my new tow vehicle - well, maybe

mkirsch wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

garyp4951 wrote:
My 2011 Tahoe will not pull a hill in OD with just two people in it. If I were going to tow anything, I would be changing the gears to 4:10

You have a problem.

Or a very heavy right foot, and unrealistic expectations.

So what if it downshifts on hills? That doesn't mean it can't hold 4th gear or 3rd at 3000rpm towing a TT. You just get 21mpg on that highway trip. Sounds better than 10 years ago.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

garyp4951 wrote:
My 2011 Tahoe will not pull a hill in OD with just two people in it. If I were going to tow anything, I would be changing the gears to 4:10

You have a problem.

Or a very heavy right foot, and unrealistic expectations.

Here we are again with the gearing. The GM 6-spd has two overdrive gears. So what? It also has a first gear that is 32% shorter than GM's prior 4-spd. GM 6-spd is is similar to the 4-spd with 4.56 if you only use the first 4 gears which is done with the M trans mode. Actually, it's better because first gear is similar, gear spacing is narrower, and you probably have 5 usable towing gears instead of 4. Is 6-spd/3.72 better for towing? A little. Is Ford's Ecoboost better? Absolutely. But OP is going from a 90's Dodge gas 5.9L with very poor 4-spd gearing. The 2009 Tahoe will accelerate much better and use less fuel.



Anyway, power will not be your problem. You do need to confirm the axle ratio and HD towing package/trans cooler. Look in the glove box for a sticker with list of RPO codes. GU6 = 3.42 and K5L for the trans cooler. With those, tow rating is over 8k pounds. Payload may be exceeded well under that if you have a large family. Receiver limit at 1000 pounds is another limit typically at under 8k loaded RV.

Terryallan wrote:

Need-A-Vacation wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

Tystevens wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Only thing I would suggest. Make sure of the Tahoe tow rating. I would bet it has a 3.42 rear gear. That is going to kill the tow capacity. You may be limited to around 6000lb loaded.

Nope. The 3.42 is the best towing gears GM put in this platform. So if you have 3.42, you're doing good. 3.42 w/ the 6 spd is a good towing pairing. That is what we have in our '10 Suburban.

The kicker is whether you have the K5L cooling package. Look for the K5L code in your glove box. If you do, you have a Tahoe equipped to tow the max for the model. If not, you will be limited -- check the owners manual for exact numbers.

It is a decent towing platform. We have towed our 6500lb TT many miles w/ our '10 Suburban and it gets us there. Don't be afraid to let it rev, 6th gear is all but useless, but overall it is a very nice, comfortable, and reasonably stable platform.

Just because it the "best" GM puts in it. don't mean it's good.

Have you had the opportunity to tow with a newer tv with a 6spd tranny yet? While my experience is only with the GM combo, it is plenty of power for a trailer large enough to max out the tv's payload. While a 3.42 seems like it is not enough, the internal 1-4 (and 5th depending on road/ weather) gears actually make it a better combo than the old 5.3/4spd/4.10 combo.

While I didn't have a Tahoe, I did have this combo in a '10-1500 ccsb 4x4, that had plenty of power for a 7300lb(ish) trailer, just was over on payload a little.

Have had the opportunity to drive a 5.3 with the 3.43, and the 6 speed. It could not get out of it's own way. Knew after just a few miles. I would not want to tow with it. It was constantly changing gears running empty.

I know the factory tunes are geared toward achieving the best mpg. But when towing, letting the motor rev a little higher there wasn't a lack of power, at least that I ever thought or noticed. Only reason we have a 2500HD now is payload.

I would like to see GM come out with a "light duty" 2500- 5.3/6spd/3.73 but have the same payload, and then the "HD" 2500 as is with the the 6.0/6spd/4.10.

One thing I have noticed with our '13-2500HD is that when driving through town where our '10-1500 would be shifting into 5th or 6th gear as quickly as possible (from what I remember!!!), the 2500HD is only in maybe 4th gear (both empty at the time).

garyp4951 wrote:
My 2011 Tahoe will not pull a hill in OD with just two people in it. If I were going to tow anything, I would be changing the gears to 4:10

Well, how big is the hill? Any vehicle will downshift if the hill is steep enough!

Yeah, it is true that it won't hold 6th gear on much of an incline -- more than 2 or 3% and it will downshift. And you're not gonna use 6th gear (much) when towing behind a 5.3, regardless of whether you have 4.10 gears or 3.42 gears. That is, in part, because at 65 mph, I'm only turning about 1600 rpm w/ 3.42, so the engine is operating way below the torque/hp range of the engine. It has to get to where it has some power, after all. Towing, we are usually operating in gears 3-5. It does shift quite a bit, but the transmission temps stay down and it doesn't concern me too much as a result.

But the upside of the gearing is pretty good unloaded mpg. I have done as well as 21.6 mpg in my Suburban.

Terryallan wrote:

Tystevens wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Only thing I would suggest. Make sure of the Tahoe tow rating. I would bet it has a 3.42 rear gear. That is going to kill the tow capacity. You may be limited to around 6000lb loaded.

