1500 With a 3.42 gear The Tow Package???

rahtreelimbs · July 3, 2005

My co-worker called tonight and told me that he bought a 1500 extend cab short bed with the 310 HP 5300. What is weird is that the truck has the tow-package with a 3.42 gear. I thought that a 3.73 gear was standard with the tow package. Can anyone shed some light on this?

WyRam · July 3, 2005

My co-worker called tonight and told me that he bought a 1500 extend cab short bed with the 310 HP 5300. What is weird is that the truck has the tow-package with a 3.42 gear. I thought that a 3.73 gear was standard with the tow package. Can anyone shed some light on this?

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I don't think that gear ratio matters to get the tow package.

lrymal · July 3, 2005

Got the 3.42 on my '05 Z71. Tows great. Just keep it out of overdrive.

JRW68 · July 3, 2005

ditto.. just tow smart, be aware of what the tranny is doing... I posted a picture of my 05 hooked up to a 79 K2500... 79' weighed 6000lbs and pulled it a good 60miles or so...

Also towed a 6x12 enclosed trailer to Tx from Pa... both ways.. no problem.

BTW, 3.42's seem to be the standard on the 05 half tons.. I could be wrong but it appears that way....

sledr · July 3, 2005

ditto.. just tow smart, be aware of what the tranny is doing... I posted a picture of my 05 hooked up to a 79 K2500... 79' weighed 6000lbs and pulled it a good 60miles or so...

Also towed a 6x12 enclosed trailer to Tx from Pa... both ways.. no problem.

BTW, 3.42's seem to be the standard on the 05 half tons.. I could be wrong but it appears that way....

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Yep 3.42 are standard on the half ton 4X4's with a 3.73 and 4.10 as options

allenmehrer · July 4, 2005

Those 3.73s are the perfect rear end gear if you ask me, I won't buy another truck with any other size back there.

steve summers · July 4, 2005

I've had 3.73's in several vehicles since 1994 and have towed extensively. I was always happy with the 5.7L motors as they had lot's of torque. The 5.3L was a little bit of a dissapointment as it didn't have as much torque as the 5.7L but you learn to either ignore the motor running 4500rpm's to pull a grade, or you slow down to 45-50mph. I had a Silverado SS with a 6.0L and 4.10 gears, the torque reminded me of the old 5.7L, few hills even got a downshift on the 6.0L.

When I bought my '05 CC I decided the mileage of the 3.42's was more important than the towing. This changed as soon as I hooked our 20' 5000lb boat behind it. The first trip I was absolutely miserable. The downshifts on the hills were violent trying to run 70mph. Let me explain that I have always towed in drive, I've read all of the iformation on towing in 3 but never really subscribed to it. Towing in drive has always worked fine for me, over 11 years and many thousands of miles I've had no issues. So I read this post about towing in 3 and I tried it yesterday and have to say it is the only way to tow with the 3.42's, man what a difference.

It seems the major difference was that the motor in 3rd gear stays in a sweet spot on the RPM's that has enough torque to pull. It did occasionally downshift to 2nd but is was less frequent than when I towed in D. So I have to give towing in 3 a

WyRam · July 4, 2005

I've had 3.73's in several vehicles since 1994 and have towed extensively. I was always happy with the 5.7L motors as they had lot's of torque. The 5.3L was a little bit of a dissapointment as it didn't have as much torque as the 5.7L but you learn to either ignore the motor running 4500rpm's to pull a grade, or you slow down to 45-50mph. I had a Silverado SS with a 6.0L and 4.10 gears, the torque reminded me of the old 5.7L, few hills even got a downshift on the 6.0L.

When I bought my '05 CC I decided the mileage of the 3.42's was more important than the towing. This changed as soon as I hooked our 20' 5000lb boat behind it. The first trip I was absolutely miserable. The downshifts on the hills were violent trying to run 70mph. Let me explain that I have always towed in drive, I've read all of the iformation on towing in 3 but never really subscribed to it. Towing in drive has always worked fine for me, over 11 years and many thousands of miles I've had no issues. So I read this post about towing in 3 and I tried it yesterday and have to say it is the only way to tow with the 3.42's, man what a difference.

