7100 lb-rated new Silverado towing 4000 pounds

[Brassica]

The 4.3l V6 in the "double cab" truck is rated for 7100 pounds. The trailer would be 4000 pounds wet. The truck would have two adults and 500 pounds of supplies. The trailer would have a frontal area of 60 square feet. GCWR is 12,000 lb, so we have 2,400 lb of margin on that account. Is this truck a good match?

The obvious upgrade is to buy the V8 engine, but I am interested in fuel economy. The V6 is 4% better on the highway.

We are going to cross windy prairies and high passes out west.

A nod to Terryallan on July 18 about the frontal area: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27837874/srt/pa/pging/1/page/2.cfm
Thanks all!

[Brassica]

spud1957 wrote:
Two Kayaks? Are they included in your 500lbs of stuff you stated in your OP? Just be careful with how much "stuff" you load up on that truck. Pay close attention to your GVWR of 7100lbs and the "tire load and cargo capacity" number on your driver's door post.

My slalom kayak weighs about 38 pounds. Thanks for asking.

[spud1957]

Brassica wrote:

Hybridhunter wrote:

spud1957 wrote:
With the current 4.3L GM V6 @ 285HP and 305TQ and a 6 speed tranny there should have no problem pulling that.

Agreed. It should do it fine. But with a V6, you have to be comfortable with a higher operating rpm, and the operation will not be as effortless. Much depends on the trailer, as especially tall or wide trailer is tough to pull. Ours is around 4000#, but it is lifted, not rounded, and 8' wide, so weight is secondary.

ROAR Our TT will be a svelte 7'3" wide and 8'6" high.

I test drove the V6 on my commute. I slowed it to 55mph at the river valley on the freeway and then giddi'upped the throttle to see how it climbed up the Portage Escarpment. Transmissions shift so smoothly today and it was not a jarring experience. The new cabin has soundproofing for the discriminating buyer and that helped. The tachometer betrayed the downshifting. It did not jump to alarming speeds. I did not have the gear indicator displayed so I don't know which gear it settled on. My impression was that the V6 must work to climb the hills.

We are thinking of hauling kayaks on the truck on our trans-continental excursions. The hints about our duty cycle for this vehicle were insightful. We are both soon to be retired and certainly won't worry about the fuel economy commuting to the baloney factory. We can certainly afford the more expensive V8 option.

Two Kayaks? Are they included in your 500lbs of stuff you stated in your OP? Just be careful with how much "stuff" you load up on that truck. Pay close attention to your GVWR of 7100lbs and the "tire load and cargo capacity" number on your driver's door post.

[Brassica]

mcsurveyor wrote:
I personally hate the giant wheels they're putting on trucks these days.

But how am I going be totally gangsta?

[mcsurveyor]

Brassica wrote:

Is there any point getting 20" wheels instead of 18" wheels? A Canadian writer noted on his website that low aspect ratio tires have inherently stiffer sidewalls and would resist being waggled by the trailer.

I personally hate the giant wheels they're putting on trucks these days. I certainly wouldn't buy 20's for the reason you specify. 18's are fine. I'm old fashioned I guess, I'd prefer 17's. Much cheaper to buy tires, and a better selection of LT tires.

Again on the V6, I only test drove one example, and based on that one, I would spring for the V8. The V6 I drove sounded like a paint shaker under the hood and couldn't get out of it's own way power-wise. Having read other peoples opinions on it, I'm inclined to think that maybe I test drove a dud, and should give it another chance. But, either way, the V8 is a better match for the truck and towing purposes.

[Brassica]

Hybridhunter wrote:

spud1957 wrote:
With the current 4.3L GM V6 @ 285HP and 305TQ and a 6 speed tranny there should have no problem pulling that.

Agreed. It should do it fine. But with a V6, you have to be comfortable with a higher operating rpm, and the operation will not be as effortless. Much depends on the trailer, as especially tall or wide trailer is tough to pull. Ours is around 4000#, but it is lifted, not rounded, and 8' wide, so weight is secondary.

ROAR Our TT will be a svelte 7'3" wide and 8'6" high.

