Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

[CoveSeeker]

Tow vehicle: 03 Z66 Chev Avalanche 5.3L 2wd, 3.73 ratio(i think) tow package<br />Boat: Dry weight--4,100 lbs.<br /><br />I towed the boat about 250 miles round trip this past weekend--i probably won't do this more than 2-3 times a year. I drove on I-35 and feel the need to drive at least 65 mph, especially at night to keep from getting run over. But the engine rpm's run at 2500 to 3000. Will running at 3000 rpm's damage my engine?<br />Mostly i tow just a couple miles to the local boat ramp.<br />Thanks,<br />Paul

 

[tommays]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I think your in good shape the motor will run a LONG time at that RPM<br /><br />I pull a total load of 4000# with 4.3 silverado i just push the TOW button and keep it in 3rd at 2600 to 2800 RPM<br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[JB]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

You left out the critical number, Seeker.<br /><br />What is the tow rating of your Avalanche as equipped?<br /><br />If the dry weight of the boat is 4100lb, then you need a tow rating over 5,000lb, I would go for 7,000lb.<br /><br />BTW, an often ignored, but valuable law requires brakes on that trailer. Do you have them?

 

[CoveSeeker]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Thanks for the replies,<br />I keep the TOW button pushed but usually just keep it in drive(?).<br />The max. trailer weight for my truck is 7,200 lbs. The GCWR is 13,000 lbs. My trailer is a tandem with drum brakes on one axle. I had the brake/brake shoes inspected and replaced about 6 months ago.<br />Thanks again,<br />Paul

 

[dingbat]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I tow a boat a little bgger than yours with the same setup only in a Tahoe. I typically run 65-70 mph and don't think I've ever seen 3000 rpm. The highest I've seen is 2500 rpm and that is on a pretty good grade that's about 2 miles long.<br />I've towed the boat and a tandem axle horse trailer since the truck was new new and it now has over 86K miles and counting and has never missed a beat.

 

[496 Cubic Inches]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Your set-up is fine. As stated earlier,towing at 3K rpms won't hurt anything. Alot of people forget that before O/D equipped trannys,engines ran at rpms 25-30% higher than they do know.<br /><br />If you're towing on flat ground you should try towing in O/D. If the tranny isn't hunting back and forth between O/D and 3rd. You'd be ok tow to in O/D.<br /><br />If you encounter any big hills you can manually drop it back into 3rd to save the tranny from shifting all the time.

 

[JB]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

As 496 says, Seeker, your setup is just right for that boat.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I've ever seen 3000 rpm. The highest I've seen is 2500 rpm and that is on a pretty good grade that's about 2 miles long.

A vortec 5.3 v-8 is one the best v-8 engines GM makes by a long shot. i have a 2002 Yukon with a 5.3 and i pull a 2,500 # boat with no brakes and i never have seen 3,000 RPM at highway speeds unless i am going up a large hill as stated above. At 65-70mph, it runs at 2,000 with Tow/Haul mode. It is important to use tow haul mode as well since it really helps the tranny and helps prevent it from "hunting" through gears. 3,000 wont do damage to your engine but it might damage your pocket a little bit...

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Your boat with trailer and gas could be pushing 5500# or more. Brakes on one axle is barely adequate for this load. <br /><br />I have a similar setup and I just addded brakes to the second axle. If your axle already has the brake flange on it, adding the second set of brakes is pretty cheap.<br /><br />The tow/haul mode changes the shift points to occur at higher RPMs. GM did this because the new engines develop their peak torque at higher RPMs than the older engines. It also prevents the hunting when driving on flat terrain like the previous poster said.

 

[Captain Paul]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I have been told by my Chevy dealer, when in "tow" mode, it will also prevent the transmission from going into overdrive if fluid temperatures are too high. As far as your engine is concerned, just look at your tach. 6000 rpm's and no redline???? I had a 91 Burb with the old 350, that rig could never rev like the new motors, the 5.3 has more torque and H.P. My 2 cents, you can run that 5.3 at 3 grand all day long and the engine will never know the difference. I run at 2500 to 2700 often.

 

[daaw]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I recently traded in my '04 Avalanche and if memory serves me correctly it did not have a transmission cooler, even though it came with a "tow package".

