Need a Fair opinion on guys towing with the new 5.3l

[nards444]

Looking for some honest answers from people actually doing. I can read the numbers and specs and know what works and doesnt work. Nor am I starting a brand war here, just trying to get a comparison. Why am I looking for new, well truck now has an extended cab, thinking about changes in the family and want 4 doors for that. I could go ford, but that means crew cab only and 4-5k more in price and dont want to spend that, that leaves dodge and GM with the double door. Ram is below Chevy in towing, so that leaves chevy, plus I am a chevy fan and get employee pricing, so it only makes sense.

 

Right now I have an ecoboost book on it says 11,300. 360hp and 420lbs of torque. The silverado is 5hp less or so which is a wash, HP doesnt matter in towing. But I have close to 40 more torque in the eco. MPG is within a mile on both trucks, again a wash, so no need to debate that. But the eco with the turbos gives you all the torque at 2500rpm not over a long torque curve like a typical engine.

 

 

I owned a 2007 Silverado 5.3l 3.73 gears and towed a 22ft boat that weigh around 4-5 grand. Towed small two place sled trailer, no issue, towed a 24foot v nose enclosed with that truck and it did struggle, not that the truck was man handled but 8mpg and no acceleration.

 

I owned two diesels and towed a 29 foot 9500lbs boat no issues.

 

Currenly tow the same boat with the eco and no issues truck pulls like a monster.

 

 

Here are my concerns.

 

1. I know the the new 5.3l is "new", but my old 5.3l I wouldnt even think about hooking that up to my boat.

 

2. The new truck only comes in 3.42s old chevy was 3.73s.

 

 

Here are my questions

 

1. Anybody towing heavier weight like over 7-8k, any opinions, can you compare it to something that you have towed with before.

 

2. Whats your MPG like

 

3. Right now Im specing out an LT and LTZ 5.3l with a 3.42 rear end, 4wd and LTZ on both, is there some max trailering you have to add or anything to get to 11k lbs towing? Ive looked on the GM website and dont see anything.

[BringTheRain403]

Max towing package isn't out yet...

 

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[music]

I don't recall any posts for towing w the new 5.3. May want to ask over on rv.net too. The eb is going to out pull most n/a gas motors when towing, since you get boost power down low. My concern would be long term reliability. If you tow all the time, then it may be worth the risk (? ).

[crushNchowda]

The 3.08s w/ 6 speed are equivalent to 3.73 w/ 4 speed. This is what I have, I. Don't tow and if I did would be a small boat or dirt bike or something.

 

The 3.42 is like a 4.10 in a 4 speed more than enough. Your ecoboost may do well but I don't know how well it will be doing at 100,000 w/ all that heat and those 2 tiny snails working hard all the time. If you tow get the 3.42, more than enough you'll be fine.

[nards444]

problem is the 3.42 is rated for 9800lbs I beleive and I need the 11k. Yeah the reliability worries me but then again I have another 3 years and 40k of coverage. I dont keep vehicles for more than 30-40k so the 100k thing really isnt a factor. I doubt that silverado can out tow the eco, Im just trying to figure out how much of drop it going to be. Im willing to sacrafice a little I just dont want to go from a lambo to a pinto in the towing department. not that would be the case.

[TimmyG]

Take one for a test drive and hook it to your boat

 

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[kstruckcountry]

Drive both, I think you'll find you like the Chevy better.

[nards444]

Definitely going to do a test drive, tried doing the test with the boat with the eco at multiple places and they all said no due to insurance. But if I get the chance and they let me take it by myself I will probably run home and test it.

 

Like I said I dont want to get into a brand war, but the eco has more power and torque and its on demand not on a curve, those facts alone make it a better tow rig, like I said I dont care about that and not downing anything, just trying to get some working knowledge and or experiences. But I will take this question to some RV forums to see whats happening out there

[Badass69]

Rv forum is a good idea. You will not get anything but bias on here towards gm lol. Like all the guys that will gripe about the turbos... or the dumbest one I see because it doesn't sound good enough lol.... all from people that have never even sat in one... nor would know what a turbocharger was if they were looking at it. I have driven the eco and I like it but am not impressed with Fords lack of ability to figure out how to drain water from the intercooler..... like a check valve and a vacuum connection. Haven't driven a 2014 gm nor will I ever bother too so I can't say much how they pull.

[nards444]

Rv forum is a good idea. You will not get anything but bias on here towards gm lol. Like all the guys that will gripe about the turbos... or the dumbest one I see because it doesn't sound good enough lol.... all from people that have never even sat in one... nor would know what a turbocharger was if they were looking at it. I have driven the eco and I like it but am not impressed with Fords lack of ability to figure out how to drain water from the intercooler..... like a check valve and a vacuum connection. Haven't driven a 2014 gm nor will I ever bother too so I can't say much how they pull.