I test drove the V6 on my commute. I slowed it to 55mph at the river valley on the freeway and then giddi'upped the throttle to see how it climbed up the Portage Escarpment. Transmissions shift so smoothly today and it was not a jarring experience. The new cabin has soundproofing for the discriminating buyer and that helped. The tachometer betrayed the downshifting. It did not jump to alarming speeds. I did not have the gear indicator displayed so I don't know which gear it settled on. My impression was that the V6 must work to climb the hills.

We are thinking of hauling kayaks on the truck on our trans-continental excursions. The hints about our duty cycle for this vehicle were insightful. We are both soon to be retired and certainly won't worry about the fuel economy commuting to the baloney factory. We can certainly afford the more expensive V8 option.

[ktosv]

ken56 wrote:
The 7100 lb. is gross vehicle weight rating, not tow rating.

Actually, looking at the Chevrolet website the 4.3L V6 has a GVWR of 7100# and a tow rating of 7100# with the 12000 GCVWR.

I actually think the V6 would tow a 4000# (wet) trailer pretty well. We towed a 5000# GVWR HTT with an 05 Suburban with the 5.3L and 3.42 axle and I didn't find myself ever wanting more power from the truck. My Suburban would have had 10 more HP and 30 more #-ft of torque as compared to the new 4.3L V6, but the V6 is also coupled with the 6 speed transmission. At a minimum you would have 4 usable towing gears while I had 3 in the Suburban.

I don't think you can go wrong with either engine. The 4.3L should get the job done and return some pretty good gas mileage while the 5.3L should do the job effortlessly

[ken56]

The 7100 lb. is gross vehicle weight rating, not tow rating. It has a gross combined weight rating of 12000 lbs. I have the 5.3 crew, 7200 gvwr and 15000 combined rating with 9600 tow rating with 1666 max payload rating and tow my 6500 lb. trailer with no problems. I average 19 non towing and 10 towing. Speed is the biggest factor in fuel consumption as it is the wind resistance that is the demon. I pull my rig at 55 to 60 mph at all times.

[Brassica]

21-22mpg commuting with the V6 is stunning. My Windstar minivan with a 4 liter pushrod engine only got 19 mpg in my typical driving. The minivan also weighed 1100 pounds less. I weighed it at the scrap yard = 4000 pounds. Thanks, Dad!!

[Dadoffourgirls]

I drove a 2014 Double-Cab 4.3 last year. I pulled several trailers with the vehicle (including those that may have exceeded the capacity). I logged close to 15k miles on the truck in the 4 months.
I have been driving a 2014 Double-Cab 5.3 3.08 for the last couple weeks. It has been mostly tow duty with the same trailers, with some non-towing.

I could not tell the difference.

So far non-towing, the V6 had superior mileage. The cut-off to V4 left the 4.3 having more power than the 5.3. I will now be commuting in the 5.3 for the next week, and see if I can average 20 mpg. I was in the 21-22 last year with the 4.3.

[CKNSLS]

I towed a 5,500 pound -29 foot travel trailer 8,000 miles in 8 months all around the U.S. w/my 2WD 2011 Silverado Crew Cab with the 5.3 and had absolutely zero issues.

The only time I wished for more power was coming home through Parley pass about 50 miles from home. But it was a great trip.

I have the 20" tires. Some on here will say 20" tires limit your LT tire choices should you decide to switch. But I say all you need are tires with a "XL" rating to be OK. I pulled the trailer to Florida and up the East coast with the stock (P rated) tires with no issues. I replaced them in New Hampshire due to them wearing out.

[Brassica]

Great writing. We are leaning toward the 5.3 liter engine for some of the other options like bucket seats.

Is there any point getting 20" wheels instead of 18" wheels? A Canadian writer noted on his website that low aspect ratio tires have inherently stiffer sidewalls and would resist being waggled by the trailer.

[2014Z]

Brassica wrote:
The 4.3l V6 in the "double cab" truck is rated for 7100 pounds. The trailer would be 4000 pounds wet. The truck would have two adults and 500 pounds of supplies. The trailer would have a frontal area of 60 square feet. GCWR is 12,000 lb, so we have 2,400 lb of margin on that account. Is this truck a good match?

I bought a 2014 Z71 with the 4.3l and tow package early this spring. I can tell you this about it:

The 2014 4.3 is a brand new engine, made for trucks. It has 11:1 compression and works well with E85. With E85 in the tank it has 297hp and 330lbs torque, and averages 13-14mpg. (gas is 285hp/305lbs, and I'm getting 16-17 combined mpg, 21-24 highway)

The 2010 5.3l I used to have averaged 15-16mpg, and had 315hp/335lbs torque. Not much different.

