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Thoughts on first tow with new 6.2L


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Just finished a month long, 11,000 km trip (BC, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, BC), with the first tow of a travel trailer (4300 lbs fully loaded including passengers) with the new 2012 Sierra ext cab, 6.2L, 3:73, 6 spd, with full tow package and WD hitch. Have pulled the same trailer almost the same route with a 4.8 Sierra. Hit every type of terrain, including flat and straight to extreme up and down hill to everything in between. My thoughts on the experience:

 

Towing - Not as impressed with the tow capability as I thought I was going to be, especially in higher gears. With the former truck, I had to tow in 3rd at no more than 60 mph at about 27-2800 rpms (on flat ground) and it sucked big time going up hills. I was hoping the new truck would tow the same weight in 6th on fairly flat terrain, but found it could just barely do it in 6th with no head wind, but any incline including a minor rise over an interchange or any head or cross wind at all, it would drop into 5th. Kept shifting so often that I finally resigned myself to keeping it in 5th gear (at 22-2300 rpms). In fact, the only time I was able to tow at 60-65 mph in 6th was dead flat Hwy 80 adjacent to Great Salt Lake. In 5th it towed great at 60-65, even with some mild inclines. However, and not knowledgeable about mechanics to understand why, in California and Oregon (along Hwy 97) where speeds were mandated at 55mph for tow vehicles, 5th did not seem to be as strong at that speed, and would sometimes drop into 4th when I felt it should not have. Seems 5th at 55 was a not so favourable combination. Weird.

 

Extreme hills, pulled quite a bit better than the old truck but I did notice a pretty significant rise in tranny temperature, regardless of the ambient temperature.

 

I was hoping for a better tow in 6th, considering the trailer is only 4300 lbs and the truck is rated for 6000 lbs more than that. Perhaps my expectations were just too high, or I don't understand the whole towing thing. Can anyone comment on what, if anything, a BB Tune could do for this??

 

Drank gas like there was no tomorrow. I could almost watch the gauge move. I expected an increase in gas costs (it is a 6.2L after all) and wouldn't have minded so much if it had towed better that it did. I'm sure the use of lower gear/higher rpms greatly contributed.

 

Cruise control - First time I've had a truck with Cruise. Best option ever! Especially on those long, long, long drives out in the middle of nowhere (Btw, the drive between Salt Lake and Reno along Hwy 80 is one of the least pleasurable drives I have ever taken).

 

Tonneau cover - Put on an Undercover hard tonneau cover just prior to the trip. Excellent cover. No rain intrusion, but funny enough, by the time the trip was over, there was about an inch of red dust inside the bed. Go figure.

 

OGM1 with back-up camera- Also put in the OGM1 and bezel camera just prior to the trip. Excellent items and highly recommended. Drove down to Denver on my own (where wife flew down and joined me for return trip) and camera was indispensable when hooking up to the trailer solo. Used Nav a lot, however, sometimes was way out on some routing, even on roadways that have been around for years. Occasionally, I would enter a destination from the POI databank and it would indicate a completely wrong direction and distance. Would cancel the trip and re-enter the exact same destination and it would then provide correct info. Again, weird.

 

Sorry for the long post but wanted to cover all the high (and low) points.

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Wow, that doesn't sound good at all. I pull about the same weight trailver 2008 KZ Coyote Hybrid. All loaded up it is at least 4500lbs, then throw 4 people plus the dog in the cab of my 2011 Sierra Crew Cab 5.3L 3.42 gears. I put it in T/H mode and away I go. I'm pulling across Western NY so no flat spots. Truck pulls in 6th no problem and no hunting. Only time I lock it down is when I'm pulling up a long hill. You sure something isn't wrong with the trailer (brakes or bearings) to make it drag more. Otherwise something isn't right with the truck.

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There is defiantly something wrong with the trailer or truck.

I'm guessing the trailer.

The truck should have pulled that little trailer effortlessly. High grade gas, T/H mode on and away you go.

