Towing W/ A 4.8? What Can You Tow?

Daves2008 · July 8, 2009

We'll i love the HD's, AND sense that was soooooooo not in the budget for now i went to the lil baby brother. I found a beautiful 2008 silverado back in december and felt that it should go home w/ me. I have the 4.8 v8 and trying to see how much these trucks can actually tow. Like how big of a camper are u able to tow, or boat. What's the most / max you've towed or hauled? Have some fun and let me know?? I'm comming from the smaller truck world so learning as I go.

tHANKS,

Dave,

Matt_ · July 8, 2009

is your truck 4x4 or 2wd, and what rear end gear ratio do you have?

nbscanuck · July 8, 2009

Things to invest in before towing

air bags to help stabilize things

tranny cooler to make it live longer

Daves2008 · July 8, 2009

Hmm that is a very good question..lol maybe i should of thrown that crap in as well.

So i think i have the 3:73 axle, and it's a 2 wheel drive as well.

wch2106 · July 8, 2009

I have an 07 GMC 1500 Ext cab, new body style, 5.5' bed, 4x4 with 3.42 rear axle. I currently tow a 2009 Jayco Jay Flight 26BH. It is 4838 lbs dry weight. Max tow on my truck is 5800 lbs. I know that I am over that weight with items inside trailer, and firewood in the bed of truck, and the wife and 2 kids inside truck. I had a transmission cooler installed a couple weeks ago before towing this trailer more than the 5 miles home. The truck usually ran around 170-180 degrees transmission temp with just daily driving (no towing). After having a factory cooler installed, I towed the Jayco last weekend and only hit 174 degrees. I did not tow up any major hills, and kept tow/haul mode on and had it in 3 the whole time. I will be going camping this weekend, and have a BIG hill to climb, so I can give you more details next week. I'm guessing that my trailer weighs between 5800 - 6000 loaded. From what I can tell with the 4.8 and 3.42's that I can tow it as long as I don't plan on going fast getting there. Of course I am towing this weight with a proper Reese weight distributing hitch setup on the truck and trailer. I am hoping this truck will suffice for a few years, and then getting a 2500HD with a 6.0. I hope this helps you.

Also the towing information is in the owners manual, at least for an 07. It has the towing limits for all sizes and flavors of the trucks. Look up your bed length, rear end gear, 4x4 or 4x2, ext, reg, or crew, and the information should be there.

rodram · July 8, 2009

Trailer Life Magazine provides a Maximum Tow Rating for your truck (2008 1500 2wd w/4.8L):

5200 lbs with 3.42 rear axle (code GU6)

7200 lbs with 3.73 rear axle (code GT4)

... you can check RPO codes in your glove box to be sure which axle you have.

Combine this weight with the GVW of your truck and this is the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating ..... the maximum allowed for your truck and trailer combined loaded weight running down the road.

Hard to tell from the little photo... is that truck a crew cab or extended cab ... when this is know you can sort out the GVW, curb dry weight, and allowable payload in the truck.

Daves2008 · July 8, 2009

that lil pic is a disgrace to my rig,,,,,lol Its the extended cab old style tranny. I hear that 6 spd is really something else. And yes that 6.0 HD is the one that kinda caught my eye as well. Please post pics / and information on your trip as well. We used to haul a 24 foot sunline trailer w/ a older chevy conversion van back in the 90's. And i believe it had the 350 in that thing. It would go smooth and quitely down the road. Hope the silverado does the same if i ever decide to get back into the camping game. Thanks for the replys and keep them comming, along w/ pics !!

CapitalTruck · July 9, 2009

I have a 2wd 3.73 with tranny cooler that I hauled a damn near 6000 pound boat from Deleware to Corpus Christi TX. I did almost all the trip in 3rd gear (didn't want the torque converter coming in and out). Also, anytime it hit 4th gear I could tell it was out of its league. I stopped at a Flying J scales and found that I was 1100 pounds away from my Gross Combination Weight Rating max.

Net result, I change my tranny fluid every 25,000 miles and have yet to have a problem with the occasional tow, even one that heavy. (I regularly tow cars on dolleys, uhaul trailers and the like). Just don't expect to go fast and you'll do just fine.

Daves2008 · July 9, 2009

hey thanks capital, how much horses do you have?? And have u done any mods to the engine at all?

BTw, What does the tow/ haul mode do?? Is it brake assist?? I've seen it and tried to ask people but i kinda get around about answer of we'll, if you pull heavy things it's a great feature and that's the only time you'll need it..

So in plain engilsh?? lol

dave

wch2106 · July 10, 2009

hey thanks capital, how much horses do you have?? And have u done any mods to the engine at all?

BTw, What does the tow/ haul mode do?? Is it brake assist?? I've seen it and tried to ask people but i kinda get around about answer of we'll, if you pull heavy things it's a great feature and that's the only time you'll need it..

So in plain engilsh?? lol

dave

I believe that the main thing it does is change the transmission shift points for when you are towing. That way the transmission is changing gears all the time. It winds the gear out more then shifts. I will let you know how my tow goes tonight.

pm26 · July 10, 2009

You should not tow anything with your 4.8. It is completely unsuitable for any towing by the manufacturer's standards.

Seriously though, Ford made a work truck for a number of years, equipped with a straght six 300 cu in engine, manual 5 speed transmission, and 2.73:1 rear end gear ratio. The Ford towing guide had this recommendation for this particular truck: "Not recommended for towing. That's a laugh. Even Chevy Cavalier had a 1,000 lb tow rating.

huero626 · July 10, 2009

You should not tow anything with your 4.8. It is completely unsuitable for any towing by the manufacturer's standards.

Seriously though, Ford made a work truck for a number of years, equipped with a straght six 300 cu in engine, manual 5 speed transmission, and 2.73:1 rear end gear ratio. The Ford towing guide had this recommendation for this particular truck: "Not recommended for towing. That's a laugh. Even Chevy Cavalier had a 1,000 lb tow rating.

What is the point of buying a truck if u can't tow with it?

Daves2008 · July 11, 2009

yeah it says in the brochure that the 4.8 should be able to tow

6,700 pounds,,

Rolling · July 11, 2009

I drive a 2007 GMT900 Crew Cab 4x4 with the 4.8 and 3.42 gears. I tow more in the winter than I do in the summer, usually no less than 2 sleds, possibly 2 on the trailer and one in the truck. (snowmobiles for anyone not in Alaska lol!! ) Average weight per sled 485lbs + gear and fuel. Lets say 500 just for easy math. On a hard trip ie: full truck, 4 adults, 4 sleds + gear my truck will tow 4000lbs in 4wd for well over a couple hundred miles. It has no prob keeping 60 on the highway, and will pass on 2 lane if I have a little more room than normal. Its a little sluggish from a stop with such tall gears, and if I get into the hills I will drop it out of overdrive completely.

A couple summers ago I had 4 four wheelers on a heavy 4 place trailer and a 5th in the back of the truck. My Silverado averaged flat 10 mpg for a round trip of 130 miles with no probs at all. We guestimate it was around 6000lbs total cargo including 4 adults/gear/fuel.

No, it won't tow what an HD will, or even a truck with a little more displacement. But for what I do, which is more than the average guy, my 4.8 performs wonderfully.

I did put the Corvette servo in last summer, and that alone dramatically improved the transmission performance when towing. It does not hunt for gears nearly as much and will hold the gear much longer than before. Even better with a lot of weight behind the truck in tow/haul!!