Towing in 3rd gear rpm high?
Hey guys new to the towing a travel trailer and I Have a 1996 Silverado extended cab 4X4 with 5.7 Vortec and factory 3.73 gears and factory size tires 265/75/16 and the truck only has 50K original mil...
Forum Discussion
kwslvdo96 wrote:
Awesome thanks a lot for the info, I still think im going to go one size bigger in my tires to knock off a little rpm.
Thing is. Like you said you are new to towing. You have never heard your engine run before. You have grown up thinking 1500 RPM in OD is a good thing. It is not really. You engine does not like lugging around at 1500 RPM. It wants to do something. It wants to run in it's power band, It wants to use all the fuel being fed to it. It wants to run free and clean. Higher RPM not only lets it run free, and clean, Higher RPM lets the engine make power, and torque, and you NEED power and torque to tow. So hookup, and go, and let it rev. Let it make enough power to do what you ask of it.
IF you do get taller tires, You WILL change the rear gear of the truck. Then your engine will have to work even harder to tow the camper. It will NOT make the power it needs, and It will use more fuel trying to hold 3rd gear, and it will gear down more often, using even more furl. going to a taller tire, or gear is a lose, lose for towing.
IF you need to do anything. You could go to a smaller tire, OR even a lower rear gear and maybe then it would hold OD. But would still turn more RPM than now.
In short, let it run, Getting taller will greatly decrease the towing capacity of your truck. It will ruin it.