 

[CoveSeeker]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Thanks again for the replies. I finaly got my rig on a scale at the truck stop. Looks like I'm near/over capacity on the tow vehicle, trailer, and hitch equipment. The boat has a 55 gal gas tank and it was only about 1/4 full.<br />Truck and boat weight: between 11,000 and 12,000 (i left the exact #'s at the house)<br />Boat on trailer only while still hitched to truck: 5,700<br />Boat and trailer only, unhitched: 6,270<br />So I figure the tongue weight is about 570?<br />Capacity:<br />Truck: trailer 7,200 GCWR 13,000<br />hitch ball: 6,000 trailer 600 tongue wgt.<br />hitch insert(?) 6,000 trailer 600 tongue wgt.<br />factory installed hitch.<br /> 5,000 trailer 600 tongue weight<br /> w/ wgt distrub hitch<br /> 12,000 trailer 1,500 tongue wgt.<br />It looks like i need to shell out for a wgt distributing hitch if i want tow this rig out of town. I'm puzzled by the 5,000 hitch cap. vs. 12,000 with expensvie wgt distrib hitch.<br />My next task is to weigh the boat trailer alone to figure out how much the boat weighs. I may be near the 5500 to 6000 lb. capacity on the trailer. Ideally i think my next tow vehicle s/b be a 3/4 ton, but i was thinking about say an 2008 avalanche, the brakes are bigger and with a 4.10 gear ration the tow capacity w/b about 8,000.<br />Paul

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Ditch the factory hitch and get a better one put on. That is what I did with the hitch on my '02 3/4T Suburban. With your truck you should be able to use a deadweight hitch but need to get one that is rated higher than the stock GM one.<br /><br />The place that put mine on had a huge pile of the GM hitches that were removed in the back.<br /><br />Also, get brakes for that second axle.<br /><br />The problem with weight distributing hitches is that you severely hamper the operation of the surge actuauter unless you modify the trailer to add a roller assembly that the eq bars attatch to.

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Do they make a weight distributing boat trailer hitch? I thought they were only for travel trailers...

 

[aggiedave98]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

As far as towing that, I would get a tranny temp guage unless the new GM have that on the dash already...

 

[CoveSeeker]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

I have a putnam class v i'm going to have installed. also bought a solid steel ball mount, and a higher capacity hitch ball.
I still need to check into brakes for the second axle.

I was towing Sunday, truck ran at 3,000 rpm's(had it in 3rd?--not in overdrive) at 65 to 70 mph for several miles. The enigne temp started to creep up past the middle 210 point on the gauge--i slowed to 2500 rpm and 55 to 60 mph and the temp dropped back down just below 210.

 

[Hazmat91180]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Excuse my "tude" but what the hell are you driving in 3rd for? you cannot got faster then 70 in 3rd without SERIOUS damage to the engine, much less the rev limiter is going to keep you from damiging it quickly.

Keep it in Overdrive WITH Tow/HAUL on. They put it there for a reason.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Equal-i-zer makes an equalizer assy that works with surge brakes.

http://www.equalizerhitch.com/

We've gone a couple thousand miles with this rig so far and it's quite managable.

 

[brine]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

sorry for breaking in but Hazmat should understand that leaving the tranny in 3rd will do a whole heck of a lot LESS damage than OD.

Thanks for the link JEFFNICK I plan on adding thaat to my setup. ..which i run in 3rd gear with tow haul on.

 

[aggiedave98]

Re: Do I need a bigger tow vehicle?

Hazmat91180,

Have you thought about a new tranny??? I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the new trucks, but on the older ones, the 2-4 servo doesn't have enough holding power stock to two in overdrive if you're shifting a lot or if you're in hills.

I am honestlyl not trying to be rude here either, but do you know how an auto tranny works. At least in the older chevy ones like a 700r4 (and I think most 4 speeds with OD) the sun gear has a big band that holds in for 2nd and 4th. That band can slip big time. If you really want to tow in OD in at least the older ones you should have a Kevlar band and a higher pressure to hold the servo.

I bring this up because I don't want everybody to think it's just ok to push the tow button and you're magically ok.