Need advice on choosing another Tow Vehicle?

Golden_HVAC wrote:

jungleexplorer wrote:

jerem0621 wrote:
Hmm....

I pulled a 7000 lb 32 ft TT with my old 97 F150 with NO problems. I upgraded to a dually and pretty well hated it.

What's the issue here? Does the rig not pull well? Is your friend just wanting to help you spend your $$$?

Upgrade if you want, but I'm not sure it's needed...

Well, my particular truck is probably the most fuel efficient stock model of gasoline Chevy made in the 2000s. To achieve great gas mileage, they had to gear it up really high in the rear end. This means that it was not intended for pulling. Can it pull? Yes. The engine certainly would have no problem, it has the power. Like a chain that is only as strong as the weakest link, a truck is only as strong as it's weakest component. The weakest component in my truck is a thing called an "Automatic Transmission".

Basically, I want a TV that I don't have to worry about. I want a TV that I could jump in tomorrow and drive to the Arctic ocean pulling my TT and not have to worry about it putting too much stress on it.

My Dad has a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 with the 5.9 diesel. He gets 23MPG on the highway empty and 16 towing a TT. I am probably gonna go with something like his truck, but I thought I would ask around and see what else out there that can do the same, because the 2005 Ram 2500 with the 5.9 diesel are a hot item around my area because of the oilfield and hard to come by at a decent price.

Your automatic transmission is much better than the ones they used in the 70's and 80's. Add a transmission cooler, and it should be fine.

Can you plant your right foot on every hill and expect it to last with the engine running 5,000 RPM? No, but if you take the hills at a reasonable pace, and drive up them at 40- 45 MPH, the transmission will last a long time.

Good luck - and have fun camping!

Fred.

I agree with Fred, add a second trans cooler, and a trans temp gauge, so you can keep an eye on the heat. It's heat that kills A/Ts, if you can keep your tans heat down in the 170 area it will be fine. If you see the temps getting to much above 170, just back it down some to bring the temp back down.

I wouldn't recommend going to a diesel purely due to the added maintenance costs, twice as much oil, oil filters x2 a gasser filter, fuel filters x2a gasser and on it goes.

If you think a diesel if what would make you happy, I would suggest a pre-mid '07 Ram with the 5.9L Cummins. I made the mistake of buying the '07 6.7L Cummins and it is a pig on fuel. More power than I need, the 5.9 would still given me more power than I need and better mileage running empty.

I can't complain about the 11.8MPG I get towing, it's the 15-16 running empty that sucks.

jungleexplorer wrote:
Thank you for the personal experience info. I do appreciate it. The two differences between your truck and mine are going to be the rear end gear ratio and the trans. Since my truck gets 6 MPG better then your empty, I am going to assume that your truck came with the lower gear ration rear end. My trans id a 5 speed (4 with Overdrive) and yours is a straight 4 (according what you said). Your truck came stock to be a hauling/towing truck, so I am not surprised by the dependability you have, especially in low flat land Florida.

I know my truck can pull my trailer, and my mechanic said that as well. My concern is if it is going to wear my trans out faster then normal. All my mechanic said is that towing my rig (I guessed at 5K loaded, could be more) would put heavy stress on the trans and possible wear it faster then normal. He did not say that my truck could not tow my TT.

My concern is not what my truck can do, it is what my truck was designed to do. Heck! I hauled a 1986 16 foot TT that was heavy as a brick for 1600 miles with my 1992 Nissan pathfinder all over Texas. I cloud not go over 55mph, but us still got 14mpg. Of course Pathfinder was a stick shift and 4-wheel drive. It had power out the wazoo and I pulled a loaded UPS truck out of a bar ditch with it one time. My point is, it had a small engine, but it had gear ratio that gave it power. Gear ratio is everything when it comes to power.

I guess at the end of the day my question is this. Do I use what I have a risk blowing the trans out, in which case I would have no truck, nothing to sell and no money to buy a another one. Or do I try to convert my truck into something better while it still has good value? Just to give you a better idea of what my thinking is.

If your Truck is a GM 1500, it is either a 4 Speed Auto or a 6 Speed Auto. Since it's a 2007, it is most likely a 4 Speed. GM never had a 5 Speed Auto in their trucks. If you keep it in 3rd gear pulling your TT, you will have no problems. Will it wear it out faster than not towing at all? Yes, but that is the case with almost any truck. I have pulled many TTs and other items using a truck very similar to yours with no problems. I'd advise against trying to pull a TT in overdrive with that truck as it is unlikely the torque converter will ever lock up in OD and therefore overhead the trans. I ran tests with my 2008 Silverado Z71 Crew Cab (also a 4 speed auto) while pulling my 26' Jayco. I always pulled it in 3rd gear (1:1 ratio) and would get around 8-10 MPG. One day on a flat stretch of highway I decided to see what would happen in OD (4th gear). Well, the mileage never changed and the trans temp went up. So from then on, I always pulled in 3rd. This truck also had the Tow/Haul mode as most new trucks do.