Nope. The 3.42 is the best towing gears GM put in this platform. So if you have 3.42, you're doing good. 3.42 w/ the 6 spd is a good towing pairing. That is what we have in our '10 Suburban.

The kicker is whether you have the K5L cooling package. Look for the K5L code in your glove box. If you do, you have a Tahoe equipped to tow the max for the model. If not, you will be limited -- check the owners manual for exact numbers.

It is a decent towing platform. We have towed our 6500lb TT many miles w/ our '10 Suburban and it gets us there. Don't be afraid to let it rev, 6th gear is all but useless, but overall it is a very nice, comfortable, and reasonably stable platform.

Just because it the "best" GM puts in it. don't mean it's good.

Well, maybe its good, maybe its not. But my point was, don't send the OP on a goose chase looking for a higher (lower) gear ratio. If his truck has the 3.42, it is as good as its going to get.

And for what its worth, I've owned an '05 w/ 4.10 gears and a 4 spd, and a '10 w/ 3.42 and 6 spd. I'll take the 3.42 and 6 spd any day of the week, both towing and not towing.

Need-A-Vacation wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

Tystevens wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Only thing I would suggest. Make sure of the Tahoe tow rating. I would bet it has a 3.42 rear gear. That is going to kill the tow capacity. You may be limited to around 6000lb loaded.

Nope. The 3.42 is the best towing gears GM put in this platform. So if you have 3.42, you're doing good. 3.42 w/ the 6 spd is a good towing pairing. That is what we have in our '10 Suburban.

The kicker is whether you have the K5L cooling package. Look for the K5L code in your glove box. If you do, you have a Tahoe equipped to tow the max for the model. If not, you will be limited -- check the owners manual for exact numbers.

It is a decent towing platform. We have towed our 6500lb TT many miles w/ our '10 Suburban and it gets us there. Don't be afraid to let it rev, 6th gear is all but useless, but overall it is a very nice, comfortable, and reasonably stable platform.

Just because it the "best" GM puts in it. don't mean it's good.

Have you had the opportunity to tow with a newer tv with a 6spd tranny yet? While my experience is only with the GM combo, it is plenty of power for a trailer large enough to max out the tv's payload. While a 3.42 seems like it is not enough, the internal 1-4 (and 5th depending on road/ weather) gears actually make it a better combo than the old 5.3/4spd/4.10 combo.

While I didn't have a Tahoe, I did have this combo in a '10-1500 ccsb 4x4, that had plenty of power for a 7300lb(ish) trailer, just was over on payload a little.

Have had the opportunity to drive a 5.3 with the 3.43, and the 6 speed. It could not get out of it's own way. Knew after just a few miles. I would not want to tow with it. It was constantly changing gears running empty.

Terryallan wrote:

Tystevens wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Only thing I would suggest. Make sure of the Tahoe tow rating. I would bet it has a 3.42 rear gear. That is going to kill the tow capacity. You may be limited to around 6000lb loaded.

Nope. The 3.42 is the best towing gears GM put in this platform. So if you have 3.42, you're doing good. 3.42 w/ the 6 spd is a good towing pairing. That is what we have in our '10 Suburban.

The kicker is whether you have the K5L cooling package. Look for the K5L code in your glove box. If you do, you have a Tahoe equipped to tow the max for the model. If not, you will be limited -- check the owners manual for exact numbers.

It is a decent towing platform. We have towed our 6500lb TT many miles w/ our '10 Suburban and it gets us there. Don't be afraid to let it rev, 6th gear is all but useless, but overall it is a very nice, comfortable, and reasonably stable platform.

Just because it the "best" GM puts in it. don't mean it's good.

Have you had the opportunity to tow with a newer tv with a 6spd tranny yet? While my experience is only with the GM combo, it is plenty of power for a trailer large enough to max out the tv's payload. While a 3.42 seems like it is not enough, the internal 1-4 (and 5th depending on road/ weather) gears actually make it a better combo than the old 5.3/4spd/4.10 combo.

While I didn't have a Tahoe, I did have this combo in a '10-1500 ccsb 4x4, that had plenty of power for a 7300lb(ish) trailer, just was over on payload a little.

The 6 speed will help, but to say it will pull a "fairly large trailer" is sort of subjective. My Tahoe did ok with a 6k 23' Rockwood. I didn't go with my 2500 for towing the trailer only, I also haul and pull construction equipment. With the Tahoe, I had to spend some extra time planning how I would load the cargo area and the camper. Took a little more work setting up the WD as well. The payload capacity isn't a whole lot. Dropping down from a fiver to a TT and a Tahoe may be more than you really want to do for the long run.

Thanks for all the input! I have pulled all sorts of combinations, from tent trailers behind my classic Volkswagens, to tandem enclosed trailers behind a one ton. The worst experience I had was a 24' enclosed trailer behind my 08 f-150 4.6 3.23... talk about tail wagging the dog!