escalades come with the auto air ride leveling system.

Enjoy!

Got an '07 Denali, pulls my 2005 SV211 w/ 1,300 lbs. of lead in it with no problem at all. SWEET ride, best vehicle I have owned so far.

David B that boat is sweet! ! ! !

Thanks Big E, I kind of like it too.

This is my fully loaded 07 burb 2500 w 6.0. I did not like the front end of the Denali so this was my choice. It doesn't have the kick the Danali has but does pull fine.

Hey I am not trying to start anything but since you are out shopping, Do yourself a favor and test drive the 07 Armada LE

MSRP $47K (Denali) vs $43K (Armada LE),
Engine 6.2L (Denali) vs 5.6K (Armada LE),
Torque 417ft# (Denali) vs 385ft# (Armada LE),
I am really impressed by the power this 5.6L put out!

Now the biggie....Std tow capacity!

7900# (Denali) vs 9100# (Armada LE)

The Denali's are nice now that they come with rear camera's, Navi, Auto air assisted suspensions but Nissan was already doing that with the Armada years ago!

nissans get much worse gas mileage though i had a v6 frontier and it got about the same mileage as my denali and ive heard horror stories about the mileage on the 5.6 engine

what makes the nissan tow more? the frame? is the frame really that much beefier?

Just the combination of suspension, torque, weight etc that was engineered in the vehicle that gives it that tow rating. That V6 in your frontier put out almost as much torque/hp as the Ford V8. I did an Intake and cat back system on my 05 and I noticed at least a 10% gain on HP and MPG. I have gotten 18.5 mpg (no tow) on drives to havasu with the cruise at 70. I just got my 22 SS launch so I have only done local tows to the lake but the computer is telling me I am getting 13 mpg in tow. Read the reviews on Yahoo Auto for the GM and there is a lot of complaining about the MPG being considerably less on the Denali than stated.

The 07 Expedition with the heavy duty trailer tow is an excellent way to go it moves up the towing to 9000#. It rides very nicely and and shifts excellent with it's six speed trans. I own a Denali and will likely be getting one of these as soon as rebates improve.

By the way the 5.4 has excellent low end torque which is important when pulling up those steep launch grades.

My brother has the Infinity QX56 its the pimped out version of the Armada. I towed with it last week. Its real nice. I can honestley say that it towed as good if not better then my Esclade EXT. The 0-40 MPH felt faster towing with the QX-56. But the freeway pull felt better on my EXT. The Infinity is real nice but the interior in my Esclade is better IMO and the Nave on the QX is kind of a joke real bad screen. If it was a choice between the Armada and the Denalli I would take the Denali. If it was a Choice between the Esclade and the Inifnity I would still take the Esclade. The Infinity would be my 2nd choice for a new tow rig. The interior room on the Armada and QX and the flat folding seets cant be beat.

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By leonard araujo (laraujo) on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:22 am:

Hey I am not trying to start anything but since you are out shopping, Do yourself a favor and test drive the 07 Armada LE

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Ya, do yourself and your fellow American a favor, drive American! If these Japanese cars are really that much better why do have to subsidize them for everything??

In 1997, the state of Alabama granted huge subsidies to Mercedes in exchange for a plant that would employ 1,500 people. What were the details of this huge incentive package? $300 million in tax breaks, $253 million in direct incentives, $60 million in Alabama taxpayer money to send fellow Alabamans to Germany for training, and a promise to buy 2,500 of the new Mercedes SUV’s at $30,000 each. Based on just the initial $300 million grant alone, those 1,500 jobs will cost Alabama taxpayers $200,000 per job. Apparently Alabama, not Mercedes, will be paying those salaries for years to come. With deals like these, it’s no wonder foreign automakers have stepped up production in the U.S. We’ll even pay their workers’ salaries for them!

In 1987, Toyota constructed an auto plant on part of the 1,500 acres of free land given to them in Georgetown, Kentucky. The auto plant was built by a Japanese steel company using Japanese steel. The U.S. government granted a “special trade zone” so that Toyota could import auto parts from Japan duty-free. Financing was handled by Mitsui Bank of Japan. Total federal and state grants and incentives exceeded $100 million. These subsidies, of course, were courtesy of your tax dollars.