It seems the major difference was that the motor in 3rd gear stays in a sweet spot on the RPM's that has enough torque to pull. It did occasionally downshift to 2nd but is was less frequent than when I towed in D. So I have to give towing in 3 a

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3 on your shifter just eliminates it from upshifting to OD.

steve summers · July 4, 2005

I've had 3.73's in several vehicles since 1994 and have towed extensively. I was always happy with the 5.7L motors as they had lot's of torque. The 5.3L was a little bit of a dissapointment as it didn't have as much torque as the 5.7L but you learn to either ignore the motor running 4500rpm's to pull a grade, or you slow down to 45-50mph. I had a Silverado SS with a 6.0L and 4.10 gears, the torque reminded me of the old 5.7L, few hills even got a downshift on the 6.0L.

When I bought my '05 CC I decided the mileage of the 3.42's was more important than the towing. This changed as soon as I hooked our 20' 5000lb boat behind it. The first trip I was absolutely miserable. The downshifts on the hills were violent trying to run 70mph. Let me explain that I have always towed in drive, I've read all of the iformation on towing in 3 but never really subscribed to it. Towing in drive has always worked fine for me, over 11 years and many thousands of miles I've had no issues. So I read this post about towing in 3 and I tried it yesterday and have to say it is the only way to tow with the 3.42's, man what a difference.

It seems the major difference was that the motor in 3rd gear stays in a sweet spot on the RPM's that has enough torque to pull. It did occasionally downshift to 2nd but is was less frequent than when I towed in D. So I have to give towing in 3 a

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3 on your shifter just eliminates it from upshifting to OD.

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Thanks, I realize there is nothing magical about leaving it in 3 other than keeping it from going into OD.

lrymal · July 5, 2005

...It seems the major difference was that the motor in 3rd gear stays in a sweet spot on the RPM's that has enough torque to pull. It did occasionally downshift to 2nd but is was less frequent than when I towed in D. So I have to give towing in 3 a

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Exactly. I would think that the "sweet spot" in third gear for the 5.3 with 3.42 gears is in the same neighborhood to the same location (give or take) as "D" for the 3.73 and 4.11 gearing. At least that is how it feels to me.

PunchT37 · July 6, 2005

A lot of the 05`s are coming with 3.23`s. Couple that with 17 inch wheels and wou`re back to the old highway gear days.

1st new GMC · July 7, 2005

A lot of the 05`s are coming with 3.23`s. Couple that with 17 inch wheels and wou`re back to the old highway gear days.

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remember when Blazers came w/ 3.08's, 305 cid engines, granny gear 4 speed trannies and P235/75/15's? They wouldn't tow anything!

my '05 Sierra WT 4x4 came w/ the factory tow package and the 3.42 gears. It pulls the U-haul auto transports ok, I just can't (and don't want to) cruise at 75 mph when the trailer is loaded.

steve summers · July 7, 2005

A lot of the 05`s are coming with 3.23`s. Couple that with 17 inch wheels and wou`re back to the old highway gear days.

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I thought 3.42, 3.73, and 4.10 were the only options, I've never seen a 3.23.

JRW68 · July 7, 2005

My thoughts exactly...

nhproxr · July 7, 2005

I have 3.42s with tow package in my '98 Yukon and they suck. I will never own another truck with such tall gears. I tow a 12' enclosed sled trailer with 3 sleds in it (maybe about 3000 lbs.) each weekend in the winter and these gears suck in the mountains and hills. Truck struggles to maintain any speed on even the slightest grade. I tow in 3 all the time with it so it never touches OD at all.

To me these gears are fine if its an everyday driver and occasional tower, but if your going work it get the 3.73s.