Towing Questions...

Halen5150 · June 12, 2006

To make a long story short, I’m moving from Texas to Washington state for awhile, and was thinking of towing my girlfriend’s car up there. It’s about 1800 miles from here to there. I’ve never towed much. Her car weighs roughly about 3,000 lbs. My truck is an ’00 Z-71 with the towing package. I have a WaitforMe PCM tune. Is it safe for me to tow the car, or am I risking damage to my tranny? I still have the old PCM that I could swap back in place if I needed to. Thanks so much for the help.

OFF-RD · June 12, 2006

My Z71 has a 7,700 lb. towing capacity listed in the owners manual. So I would think 3,000 lbs. wouldn't even be noticeable for your truck. I towed 6,870 lbs. with my Jeep Liberty so I'm thinkin' you'll be fine.

snoman · June 12, 2006

To make a long story short, I’m moving from Texas to Washington state for awhile, and was thinking of towing my girlfriend’s car up there. It’s about 1800 miles from here to there. I’ve never towed much. Her car weighs roughly about 3,000 lbs. My truck is an ’00 Z-71 with the towing package. I have a WaitforMe PCM tune. Is it safe for me to tow the car, or am I risking damage to my tranny? I still have the old PCM that I could swap back in place if I needed to. Thanks so much for the help.

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As long as you have a aux tranny cooler and lock out OD and try not to set any speed record you should be okay. When you cross the moutains keep RPM above 2500 when pulling hard to stay above converter stall which makes a lot of extra heat (with your 285'5 and 3.73 is a bit tall for this but doable with caution) Bigger tires also reduce braking effectriveness too something to rember coming down the mountains. If you want to give yourself a edge, through some stock tires on truck for trip as it will aid towing and braking power.

snoman · June 12, 2006

I towed 6,870 lbs. with my Jeep Liberty

This is a accident waiting to happen. If it got away from you that liberty would be like a cork on a string.

asilverblazer · June 12, 2006

3000 pounds for the car xxxx pounds for the trailer, Maybe 2000 pounds? For a total of 5000 pounds, My wifes Sport-Trac is rated for that kind of load and then some. For a about a 100 dollars a trailer brake controller might be a good idea, considering the mountain aspect. Especially since there is alomst no installation required for one. Gas mileage will be bad for sure, below 13 mpg, and probably in the 10-11 range, running the speed limit. (my truck tows best at around 65 mph/2600 rpm's) I would be most concerned about braking rather than pulling.

snoman · June 12, 2006

A lot of those "Ratings" are not worth the paper they are printed on. Detriot has been jacking them up to compete with one another and a lot of them especailly on 1/2 modle and small SUV's are greatly overrated. Just look back at ratings 10 years ago and then today and see the difference but it is not a good difference because newer trucks general have higher rating with taller axle an less suspension than the older models. There is no industy standard for tow standards so they are realy kinda free to claim whatever they want to with them to aid sales.

Frozen001 · June 12, 2006

5000+lbs is nothing for a 1/2ton truck. Check with U-Haul on getting a car trailer. I believe most of them will have surge breaks so a brake controller will not be necessary.

SnoMan.... you gotta stop this with the tow rating stuff you always get into this about how the manufacturers over rate there vehicles. I do knot know why you would even say this. Do you think the Big 3 or any other can maker will want to risk the possible lawsuit for over rating their vehicles towing capacity??? Get off you soap box for ounce and think for a minute they you might actually be wrong.

saltwater_addict · June 12, 2006

I've pulled our tractor through the texas hill country a few times and i dont know the exact weight of the rig but you will definately feel those mountains even on the steepest grades it never got over 3k so im sure it shouldnt be that bad like they said earlier slow and easy makes all the difference that at tow/haul on

2kwolfgang · June 12, 2006

You should have no problem whatsoever. I used my truck (2wd 99 GMC Sierra with 4.8L) to tow my 91 Mercury Sable to the junkyard and I also towed my buddies 95 Camaro Z28 back home when he went on a trip and lost the tranny. In both instances I was using my neighbors double axle car trailer which weighs in at about 2,000 lbs. My Sable probably was the heavist of the two cars which probably weighed around 3,500 lbs. My truck handled each one with ease, the ride was a little rough but Michigans roads are so crappy anyhow. Make sure to use your "tow/haul" mode and you may want to consider trailer brakes. I didn't use trailer brakes when I pulled those cars because my neighbors trailer doesn't have a standard hookup. The truck still stopped very well but if I was going a couple thousand miles and through the mountains I would want better braking power.

2kwolfgang · June 12, 2006

Also remember that the Tow/Haul mode goes away when you turn the truck off so if you make a pit stop remember to re-engage it.

asilverblazer · June 12, 2006

Do you think the Big 3 or any other can maker will want to risk the possible lawsuit for over rating their vehicles towing capacity???

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An excellent point, though if that law suit happened either case would be tough to prove.

(It was driver error... It was too much weight for my truck... It was poor maintenance... It was never actually weighed... It was driver inexperience... It was improperly secured... It was improperly loaded... It was excessive speed... Ratings are approximations... )

I think they would under rate if anything cause that is a very risky bridge to cross and burn.

SoCalChris · June 12, 2006

We towed a Mitsubishi Eclipse from Southern California to Montana last year with our 99 GMC Safari. The Safari handled it with no problems at all, I just kept the transmission in '3'. The only place that the van really had to work hard was going over the Cajon pass on our way out of the LA area.

The van was loaded pretty heavily too. We had 2 adults, a 17 year old, 2 toddlers, and enough luggage for all of us for 4 days.

The U Haul car trailer is 2,000 pounds unloaded, and includes surge brakes. Unless you have your own trailer with electric brakes, installing a brake controller would be pointless for this.

ken1mod · June 12, 2006

3000 pounds for the car xxxx pounds for the trailer, Maybe 2000 pounds? For a total of 5000 pounds, My wifes Sport-Trac is rated for that kind of load and then some. For a about a 100 dollars a trailer brake controller might be a good idea, considering the mountain aspect. Especially since there is alomst no installation required for one. Gas mileage will be bad for sure, below 13 mpg, and probably in the 10-11 range, running the speed limit. (my truck tows best at around 65 mph/2600 rpm's) I would be most concerned about braking rather than pulling.

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This weight concept is correct. ALL vehicles weigh way more than we think. I, personally would not be afraid to do this tow but you have to use your head. This whole tow package is way heavier than you think. I many times weighed over 28000 lbs (actual highway scale weight) with my old 454 1 ton with 4.56 tail gears and turbo 400

If you drive 55 or so, never use more than 25% throttle, maybe even drive at night when it is cooler, there will be no problem. You have to make sure the torque converter is locked in cruise, this is where the heat comes from. The computer is pretty good about this on Chevys.

Driving 75 mph into a 25 mph headwind completely unloaded is probably more of a strain than this tow at moderate speeds.

Our trucks are well designed (intermediate steering shaft excepted) and can do real work. Just use your head. Now the last time I towed my boat with my old Ford, it broke a piston. Chevys don't do that.

ken

Ken

pm26 · June 12, 2006

If a Z71 with a factory tow package and 5.3 liter V8 cannot tow 5000 lbs safely, I am getting rid of mine and getting a Cummins turbo Dodge Ram 3500 with a 6 speed manual transmission.