Posted by Jason Bridges on September 30, 19100 at 23:12:47:
In Reply to: With all the towing questions, here's a real life example...... posted by AustinTX on August 03, 19100 at 20:05:55:
I think there must be something performing below spec on your truck. I have a 2000 Z71 Limited Edition (Old Body Style). It is a 1500 with a 350 and 3.73 gears.
A couple of months ago, I hauled my grand prix (fully loaded) with a uhaul trailer. The mess weighed around 6700 lbs.
I had no problems at all with the trip. I drove 1200 miles from Alabama through Oklahoma and up through the ozark mountains with the Tahoe fully loaded down as well.
Yes, I could feel it, but I *never* had a problem getting it up the hills or maintaining 70 mph.
Might want to get a tune up. I have been *very* impressed with the capabilities of my truck so far.
: Seems everyone wants to know what their 'Burb will REALLY tow......even I had asked the question a few months back.
: So here's a very long example:
: Last weekend I hooked my '96 K1500 5.7L (3.42 rear and auxillary coolers) to an Illuminator tandem axle boat trailer (1,000lbs) with surge disk brakes on one axle.
: Loaded ONTO this trailer was a '99 Bayliner 2355 cabin cruiser. Manufacturer's specs indicate 4,850 pounds dry. Add in all the options (air conditioning, etc.) and liquids (half a tank of fuel, fresh and gray water systems) and the weight of the boat calculated out at 5350 lbs.
: TOTAL WEIGHT: 6350 lbs.
: BURB RATING: 5000 lbs.
: Pulling the combo out of the water (slight grade, crushed aggregate) in 4WD LO was nothing - barely had to push the pedal to pull the entire thing out of the water and up 400 feet of ramp.
: Then I stopped and went back to 2WD. Now it felt like I forgot to pull up the boat anchor.
: On the way back to the house, hills on a windy backroad that I can't normally reach 65mph on empty dropped to 20mph in first gear with me hoping I'd reach the top before I ran out of steam. My contingency plan would have been to come to a complete stop, go to 4wd LO, and creep up all the way.
: Once on the main road, grades that I would normally hit at 70mph and drop to 55mph before the crest (without an increase in throttle) had me slowing to 45mph in second gear. I should add that I NEVER floored the gas, out of consideration of torqueing the transmission too much.
: On flat grades, 60 - 70 in 3rd seemed okay, but not much reserve power left.
: Acceleration from stop lights made me the recipient of many single finger Austin waves. Slow. Very slow.
: Braking didn't seem to be as much of a problem as I anticipated, probably due to the trailer brakes. It's definitely wise to keep PLENTY of distance from the vehicle in front.
: The entire trip was only 20 miles, but enough of an experience to convince me that I'll probably trade my good old 'Burb in for a K2500 or (God forbid) an F350 diesel. Blub..blub...blub....
: Anyway, I hope that's given some insight to those who have been considering towing more than 4 or 5 thousand pounds of weight behind them.