 

 

Thank you very much and I agree brand loyalty is cool and nice but I think it can be sheepish as well. My whole family worked at GM including myself, I like GM and will give them the benefit of the doubt. But since my 07 silverado which was junk(it was a lemmon I can see past that, plenty of good ones out there) I have looked for the best ride for the price. Not just the eco but F150 in general has outclassed GM since 2010 if you look at it. Sure there might be things that you dont like etc But unbiasedly until this year chevy was behind thats just fact, but fords also cost quite a bit more, an LTZ can be had for 42-43 very easily, you dont even start into a lariat until 45 and a platinum at 50-55. I will leave this forum alone, and if anybody has some reviews or comparisons please provide them.

 

Endstate is I want to move into Chevy, but im basing my comparison on my eco to a 07 silverado which the ford does circles around that chevy I had in just about all aspects, and if the 2014 is a minor upgrade in performance from the old model then I am not interested.

[Nathan79]

The ecoboost truck properly equipped is highly regarded tow vehicle on the RV forums. There are also some nice videos doing tow tests that show it has plenty of power towing. What is also unique is that the ecoboost can be equipped with a very high payload capacity.

 

You should worry about the payload capacity more than towing capacity. You will run out of payload very fast. Also, you need to know the actual payload for the actual truck you will look at, not what the manuals state. The reason I say this is that my truck is supposed to have a payload of ~1700lb and tow rating of 9500lb. However, the actual sticker on the door is ~200lb less payload capacity. If you consider a tongue weight of ~12% even that small change in payload can have a large effect on the max I can tow.

 

I tow a 7500lb travel trailer (6500lb dry weight). My payload is to the max when I include passengers but still have ~2000lb of tow rating left.

[nards444]

The ecoboost truck properly equipped is highly regarded tow vehicle on the RV forums. There are also some nice videos doing tow tests that show it has plenty of power towing. What is also unique is that the ecoboost can be equipped with a very high payload capacity.

 

You should worry about the payload capacity more than towing capacity. You will run out of payload very fast. Also, you need to know the actual payload for the actual truck you will look at, not what the manuals state. The reason I say this is that my truck is supposed to have a payload of ~1700lb and tow rating of 9500lb. However, the actual sticker on the door is ~200lb less payload capacity. If you consider a tongue weight of ~12% even that small change in payload can have a large effect on the max I can tow.

 

I tow a 7500lb travel trailer (6500lb dry weight). My payload is to the max when I include passengers but still have ~2000lb of tow rating left.

 

 

I agree everything needs to be looked at. Thats why I need the max tow on the chevy of 11k, the 9800 will not cut it on towing a 9500lb boat. My door jam says 2020 which is more than the max option on the Chevy. I guess after looking at numbers maybe Im talking myself out of this. I want to cash out and lease a truck, but still want the capabilities. So i guess well see.

[music]

I totally missed that you already have a EB. Since you do, and towed w/ a GM 1500 before, my question would relate to handling. It sounds like you have the max tow version, with ~2000 lbs of payload, or maybe even the HD payload. How is handling compared to the previous 1500? By handling, I'm really just talking about stability... not power. I know that Ford pushes their GVWR ratings right up to their axle ratings, where GM allows ~1000 lbs between what the axles will carry and the GVWR rating. I'd feel perfectly fine going a good bit over GVWR on a GM truck, but not the Ford.

[music]

Recent thread:

 

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27229954.cfm

 

The stats don't tell the whole story, since the n/a motors will rev a lot higher to get peak performance.

[nards444]

I totally missed that you already have a EB. Since you do, and towed w/ a GM 1500 before, my question would relate to handling. It sounds like you have the max tow version, with ~2000 lbs of payload, or maybe even the HD payload. How is handling compared to the previous 1500? By handling, I'm really just talking about stability... not power. I know that Ford pushes their GVWR ratings right up to their axle ratings, where GM allows ~1000 lbs between what the axles will carry and the GVWR rating. I'd feel perfectly fine going a good bit over GVWR on a GM truck, but not the Ford.

Hard to say, I was towing a 4-5k less boat and 7 feet shorter than what I am doing now not really apples to apples. I would say the accel of the old 1500 compared to now would be light years behind towing 9500lbs. Stability is great in my truck now, and stability was good in the 1500 from what I could remember. But I did tow a empty 24 foot v nose sled trailer and the truck was a dog, handled well but got 8mpg but just got dogged down by the wind. Towed a 20ft enclosed v nose empty and full and seemed like nothing back there and I got 14mpg.

 

My issue is this I need the towing, granted I only go 30-45mins but the boat weighs 9500lbs or so, that's up there for any half ton. I don't want to go back to diesel just don't. So towing is paramount I don't care what brand is on it as long as its American. Next MPG is on my mind. After that lets be honest its a toss up, they all go to home depot and pick up drywall the same, they all drive to work the same. I also want to cash out right now because I need money, plus I want a double/crew cab because possibly a kid on the way. I would go back to ford but an FX4 is priced 5k more to start than a base LT with Z71, I get GM employee pricing, so by the time I spec out a loaded LT with Z71, Im cheaper by 10 grand than a FX4 with crew cab. So that's where I sit.