Tennessee gave Nissan $11,000 per job for their Smyrna plant built in 1980. South Carolina coughed up $79,000 per job to convince Germany’s BMW to build their plant in Spartanburg in 1992. Were you aware that our government was using your money to create jobs? Or are these merely job announcements where you and I foot the bill? Job announcements do make for great rhetoric for state governors’ re-election campaigns. How many years will it take a factory worker in Alabama to pay back the $200,000+ in tax money that the government gave away? A conservative answer would be “several.”

Ya that Nissan is a great car, but the guy was asking about the Denali and Escalade. Everyone gives me crap for suggestiong CC to everyone, so here I am to give you a little!

Love it, great job. Where did you find this info I always here the "yeah but it's made here in the US by American workers" Thanks.

"Ya, do yourself and your fellow American a favor, drive American!"

I do drive an american assembled Nissan from Tenn.! The American Taxpayer has been subsidizing big business for years. You are probably too young to remember the billion dollar bail out of Chrysler back in the late 70's. A Billion $ was a lot of money back then in todays dollars! Ford is currently on the verge of repeating Chryslers history. The question was about towing and I just suggested he take a look the SUV with the higher std tow rating.

Times are a changing. GM is no longer the #1 car company in the world! Toyota is! That is nobody's fault but GM! I had Ford/Chevy for years and I am sorry but the Nissan product is just better IMO. Ford/GM/Chrysler factories are closing and Nissan/Toyota/Mercedes etc.. are opening in this country... what does that tell you about quality and consumer demand?

One more thing, open the hood of the GM or Ford and you will find that vast percentage of the mechanics/electronics are actually made offshore so technically speaking your not really buying American anyways!

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One more thing, open the hood of the GM or Ford and you will find that vast percentage of the mechanics/electronics are actually made offshore so technically speaking your not really buying American anyways!

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NOT TRUE!! Educate your old self!! Profits from American car manufacturers go to an American company where the profits ultimately go to Americans. A japanese company ultimately sends the profits to Japan when everything is said and done.

The American auto manufacturers currently go by the old system that they are stuck with, paying union workers, while the japs and other foreign factories don't use union labor. They are not on an equal playing field, yet!

Don't fool yourself, you drive a rice burner!! You can justify it to yourself any way you want, but try to tell your grandfather about it, I know I couldn't tell my mother's father who died in Bastogne or my dad's who died in Burma.

Yes, you are correct American companies are given grants and incentives to build plants here. The most recent is $100 million in incentives for Cadillac to build their next plant in Michigan. It is my opinion that we should not be imitating the Third World by using public money to bid for jobs. But when given the choice between foreign investment (Toyota, Mercedes, Nissan) and American investment (General Motors and Ford), American investment is much better for America.

The deal Alabama gave Mercedes makes the deal Michigan gave GM seem rather frugal. The point here is that these huge incentives that are offered to foreign companies are rarely offered to our own companies here at home. Such incentives allow foreign companies to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in costs per automobile. And American companies acquire more of their parts from domestic sources, so more jobs are created in the automotive parts industry in America.

America needs more American investment, not more foreign investment.

ive only owned foreign cars untill now! a few months ago my driveway consisted on a nissan truck, a scion, and a subaru wagon, now my driveway has a denali, and 2 jeep patriots in it

i still would never drive an american car but they make a nice truck!

"Profits from American car manufacturers go to an American company where the profits ultimately go to Americans."

Sorry, profits go to the shareholders of the company as dividends or increased equity. Stock Equity is owned by both US and Foreign investment. They too like the consumer are voting with their dollars!.

Do you honestly believe that the semiconductor electronics in the navigation system of the Denali were built by some guy named "Bubba in a factory in Michigan?" Sorry, but that is not true! for that and the majority of all the other parts that say Delco, Mopar or Ford on them. Those domestic sources you speak of are all doing "Virtual Manufacturing" with actual production/engineering offshore.

In todays dollars, the Alabama deal pails in comparison to the bail out of Chrysler. We are still paying for that! Even the Germans tried to pick up were the American taxpayer could not and now Chrysler is for sale to private equity for 7B which is less in 1970-80's dollars for what we bailed them out for.

"The American auto manufacturers currently go by the old system that they are stuck with, paying union workers, while the japs and other foreign factories don't use union labor".

