5.3l And Towing

[jzinckgra]

I used to have an 05 Tacoma, 6cyl. and for towing two snowmobiles and a trailer it was qujite good. Total weight of sleds anf trailer was ~1600lbs. I had to to the same sled/trailer yesterday for the 1st time with the 5.3 and I am scratching my head a little. I expected more torque and overalll power than the Tacoma. Maybe it's just me, but the 5.3 seems a littly doggy. Going up small inclines on the highway was a bit lethargic with overall power and speed dropping unless I put my foot down pretrty hard on the accelerator. I think part of it has to do with the shift points and maybe a tune would help.

 

The other question I have is when going down a steep hill. In my Tacoma I could downshift to create some braking effect, but the GMC doesn't seem to do this, although I thought I read somewhere in the manual that it will. Do you have to shift into manual and downshift the truck on your own? Overall, I am happy with the truck, but some aspects of it were somewhat unexpected.

[RyanbabZ71]

6 speed trans?

 

Were you using tow haul?

[Wires]

I used to have an 05 Tacoma, 6cyl. and for towing two snowmobiles and a trailer it was qujite good. Total weight of sleds anf trailer was ~1600lbs. I had to to the same sled/trailer yesterday for the 1st time with the 5.3 and I am scratching my head a little. I expected more torque and overalll power than the Tacoma. Maybe it's just me, but the 5.3 seems a littly doggy. Going up small inclines on the highway was a bit lethargic with overall power and speed dropping unless I put my foot down pretrty hard on the accelerator. I think part of it has to do with the shift points and maybe a tune would help.

 

The other question I have is when going down a steep hill. In my Tacoma I could downshift to create some braking effect, but the GMC doesn't seem to do this, although I thought I read somewhere in the manual that it will. Do you have to shift into manual and downshift the truck on your own? Overall, I am happy with the truck, but some aspects of it were somewhat unexpected.

 

Tune will make a big difference (with the lugging issues). Did you have the "tow/haul" on? It should do the engine braking with that enabled. If you want more control, you can pop it into "M" and force it down a gear or two.

[jzinckgra]

yes, 6speed. I was trying the tow mode out and in certain instances, like merging onto highway I could see a benefit, but when going from a stop sign and having to climb a steep hill, didn't seem like much power.

[Volucris]

The tacoma weighs about 72% as much as a Silverado, and the Toyota 4.0L puts out about 80% of the 5.3L HP and Torque. That's stock of course.

 

Not to surprising the Tacoma pulls your trailer close to or maybe a tad bit better than the Silverado.

[RyanbabZ71]

The other question I have is when going down a steep hill. In my Tacoma I could downshift to create some braking effect, but the GMC doesn't seem to do this, although I thought I read somewhere in the manual that it will. Do you have to shift into manual and downshift the truck on your own? Overall, I am happy with the truck, but some aspects of it were somewhat unexpected.

 

When using the tow haul with the 6 speed there is an engine braking feature.

[Stevens03]

What gears. I find it hard to believe even with the weight difference. Besides, your WAY MORE stable on the road with the full size verse the smaller trucks.

[music]

Not sure about the 6-spd or what rear gear you have, but that sized trailer would be barely noticeable behind my truck. With the 6-spd, I'd use tow/haul or put it in M5 and stay out of 6th (if it feels sluggish on the hwy). Tow/haul holds the gears for power, rather than shifting early for economy.

[wfleeger]

Not sure about the 6-spd or what rear gear you have, but that sized trailer would be barely noticeable behind my truck. With the 6-spd, I'd use tow/haul or put it in M5 and stay out of 6th (if it feels sluggish on the hwy). Tow/haul holds the gears for power, rather than shifting early for economy.

 

+1. Would hardly notice it behind mine either.

[P71_CrownVic]

What gears. I find it hard to believe even with the weight difference. Besides, your WAY MORE stable on the road with the full size verse the smaller trucks.

 

Makes all the difference.

[gmowner4life]

That's odd. Like the others have said, I really don't feel the boat behind me when I pull it.

[mxdirtrider56]

First thing that came to mind for me has already been mentioned. What gears? I still can't believe it would feel sluggish though. My truck has 285s and 3.42 gears and I wouldn't even know it was back there if it was a trailer with two snowmobiles. I haul multiple large 4wheelers all the time and you can't even feel em' back there. I pull a 30' pontoon boat just fine in the mountains.

[jzinckgra]

gearing is 3.08. aren't the 3.42 setups better for towing and overall performance?

[jzinckgra]

just a quick search seems to dictate that 4.42 setup would be better. damn, didn't even consider gearing before I bought.

[music]

gearing is 3.08. aren't the 3.42 setups better for towing and overall performance?

 

Sure, but the weight you're towing is closer to zero than it is to the tow rating of the 3.08 (you're probably at 25% of the rated capacity). It may very well be that the truck is just going quickly to 6th with so little load, but that's too high a gear with anything more than an empty truck. Use M5, or even M4 to keep that from happening. Tow/haul should do the same thing (prevent high gears at lower speeds).