If you're just looking for rationale to buy a new truck, go ahead, otherwise happy camping.

Also, by your pictures, your's has the same trans cooler mine had and it had the towing package. To find out what gears you have, look at the codes on the sticker in your glovebox. This has all of the option codes. GU5 is a 3.23 gear. No problem for that trailer, just means you'll accelerate a little slower is all.

2112 wrote:
Dude, you are over thinking this.
What does a rebuilt tranny cost, $2400 installed? What does it cost to up your rear gear to 3.73, about $400 installed? Change the gear, tow the TT and enjoy life! So you lose a mile or two per gallon. No big deal.

If it only cost $400, I would do it in a heart beat. I heard it cost more like $2000 on my truck.

APT wrote:
What axle ratio? 5.3L plus 3.42 or 3.73 should be fine for a 19' single axle TT.

Okay. According to the sticker in my glove compartment, the RPO code for my rear end ratio is GU5. According to www.ropcodes.com, I have neither the 3.42 or the 3.72; I have the 3.23 gear ratio. No wonder I get such great gas mileage.

Dude, you are over thinking this.
What does a rebuilt tranny cost, $2400 installed? What does it cost to up your rear gear to 3.73, about $400 installed? Change the gear, tow the TT and enjoy life! So you lose a mile or two per gallon. No big deal.

Flush the tranny every 30k miles or so to feel better about it.

Your not out a truck if you blow the tranny. You get a rebuilt tranny at a fraction of the cost of a designated TV.

I towed a 6000lb 26ft TT with my '97 F150 4.6L that wasn't really designed to tow heavy. I changed out the gear and enjoyed it for over 100,000 trouble free miles.

majorgator wrote:
Here's a fact for you:
I own a 2007 Chevy 1/2 ton Z71 with 5.3L engine and 4-speed auto transmission. I bought it with 30K miles and now have about 205K miles on it. My tires are about 1 size larger than stock. The truck is bone stock, absolutely ZERO aftermarket improvements except a new stereo. I have had the transmission serviced at the correct intervals (which is somewhere between 75K and 85K miles). I change my oil every 4K to 6K miles, basically whenever the light tells me to.

I have hauled large, heavy trailers, overloaded trailers, small trailer, enclosed trailers, everything in between. Have hauled all over the State of FL with it on the coldest days and the hottest days. I live in North FL and have hauled heavy boats to the Keys...multiple times. Have hauled at 75+ MPH.

Your truck will be fine. Period.
I've had ZERO problems with my truck (knock on wood). If you're shifting in/out of the higher gears too much, then shift it 3rd and you'll be OK. My fuel mileage when hauling heavy has always been around 10-12 MPG. Unloaded, I get somewhere around 16 MPG. What's wrong with your mechanic? Does he not see the plethora of people dragging LARGE TT's down the road with 1/2 ton trucks all day everyday? I'm on the road a lot, and I see it all the time.

Disclaimer(1): I currently am able to use Non-ethanol fuel about 75% of the time.

Disclaimer(2): I do not haul my TT with this truck, nor do I intend to. I have a larger, more capable truck that I use for that purpose. I would not hesitate for a split second to use my Chevy to haul my TT if my larger truck was not available. Its just preference, not necessity.

Thank you for the personal experience info. I do appreciate it. The two differences between your truck and mine are going to be the rear end gear ratio and the trans. Since my truck gets 6 MPG better then your empty, I am going to assume that your truck came with the lower gear ration rear end. My trans id a 5 speed (4 with Overdrive) and yours is a straight 4 (according what you said). Your truck came stock to be a hauling/towing truck, so I am not surprised by the dependability you have, especially in low flat land Florida.

I know my truck can pull my trailer, and my mechanic said that as well. My concern is if it is going to wear my trans out faster then normal. All my mechanic said is that towing my rig (I guessed at 5K loaded, could be more) would put heavy stress on the trans and possible wear it faster then normal. He did not say that my truck could not tow my TT.