So buy your logic above.! Are you telling me now that now since GM and the like are shutting down their US plants in order to manufacture with cheap Foreign Labor abroad to sell in the US; then we should not be buying these vehicles because they are not assembled by Americans?
Hey at least the Jap companies are building new factories in the US!

I think what you need to realize is that the world is shrinking. Products are not country specific like our Grandparents day! Denali's are not 100% made in USA and Armada's are not 100% made in Japan. In the end, consumers vote with thier dollars for the best product! That being said, when GM comes out with a product that IMO is better... I will buy it!

Forget the discussion about the Armada, the question was about the Denali and Escalade (which I am interested in hearing about as well). If this was just a discussion about towing capability, the Armada wouldn't even have come up as folks would be debating Ford Super Duty vs. Chevy HD. Armada would get laughed out of the forum. Back to the discussion...

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Sorry, profits go to the shareholders of the company as dividends or increased equity. Stock Equity is owned by both US and Foreign investment. They too like the consumer are voting with their dollars!.

Do you honestly believe that the semiconductor electronics in the navigation system of the Denali were built by some guy named "Bubba in a factory in Michigan?" Sorry, but that is not true! for that and the majority of all the other parts that say Delco, Mopar or Ford on them. Those domestic sources you speak of are all doing "Virtual Manufacturing" with actual production/engineering offshore.

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Wrong again! The American owned portion of GM and Ford substantially outweigh the proportion of the American ownership in foriegn auto manufacturers. Therefore more dollars end up in American hands for Ford and Chevy than any Jap company.

You are wrong again when you talk about the navigation system in the Denali. The majority of microprocessors in GM and Ford are made here in America, Intel, Genuine, Motorola, and Flip-Chip are just a couple of companies that make them. And let me tell you this, they would kick your butt for calling them Bubba! I worked at Intel Fab 6 here in Chandler, AZ and we made every disc brake controller that goes into ANY and I mean ANY car! We were making them for around 3 cents a piece on 30 year old equipment, while the japanese were trying to make the same product on new equipment with current technology for 28 cents and closed their doors as a result. The majority of GM electronics were made by Delco or another subsidiary of GM. Yes, some of them are on foreign soil, but the money comes back here, not Japan or China.

It was the US government's trade laws that put Chrysler in the tank and it was the US government's decision to make the bailout...

Don't try to give me an globalization lesson, my generation and those that follow me will have to deal with it more than you can every imagine! All globalization is, is the redistribution of American wealth.

Trying to get it back on track. A cool feature on the EXT. When its in tow mode. It down shifts for ya going down hill. Example your going up a steep hill, Tow mode holds it in the gear a bit longer. It also downshifts for you on the downhill so you dont end up riding your brakes going down the back side of the hill. As soon as you put your foot on the gas it puts it back into a higher gear

you denali guys, are you always using tow mode? or do you just use it for around town?

"You are wrong again when you talk about the navigation system in the Denali. The majority of microprocessors in GM and Ford are made here in America, Intel, Genuine, Motorola, and Flip-Chip are just a couple of companies that make them"

I worked 20 years with STMicroelectornics. At the time it was the 3rd largest Semi company (Europe)in the world. Delco, was a big customer of STM. power chips, processors, etc. The silicon was Fabbed in Agrate Italy, Component packaging done in Muar (North Africa). As I recall the only thing American about it was the warehouse in Tempe Arizona where it shipped from!

It was the US government's trade laws that put Chrysler in the tank and it was the US government's decision to make the bailout...

The trade laws you speak off "North America Free trade agreement" That happened about 10yrs (Reagan administration) or so after the Chrysler Debunkle. I suggest you check.
your facts! Poor Quality put Chrysler in the tank plain and simple!

By the way Nissan was taken over by Renault so I guess they are not "rice burners" anymore. Oh and since Ford bought Mazda, Jaguar, and Volvo (a smart move by Ford to get competent talent) does that now make them OK? Its just Globalization Man! I have been living it my whole career!

My apology to all, I did not want to start anything. This is my last post on this subject.

Hey EXT owners -

How useful is the cargo bed on those things? I very much like having at least a shortbed pickup functionality for hauling cargo. The bed looks like it is really tall, but not very deep. Does it actually hold anything or do you have to fold it down and lose the back seat when putting anything larger than groceries in the bed?

