Old Truck Tows Better Than New?

[alcolee]

So yesterday was the first day I towed by boat with my new truck. Last summer I pulled by 6500lb boat, probably almost every weekend for june, july, and august. My old truck was an '01 ext cab 2wd silverado with the 5.3L and 3.42 rear end. New '08 truck has the same engine with 3.73 gears. For the most part it seemed to tow fairly similar to my old truck, it probably even accelerated a little bit better, however when I went to pull the boat over a bridge with a fairly steep incline, my new truck acted like it had to work much harder to pull the boat up the slope. Maybe it was just my imagination or maybe I should have made it down shift sooner, but I figured my new truck would have done better than it did. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just my imagination. Thanks for any insights.

 

Al

[VMax2007]

Were you using Tow/Haul mode? GM has the downshift parameters set pretty conservatively on the stock tune. I assume for EPA/Mileage purposes. A custom tune will make that truck run like it should, both empty and when towing/hauling.

[jrrod2004]

has your truck broken in????

[slimjim2525]

That's very interesting.

[alcolee]

yes, i was in tow/haul mode. my truck has 10k miles, so i would assume it's broken in.

[svensk]

my truck has 10k miles, so i would assume it's broken in.

Your not fully broken in yet. Every engine is different, but you'll notice increases in power and economy all the way to 30K or more.

[98silvz71]

We have an 07 Avalanche with 28,000 and its getting better and better every mile. Your truck will do the same.

[jrrod2004]

thats a lot of miles on an 07, mine is an 06 and it just turned over 28,000 miles

[jrrod2004]

but mine has gotten better and better, lots of maintenance to allow it to break in better

[nbscanuck]

thats a lot of miles on an 07, mine is an 06 and it just turned over 28,000 miles

 

 

I'm over 10000 miles and I got my truck in late December. Do you drive to the end of the driveway and then turn around or what?

[jrrod2004]

 

no, I only commute 9 miles to work one way and I have more than one chevy in the stable (1993 Cavalier, 2001 Cavalier, 2006 Silverado and 2007 Colorado), so I alternate between the Silverado, and Cavaliers, pics of them are in the garage section of the website. to the OP, give her some more time and she will pull that boat of yours alot easier once she is broken in...

[asilverblazer]

Mine new truck down shifts less than my old one, but the increase of torque makes it much better for towing.

[2004GMC1500CC]

but mine has gotten better and better, lots of maintenance to allow it to break in better

 

 

Mine has about 54k on it (it's my wifes) and was driving it this weekend and seemed to notice that it was really running good, accelerating, shifting and especially (now) braking. Think it is finally totally in and where it should be.