One difference I have noted running gas is I get 21-24mpg on highway trips, much better than the 2010 5.3l I had which would get 18-19mpg highway.

The six speed transmission is an improvement. I get 10-14mpg towing my 2000lb boat on gas or E85, depending on terrain and highway. (and it seems about the same as the old 5.3l)

Basically this engine is the replacement for the 4.8l V8, and a better engine because the 4.8l made it's 305lbs torque at 4600rpm, the 4.3l makes it's 305lbs torque at 3900rpm.

Love the truck so far, got the All Star pack, step tubes, bedliner, and tonneau.

All that said, the new 5.3l similarly a tweaked high compression version of last years models, and a more capable tow vehicle for $1000 more. In the price of these trucks, $1000 is nothing.

I got the 4.3l because they gave me a killer deal on my trade and a good price on the truck. (and I'm only towing a 2000lb boat)

If I were towing 4000, I'd get the 5.3l just to be sure. The 4.3l will do it easily from the reviews I read, but you might get a bigger trailer and why push it for $1000 on a truck that is going to cost you over $30K?

[Hybridhunter]

phipps33 wrote:
I pulled an approximately 3500lb trailer out west several years ago with my Sierra with the 4.3L and she really struggled on the hills. Shortly after returning from the trip it trashed the tranny. It's a good engine, almost 250,000 miles on the engine and she's still going strong.

Way different output, maybe 200hp on that one, 4 speed trans, not even comparable.

ib516 wrote:
Wait for the 2015 GM 1500s - they will have an 8 speed auto trans replacing the current 6 speed.

Only on the top shelf 6.2 engine.

spud1957 wrote:
Interesting the last years of the Ford 5.8L V8 in the F250, it was rated at 210HP and 325TQ and a 4 speed tranny. If he was pulling with that there would be no opposition.

With the current 4.3L GM V6 @ 285HP and 305TQ and a 6 speed tranny there should have no problem pulling that.

Agreed. It should do it fine. But with a V6, you have to be comfortable with a higher operating rpm, and the operation will not be as effortless. Much depends on the trailer, as especially tall or wide trailer is tough to pull. Ours is around 4000#, but it is lifted, not rounded, and 8' wide, so weight is secondary.

[wintersun]

I don't know where you got the 7100 tow rating for the V-6 engine. According to GM's trailering guide the maximum tow is 4400 lbs. with the extended or double cab. It goes up to 6700 lbs. with the 4.8L V-8, and to 9600 with the 5.3L V-8 and the 3.42 gears (only 6900 with the 3.08 gears).

Fuel consumption for a tow vehicle should be the last thing to think about. If you take a trip that covers 1000 miles and one engine provides 25 MPG and the other provides 18 MPG the difference in gallons of gasoline will be 15.5 gallons or about $60. If you drive 15,000 miles each year the additional monthly cost for gas will be Over 50,000 miles the difference is still only an additional $75 each month.

The place to save money is at the car dealership when buying the new truck. Trucks are more profitable for the manufactures and the dealers than even the luxury SUV's and people pay way too much and a lot more than they need to for their trucks. If you buy a vehicle at the dealer's invoiced cost they still make a good profit on it. MSRP and factory incentives and zero interest are targeted at people so they can be suckered into paying a lot more than they need to while still leaving thinking they got a great deal.

[APT]

Brassica wrote:
The obvious upgrade is to buy the V8 engine, but I am interested in fuel economy. The V6 is 4% better on the highway.

In the 15 years I owned and continue to follow the half ton pickup market, it seems like the same driver gets the same fuel economy for the same driving style regardless regardless of engine or axle ratio choices.

30 gallons of fuel at 20mpg will get a pickup 600 miles down the road, or at maybe 12mpg towing 360 miles. What will matter more to you - going an extra 24 miles not towing/14 miles towing or that your engine didn't downshift as frequently or as many gears while driving? Both have enough power, so it's your preference.

My opinion is get the bigger engine and shorter gears. People tend to notice the power far more often than any potential fuel savings which do not seem to be realized for real world driving.