G,
Holding gears downhill sounds like a really great feature. Thanks for that info, I had no idea. Thanks to all for the great input. I think we're down to just deciding on color.

I wouldn't even consider the Armada. My brother in law has one and I just don't care for how it looks. It does have a ton of room inside though. Just NOT for me in any way.

Thanks again for all the great info.

“Do you honestly believe that the semiconductor electronics in the navigation system of the Denali were built by some guy named "Bubba in a factory in Michigan?”

Are you saying that Americans aren’t at the forefront of technological innovation? Please…for the most part foreign governments subsidize companies to imitate & copy U.S. technology. While this is not always true, it’s true most of the time. They (foreign companies) rip-off U.S. technology and pay people pennies on the dollar to produce the knock-off products and then re-sell them to the U.S. population, making a killing while they are at it. Trying to say that we don’t have a technical advantage over the vast majority of the world is just plain silly. You think we are the Superpower because we have a lot of really tough soldiers who fight good??? Hell no, it’s because we have technical supremacy in the theatre, highly sophisticated electronics and hardware developed right here in the U.S.A. buy guys named “Bubba”.


Unfortunately, the majority of Americans don’t see the big picture when they make a consumer decision, they just see the bottom line, everyone’s looking for a deal. If you ask me we should tax the hell out of all foreign imports (cars, electronics, etc.) and put them money back into the American government. Why should we help develop other countries economies when they don’t do squat for us? That’s not my opinion, that’s fact, look at the trade deficit, totally ridiculous.

Anyways…I pull in tow mode all the time, mainly for the transmission shifting it commands.

Look at medicine for example. Countries like china and Japan steal from US companies and than Pirate their products. Countries other than the US and European contires rarely come up with new technology, they just steal it.

JPK. You can load a full sheets of MDF 49 inches wide I picked up 4 Sheets the other day and it was easyer than my Ford F-150. The higher bed made it easyer to load. You can take the bed cover off in sections and and fold down the rear seet and fit lots of stuff back there,
It takes just a few min's to transform







Some of the other features I love.
Remote Start, Automatic High beams (intelli beam)
HID head lights, 6 Speed, Back up cammera, Heated and Air conditioned seets, Heated stearing wheel, Memory seets, 403 HP and pretty good gas milage. The ability to haul stuff in the bed and keep it dry and safe (I.E wake boards and equipment)

Hey G,
Where do you put the back window when you take it out? I see out the seats fold up, but what about the window?

There is a mounting location on the half wall that folds down. Would face toward floor when inserted there..

The window pops out and slips into the back wall that folds down you can see it in one of the pics.

Look in the 3rd Pic. There is a cust out where the window fits into the front side of the mid gate. It locks in and is on the underside of the mid gate when its folded down.

We were having some hot weather the other week and I took out the rear window and stored it away in the mid gate and drove around. It was real nice. You can hardley tell its out. No buffering noise or the traditional wind and road noise you hear when you open the rear window on a truck

Grant- That is unbelievable that you are getting 10-15 MPG towing! Is this the same for all of you with the Denalis and Escalades? I went with the 2007 Tahoe (mostly because I liked the style the best) and I'm lucky if I get 10 MPG. According to the computer we're averaging 11 MPG overall and that includes my wife's around town driving, although most of its miles are from towing. I had heard great things about the fuel economy of the new Tahoes and I've been bitterly disappointed. Everything else about it I love. Oh, except the lack of fold flat 3rd row seat. And definitely get the reverse camera--as mentioned before it really makes hitching up a snap!

Josh,
What engine and gears do you have? Heck, I get 11-12 towing with my '05 Tahoe and I only have 4.8 L

It's the 5.3L V8 with 320HP and 340 lb-ft of torque. I don't know the exact gear ratios, but they are whatever is standard in the LTZ. Says it has the best fuel economy in its class, but if that's true mine's broken.

You said most of the miles on it are from towing. If you haven't reset the trip computer than it wouldn't be reading very high. Reset that thing and hop on the freeway, if it still reads that low than I think you have a problem with your rig. It should have 3.73 gears standard on that thing.

SOLD!!!