my new tow vehicle - well, maybe
Well, I purchased my wife a 2009 Tahoe yesterday, and I am thinking this may be our next tow vehicle. I still have my truck, but I am thinking I will get rid of the fifth wheel and get a bumper pull ...
Forum Discussion
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.