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

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Thanks for posting your experience, especially the comparison w/ your 4.8. It actually matches almost exactly what I had estimated when studying the 6.2/6-spd/3.73 combo a couple of years ago. I basically decided that where my current 5.3 would tow comfortably in 3rd most of the time, the 6.2/6-spd would need 5th. A 5.3/6-spd/3.42 would need 4th for my load/terrain to tow similarly to the 4-spd/3.73 in 3rd. The 5.3 provides the better mpg, especially unloaded, and we only tow the camper a few times per year. I stuck with what I have.

 

I've towed "out west" through the heat of TX and the heights of the Rockies, and it's a whole different experience than here in the East near sea level. Based on my experience pulling our ~7000 lb (loaded) camper and a family of five, I'm certain that a 5.3/6-spd/3.42 would be in 2nd at WOT over some of those Rocky mountains. It would probably do most of it in 3rd w/ a 5000 lb camper. I pulled ours from TN to the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to home last summer, and averaged ~10.5 mpg. We bucked a head wind of 30 to 40 mph across TX/NM, and there were very few days where we had a tail wind.

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Thanks for the responses.

 

tmoney82, I actually figured gas may be a contributed so I tried towing during the trip with three grades (87, 89 and 91 I think) and, other than the bill (haven't done a full tally yet but we probably spent about $3000 on gas), didn't really note any significant difference. And although I agree that towing in 5th is not bad (considering I came from towing in 3rd with the last truck), I really thought the 6.2 would have towed 4300 lbs no probs in 6th.

 

iamtron and 2010LTZ4x4, The trailer is quite new and I didn't notice any issues with brakes or bearings (no smell etc) however, that is a possibility I will have to check. The truck runs perfectly without a trailer and is only a few months old so I doubt it is the truck.

 

music, thanks for your comments. Although I did not monitor the gas mileage through the entire trip, the times I did, I got around 10 miles per gallon. Funny enough, I was torn between the 5.3 and 6.2 a couple months ago when I was deciding the best option for towing. I ultimately chose the 6.2 for two main reasons - I had towed three trailers with three prior trucks and each was underpowered, so i wanted to ensure I had more power than not enough and - I shied away from the AFM and related potential issues.

 

Anyway, thanks everyone for their input. If I find an obvious answer to the issue, I'll let you know.

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Marpel, I think if you run 90+ octane in your truck for a couple 100 of miles or a couple of tanks, I think you will see a difference! My 08 L92 6.2 that I have in my Denali ran like sh^t off 87. And yes, you would've thought it would pull 4300lbs in 6th, but before I got a tune, my truck hunted 5th and6th often sometimes empty!

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Just a quick add, the dust in your bed is comming in your tail gate, you could add a tail gate seal if you want to keep it out

 

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

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music, thanks for your comments. Although I did not monitor the gas mileage through the entire trip, the times I did, I got around 10 miles per gallon. Funny enough, I was torn between the 5.3 and 6.2 a couple months ago when I was deciding the best option for towing. I ultimately chose the 6.2 for two main reasons - I had towed three trailers with three prior trucks and each was underpowered, so i wanted to ensure I had more power than not enough and - I shied away from the AFM and related potential issues.

 

 

If I were buying today, I'd give a lot of consideration to a 6.2 myself, for the extra towing power. I already have a 1500 5.3... and like it a lot... so I was comparing a truck just like mine, but w/ a 6.2. You can't find a 6.2 NHT on the lot around here, so I could never test one out. Posts like yours, and my own calculations, are all I have to go by.

