Hi all, Last summer I bought a 2017 Chevy Silverado with a 5.7l engine and 3.42 gears 36000 miles. I bought it mainly to tow a 7500# travel trailer. I hate the way it runs. It has the Active Fuel management and switches from V4 to V8 mostly on decel. The truck runs rough all the time with a sometimes subtle and sometimes not subtle bucking or misfire on light to medium acceleration which is worse when cold. Dealer says there is nothing wrong and this is the way it is. I'm looking at Fords as I want to take a long trip out west and then south from NH and the way the truck runs unnerves me. I'm looking at late model used maybe 2017 to 2020. They say a 3.5L v6 will tow up to 13,000 lbs. Is that so? Is it a reliable setup? I was leaning more toward the 6.2L V8 as being a little over kill but that makes me more comfortable. Any Ford owners out there with real world towing experience with these engines and model years I would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

My 2016 twin turbo will smoke the tires and pulls hard. I have the full towing package. It is smooth as silkThe newer models have more gears and I suspect that is even better. A 250 will pull a tank if you need or want a diesel.

We have a 2020 f250 with the 6.7l turbo diesel and a 10 speed transmission. We tow a 38’ to that weighs just shy of 9000#. We absolutely love it and have not found a hill or mountain that it won’t climb with the cruise set at 70mph. Smooth and comfortable. Last weekend we were getting about 14 mpg on a 3hr 2 lane tour from south to to west ky.

wtmtnhiker, your truck is a 5.3, not 5.7, but that is immaterial. Importantly, it is NOT normal, and I’m trying to recall, I didn’t think they even went in to V4 mode in tow haul. Regardless, we have a huge fleet of these exact trucks and I just put 100k miles on mine as well as driving a bunch of the others randomly, and the only way I knew they were in V4 mode was seeing it on the dash. 100% not normal to notice it. Barring getting a solution from your dealer (if I wasn’t clear, they are brushing you off), you can tune out the cylinder drop mode with various programmers. Cost a few hundred bucks for a tuner. The rest of the running quality issues are also not normal in the least. You’re getting jerked around by the dealer it seems. Yes a new Ford 3.5 Ecoboost will blow the doors off the 5.3 LS motor with 6 speed, but I’ve towed up to around 14klbs with the same truck as yours, over the mountain passes here in WA without issue. And it tows 7-8klbs just fine.

Look into mods, I think I read that that system can be bypassed. I had the same feelings with a 2012 gmc similler specs. Took a second before the computer registered you put the pedal to the floor. Lol. I got a 2500 chevey now. No problems, but they dont have to meet emissions standerds. I didnt have bucking and misfireing. Some other minor stuff contributed to the bad towing also, my p rated tires mostly. I had a lot of sidewall slop in the rear tires when towing.

Your truck has a 5.3L engine, not a 5.7L engine. I mention that so you will have better luck searching for the aftermarket modification to defeat the AFM feature. It can be done and it should solve your problem without trading trucks.Chevy ONLY put this system on the 5.3L engine. None of the other truck engines have it so you don't need to necessarily avoid a Chevy truck if you choose to trade away from this engine instead of modifying it.No "1/2 ton" truck can tow a 13,000 pound RV because you won't have enough payload to support the likely 2,000 pounds of tongue weight plus the WDH, passengers, and stuff. If you were towing a 13,000 pound boat or a flatbed load of bricks with a lower percentage of tongue weight than an RV then I see no trouble using a truck at it's rated tow capacity.

Ford as a tow vehicle | Good Sam Community

bikendan
Explorer
Apr 30, 2021
jerem0621 wrote:
My 2011 Tahoe was one of the early AFM engines

how can your 2011 Tahoe have one of the early AFM engines when my 2007 Avalanche had the 5.3 AFM, 4 years before yours.
wnjj
Explorer II
Apr 29, 2021
jerem0621 wrote:
My 2011 Tahoe was one of the early AFM engines and the only time I notice it is when I am driving between 29-35mph and the thing keeps switching all the time. While towing or at any other speed it is totally imperceptible.

I agree. Something is wrong.

The F150 will fix the Chevy problem. Just research the issues. Sometimes the Devil you know….

x2. Our 2014 Yukon 5.3L is noticeable sometimes at those speeds. It feels like a very slight shudder or at least change in engine sound/vibration.

Turning tow/haul on does not disable AFM, at least on ours. I read somewhere that M mode does disable it but haven't tested that yet.
wtmtnhiker
Explorer
Apr 29, 2021
APT wrote:
I recommend using Tow/Haul trans mode all the time to disable AFM. :) If that still doe not meet your expectations and want to jump to Ford, then I recommend a 3/4 ton 7.3L if your TT is 7500 pounds dry. If 7500 pounds loaded, then the half ton will handle well. I recommend the 3.5L Ecoboost twin turbo engine, not the regular 3.5L.

I did try using the tow/haul mode as someone had mentioned that to me before but the AFM was not disabled. Maybe not on this year?
wtmtnhiker
Explorer
Apr 29, 2021
Found out the truck I was going to look at had moderate to severe damage to the rear according to Carfax. I wonder if they were going to tell me or just leave it up to me to do my due diligence. I think they should have told me before I booked an appt to go see it but perhaps I expect too much. Oh well.
jerem0621
Explorer II
Apr 29, 2021
My 2011 Tahoe was one of the early AFM engines and the only time I notice it is when I am driving between 29-35mph and the thing keeps switching all the time. While towing or at any other speed it is totally imperceptible.

I agree. Something is wrong.

The F150 will fix the Chevy problem. Just research the issues. Sometimes the Devil you know….
kellem
Explorer
Apr 29, 2021
2 things to consider:

Will you be upgrading trailer in the future? Might be frugal to go 3/4 ton.

My 7600# trailer actually has a 1000# tounge and by the time passengers, bikes, kayaks and other cargo is added, the 1/2 ton class trucks have insufficient payload.

I've owned (2) 5.3 trucks and both engines were very reliable but simply got tired of being marginal on payload.
Check the payload sticker on the door before writing a check.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Apr 29, 2021
wtmtnhiker wrote:
Thanks to all for the helpful replies. Going to look at a 2019 F150 3.5 with twin turbo on Friday.

D@mn, what a baller! I don’t know what it’s like to go buy a new vehicle just because the mostly new one has a couple little issues!
On the upside, someone will pay top $ for your “pos” just don’t bend over anywhere near the salesman while buying the new one! Lol
Grit_dog
Navigator
Apr 28, 2021
wtmtnhiker wrote:
I'm looking at late model used maybe 2017 to 2020. They say a 3.5L v6 will tow up to 13,000 lbs. Is that so? Is it a reliable setup? I was leaning more toward the 6.2L V8 as being a little over kill but that makes me more comfortable. Any Ford owners out there with real world towing experience with these engines and model years I would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

You evidently meant the Ecoboost, not the NA 3.5 V6I presume.
By comparing to the 6.2, you're comparing to a F250. Are you upgrading to a bigger truck?
Also, the Ecoboost is more powerful than the 6.2, FWIW, but you can get deeper gears in the F250.
wtmtnhiker
Explorer
Apr 28, 2021
Thanks to all for the helpful replies. Going to look at a 2019 F150 3.5 with twin turbo on Friday.
APT
Explorer
Apr 28, 2021
I recommend using Tow/Haul trans mode all the time to disable AFM. :) If that still doe not meet your expectations and want to jump to Ford, then I recommend a 3/4 ton 7.3L if your TT is 7500 pounds dry. If 7500 pounds loaded, then the half ton will handle well. I recommend the 3.5L Ecoboost twin turbo engine, not the regular 3.5L.

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