What to do for towing??

JRSGN · December 27, 2003

Hi all, My name is Jim & this is my 1st post.

I have a 2000 GMC sierra xcab 1500 4x4.It has the 5.3,auto & 85k on it. (all highway)

It was always serviced & well taken care of. I wanna tow the race car with it this year & what are the best routes to go with it for towing & a little extra HP?.

1: what is a Good programmer ??

2: what Filter kit??

3: I really don't want a loud truck ( my car takes care of that) what Exhust??

Thanks, Any help would be great.

Jim

RyanZ71 · December 27, 2003

Welcome aboard, its good to have you with us.

I'd look into a tranny cooler if your going to be doing some towing. As for extra HP, you probably won't need it unless its a VERY heavy trailer your towing.

Ideeho · December 27, 2003

I just added a K&N filter, use Mobil 1 and dualed off my pipes out the sides with a Goerlich muffler...and I dragged 7,000 pounds of racecar and trailer around the state of Washington. Just make sure you have a stabilizer bar setup and trailer brakes. No need to do anything special, I have just about the same setup as you, except mine is an 02 xcab Sierra with the 5.3. You shouldn't have to worry much about it, them trucks are "runners".

Shaners · December 27, 2003

Welcome aboard!!!

Tow in "3" not "D".

A tranny cooler is a MUST!!!

Use your Tow/Haul mode.

I hope you have 4.10's 'cause towing will be easier... 3.73's are OK... 3.42's are No Good

Torsion bars and electric trailer brakes will be needed.

Load Range "D" tires are the min. I would run and keep the tire size stock @ 265/75/16

I'm running a Wester's Garage PCM with a drop-in K&N and stock exhaust. That set-up works good for my 6.0L.

Ben · December 27, 2003

Depends on how big the trailer will be (length and weight).

known weak points on any GM 1500 used to tow are auto tranny and diff. Helps to flush fluids often and use synthetics for their higher spec (film strength and temp rating).

Tire size very important, as anything over 30 inch dia will have it reduce effective diff ratio by same percentage difference in dia. Going 33 inch dia tire will effectively reduce 4.1's to 3.7's because the tire dia is about 10% taller, so diff ratio reduced about 10%.

Also on tires, if P rated tire (passenager tire) used to tow/haul heavy needs to be reduced or de-rated min 9% of it's weight carrying capacity while kept at max pressure. Best to have LT rated tires. There are 3 classes of tires for trucks. P rating is a passenger tire rating. LT rating is light truck trie rating. Highest class would be commercial and usually have tire dia in the half inch size (16.5, 19.5, etc) and have no safety bead.

Tow package min and if no, then add the components to make up. If wide trailer, consider wider side mirrors.

Brake controller very important and note that some car haulers have surge brakes, which has master cylinder on the coupler. This kind is also used on boat trailers a lot. Has a bit more "push" onto the TV's tail end while braking.

Establish aggressive fluid maintenance schedule, as towing heavy works everything harder.

Braking is as important, if not more important than getting it going easier/faster. Consider Praise Dyno Brake components. Huge improvement over others have tried (Bendix HD, Raybestos HD, NAPA ceramic, OEM, Performance Friction Z). Not saying those others are bad, just not as good as the Praise Dyno. Closest were the Performance Friction, but they were more racing than street, so when cold almost no brakes...slide right through an intersection/cross walk one morning. Here's Praise Dyno info: Praise Dyno Brake web site They only take phone orders, here's phone number (972)-636-2722 (Texas). Ask for John Ambrose Jr, owner and tell him Ben Toy recommended.

99silveradoz71 · December 28, 2003

Welcome

JRSGN · December 28, 2003

Thanks Guys.

It has 373's just got Toyo open country tires E rated, Got electric brakes on the trailer. Got a Cooler today. thats the 1st thing going on. What about the Hypertech programmer, Is that any good? It says you can adjust the shift points.

How about the Volant air box??

This is new to me (TrucK) Never had anything with all these comforts.. My old 90 SS454 was good for towing but the T400 & 4.10's were killers..

Thanks for the Imput.

Jim

Shaners · December 28, 2003

Lyndon Wester from Wester's Garage in Canada will custom write you a PCM program for your specific needs...

He isn't cheap, and his programs aren't tunable other than telling him what else you need, and paying postage for a new PCM on an exchange basis. He will most likely set you up with what you want after a 5 minute phonecall... If you ever make any changes to your truck, he saves your file on disk and will update it for free + postage. If you ever upgrade to a new truck (6.0L, 8.1L, Duramax) he will also credit you for the $ you have already spent!!!