My concern is not what my truck can do, it is what my truck was designed to do. Heck! I hauled a 1986 16 foot TT that was heavy as a brick for 1600 miles with my 1992 Nissan pathfinder all over Texas. I cloud not go over 55mph, but us still got 14mpg. Of course Pathfinder was a stick shift and 4-wheel drive. It had power out the wazoo and I pulled a loaded UPS truck out of a bar ditch with it one time. My point is, it had a small engine, but it had gear ratio that gave it power. Gear ratio is everything when it comes to power.

I guess at the end of the day my question is this. Do I use what I have a risk blowing the trans out, in which case I would have no truck, nothing to sell and no money to buy a another one. Or do I try to convert my truck into something better while it still has good value? Just to give you a better idea of what my thinking is.

Here's a fact for you:
I own a 2007 Chevy 1/2 ton Z71 with 5.3L engine and 4-speed auto transmission. I bought it with 30K miles and now have about 205K miles on it. My tires are about 1 size larger than stock. The truck is bone stock, absolutely ZERO aftermarket improvements except a new stereo. I have had the transmission serviced at the correct intervals (which is somewhere between 75K and 85K miles). I change my oil every 4K to 6K miles, basically whenever the light tells me to.

I have hauled large, heavy trailers, overloaded trailers, small trailer, enclosed trailers, everything in between. Have hauled all over the State of FL with it on the coldest days and the hottest days. I live in North FL and have hauled heavy boats to the Keys...multiple times. Have hauled at 75+ MPH.

Your truck will be fine. Period.
I've had ZERO problems with my truck (knock on wood). If you're shifting in/out of the higher gears too much, then shift it 3rd and you'll be OK. My fuel mileage when hauling heavy has always been around 10-12 MPG. Unloaded, I get somewhere around 16 MPG. What's wrong with your mechanic? Does he not see the plethora of people dragging LARGE TT's down the road with 1/2 ton trucks all day everyday? I'm on the road a lot, and I see it all the time.

Disclaimer(1): I currently am able to use Non-ethanol fuel about 75% of the time.

Disclaimer(2): I do not haul my TT with this truck, nor do I intend to. I have a larger, more capable truck that I use for that purpose. I would not hesitate for a split second to use my Chevy to haul my TT if my larger truck was not available. Its just preference, not necessity.

My truck has a tow haul button on the gear shiftier, so I am assuming it has some sort of stock towing package. There is a little radiator looking thing in front of the main radiator that I am assuming is the trans cooler. It seems very small to me compared to other trans cooler I have seen on other trucks. Here is a picture of it. It is about 12 inches by 5 inches.



As far as the gear ratio of my Diff, I don't know how to tell. Here is what the "Decodethis.com" site tells me from the VIN, but I can't find the gear ratio in the info: http://www.decodethis.com/VIN-Decoded/vin/2GCEC13Z371129376

Here are some pics of the stickers.

bmet2000 wrote:
All of the 2006 Ram's that are diesel have the 5.9 They made the switch in the 2007 model year, some some 2007's have the 5.9 and some have the 6.7 depending on when it was made.

I was only repeating what I was told by my Dodge friends, I don't know much about it myself. My Dodge friend say the 1998 Dodge was the best for power for some reason (can't remember what the reason was).

Atlee wrote:
I pulled a 24 ft bumper to ball trailer from Virginia to Los Angeles, CA with a 2005 F150 Supercab w/ 5.4, 3.73 rear w/ tow pkg earlier this year. I averaged 10.xx for the trip. One time I hit 12, but I was running on a flat highway with a trailing wind. I'd drop to 9.xx if most of the tank was used climbing hills and mountains.

On the back roads I'd drive between 55 & 60. When I was on interstates, I'd drive between 60 and 65.

Can't argue with facts. I guess I am just worried and making much ado about nothing. I have owned many vehicles in my life and I am a maintenance nut. I usually own my cars until they die and almost every car I have ever owned died because of automatic transmission failure no matter how well I maintained it. Personally, I am stick shift man, but my wife is totally incapable driving one (I know! I tried to teach her at great peril to my life), so I am forced to own Automatics so she can drive them. Never in my life had a stick go out on me, a clutch maybe, but never the trans.

Before this Silverado I had a 1993 F-350 with the 7.3 International Diesel and the E40D Autotrans. Blew that trans out hauling a 20 foot flat trailer of firewood 100 miles at 55mph. Piece of Junk!

I just have not had great results hauling loads with automatic transmissions. I pulled my trailer empty fro east Texas (about 300 miles) and my truck stayed in 3rd most of the way and my RPMs were up there; and this is in flat land Texas. I can't image how bad my truck will struggle once I load it up and hit the Rocky Mountains.