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Hello! In '94 we bought a new GMC c1500 club coupe 5.7 engine with a NV 4500 HD trans 3.42 gears to pull our new Roadranger 23 YT. Last year we up dated to a GMC c1500 crew 2 wheel drive NHT. The truck weights in at 5053 lbs and the trailer 5500. The 17" wheels on the new truck as compaired to the 15s on the old one make the 3.73s pretty close to the 3.42 in final drive ratio. With the double overdrive in the 6 speed I'm faster in 6th but a little lower in 5th as compaired to the old truck in 5th gear. Because 4th gear insn't direct in the 6 speed it is a little lower. Power wise this truck pulls the trailer way better. MPG on the new truck is about 1 MPG less, but I think if I were to drive at the same speed as before it may be closer to the same. Because this truck is a little longer I went to 1000lbs EZ Lift bar from a 750 to get the same handling.

 

If you want to tow in 6th gear take it out of the T/H mode. In T/H it has to see about 2500 before it will shift. I have tried running in top gear and letting it shift down at every hill and running "gear down" and it doesn't seem to make much difference in the MPG.

 

Look under the bed rails and you will see that it is open near the stake pockets. I think that is where the most of the dirt gets into my bed. I have a Truxcedo cover.

 

So I guess the bottom line is that it pulls the trailer great and empty it runs like a streak!

 

People always ask "why would order a two wheel drive"? 4 wheel drive is $3000 and used maybe twice a year. NHT is $3500 and enjoyed every time you stick the key in the ignition!

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Can I back the trolley up for a second? Doesn't the 6.2 recommend (if not require) premium (~92-92 octane) or e85? If you were not putting premium in your tank, consistantly, you will not see the true benefits of the power and performance of the 6.2. I'd run straight premium or e85 for a few tanks than go out for another run while towing and I think your truck will come around just fine. Just an opinion.

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Can I back the trolley up for a second? Doesn't the 6.2 recommend (if not require) premium (~92-92 octane) or e85?

 

 

Recommend = Yes. It will likely pull timing on lesser octane, producing less power... and probably less mpg.

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Can I back the trolley up for a second? Doesn't the 6.2 recommend (if not require) premium (~92-92 octane) or e85?

 

 

Recommend = Yes. It will likely pull timing on lesser octane, producing less power... and probably less mpg.

 

So I'm thinking, consistant use of higher octane fuel "should" fix the dissatisfaction?

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Thanks for the further comments:

 

tmoney82, I actually did run premium gas for at least a couple tanks and did not see a big difference, however, cause I was driving such varied road conditions, I'm not sure it was a true comparison. I can say, though, that my impression of the towing did not waver regardless of the gas I used. Your comment about getting a tune (I presume you're referring to a BB Tune or similar??) peaked my interest. Did you notice an improvement in towing after the tune? And if so, what does a tune actually do in regards to towing?

 

TimmyG and NHTMike, I sort of figured the dust was coming in from somewhere like the tailgate or stake pockets. I just thought it was ironic that I spent a bunch of dollars for a cover that is great for keeping out the rain but dust is now the big issue. I will look into a seal of some sort.

 

08SierraZ71 and music, The manual actually recommends octane of 87 or higher. See my prior comment about running premium (91) gas. Perhaps I did not run it enough to see any real improvement but I thought I went through at least a couple tanks with it. Perhaps I will have to take out the trailer for another trip and only use high octane to see if there is any real improvement. I actually even contemplated the high altitude of the places I spent most of the trip at (Colorado Plateau and other areas of at least 5000 ft and higher) might of had an effect on the performance but I then figured everyone who lived in these areas would have the same issue all the time.

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I've always ran 93 octane in my truck, but only one time I had to use 87, it really showed. I was visiting my mom for a couple of days and that was the only kind of gas they had in that area! The truck seemed to had no power. Like at normal take off, I had to give it more gas and when I did, it seems like sometimes it would downshift hard and take off. It felt real sluggish!

 

I only towed once! It was my uncle race car and I really can't remember having tow/haul on or not but it pulled it with ease!

 

I've only had the tune for about a month and a half and its a big difference! The gears hold longer, no more hunting sometimes at 70mph in 5th and 6th. No more nannies! You have to drive a tuned one to really feel the difference! Or race one :ughdance:

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