Hello all, I've bought a used Chevy express 3500 with the intent of hauling a camper within a year for family vacations. For the rest of this year, I would like to outfit the van appropriately. It does not have a factory tow package and no indication it has ever towed before.I plan to add a Reese Class IV hitch, Prodigy 3 controller. I do not have a factory trailer wiring harness. Suggestions on a harness mfg. would be appreciated. I've seen them on amazon/ebay but I have zero familiarity with the names. The Reese site suggested a Hopkins harness (for $100) that appears to have some manner of controller. Any opinions on that?The van has a 3.42 ratio on 6l90e trans, factory trans cooler and aux trans cooler (by RPO code). It is an open diff, should I consider an upgrade to this? I don't expect to off-road, but a 12% gravel road at a campsite could get hairy.No camper yet, but when it does get purchased, we plan on watching the weight carefully. Funds dictate it will be smaller than we would like, so that should keep the weight down too.Any other thoughts, suggestions, or clever ideas for setting one of these up for longer road trips would be great. When I was a kid, my Dad hauled us all over the Country in an '86 Ford van pulling a 22' camper, an industrial inverter and little TV fitted to a custom stand taking up one of the seats. I'm quite inclined to do any number of things to this rig for enjoyment, precaution, and safety.Thanks to all.

I'd put in some sort of limited slip diff if you plan to pull a camper up that steep of a gravel road. As long as you've got the diff apart I would go to a lower gear. A 3.73 would likely be a nice improvement.

Thank you for that advice, I have been looking at truck axles for a swap rather than setting up a new gear set. Would this recommendation change with only pulling a couple times a year and day-trips the rest? I was also curious whether helper airbags would be of any benefit. I have not driven the van loaded to know whether seat of the pants says yea or nay, and I doubt the rear springs are too worn.

I wouldn't spend any $ on an axle or gear swap until you see how it does. Unless you're looking to max out the towing capacity of the van, it will do fine with lighter trailers and your intended uses (shorter trips you said). Yes deep gears will help but that's a lot of budget for the return imo unless you're logging a lot of miles or flogging it with a big trailer. Springs shouldn't be an issue in a 3500. Doubt you need bags. Hitch, brake controller and an aux trans cooler if you're inclined and let er rip.

Re-gearing is not needed with the 6-speed.I would check into wether your transmission cooler is the same size as with the tow package, and if you need to add an engine oil cooler.Bewared that there is an open TSB for the transmission programming. The torque converter clutch slips at heavy throttle when operated at max GCWR, so the programming leaves the torque converter unlocked more. This saves the clutch, but at the expense of more heat. This was causing overheating issues for the motorhome guys, but Hayden came out with a better fan clutch that kicks on sooner.

I purchases the Curt class V. It is rated to 2400lbs tongue weight and does not cost much more. That way, I can tow anything I may need.I had a RV store install the wiring for my Prodigy. I had taken the panel off, and installed mine at my right hand side next to the engine cover. They needed to run the wire from battery all the way back. I decided it was a good investment, since I did not have hours to do myself.I would suggest a set of new shocks. I am close to putting some on my van, to take out the bounce when not towing and using as a tour bus.I have seen the Express with bucket seats in the 2nd and 3rd row in the Van Pool vehicles. Not sure if they just go into the factory openings or not. I would love to replace the benches with something higher.The 3.42 axle does a great job when not towing. I have gotten as high as 21 mpg (driving at speeds under 65 mph). As for the open differential, I had to leave my trailer once when trying to back up on wet soft grass. It was what I was expecting, but tried anyway.

newb looking to set up 2010 Chevy Express 3500 | Good Sam Community

KD4UPL
Explorer
Jun 14, 2017
I'd put in some sort of limited slip diff if you plan to pull a camper up that steep of a gravel road. As long as you've got the diff apart I would go to a lower gear. A 3.73 would likely be a nice improvement.
ogre01
Explorer
Jun 15, 2017
Thank you for that advice, I have been looking at truck axles for a swap rather than setting up a new gear set. Would this recommendation change with only pulling a couple times a year and day-trips the rest? I was also curious whether helper airbags would be of any benefit. I have not driven the van loaded to know whether seat of the pants says yea or nay, and I doubt the rear springs are too worn.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jun 15, 2017
I wouldn't spend any $ on an axle or gear swap until you see how it does. Unless you're looking to max out the towing capacity of the van, it will do fine with lighter trailers and your intended uses (shorter trips you said). Yes deep gears will help but that's a lot of budget for the return imo unless you're logging a lot of miles or flogging it with a big trailer.
Springs shouldn't be an issue in a 3500. Doubt you need bags. Hitch, brake controller and an aux trans cooler if you're inclined and let er rip.
carringb
Explorer
Jun 19, 2017
Re-gearing is not needed with the 6-speed.

I would check into wether your transmission cooler is the same size as with the tow package, and if you need to add an engine oil cooler.

Bewared that there is an open TSB for the transmission programming. The torque converter clutch slips at heavy throttle when operated at max GCWR, so the programming leaves the torque converter unlocked more. This saves the clutch, but at the expense of more heat. This was causing overheating issues for the motorhome guys, but Hayden came out with a better fan clutch that kicks on sooner.
Dadoffourgirls
Explorer
Jun 20, 2017
I purchases the Curt class V. It is rated to 2400lbs tongue weight and does not cost much more. That way, I can tow anything I may need.

I had a RV store install the wiring for my Prodigy. I had taken the panel off, and installed mine at my right hand side next to the engine cover. They needed to run the wire from battery all the way back. I decided it was a good investment, since I did not have hours to do myself.

I would suggest a set of new shocks. I am close to putting some on my van, to take out the bounce when not towing and using as a tour bus.

I have seen the Express with bucket seats in the 2nd and 3rd row in the Van Pool vehicles. Not sure if they just go into the factory openings or not. I would love to replace the benches with something higher.

The 3.42 axle does a great job when not towing. I have gotten as high as 21 mpg (driving at speeds under 65 mph).

As for the open differential, I had to leave my trailer once when trying to back up on wet soft grass. It was what I was expecting, but tried anyway.
falconbrother
Explorer II
Jun 20, 2017
What engine is in that van?

Look at Sumo Supersprings for the rear end.
ogre01
Explorer
Jun 20, 2017
Thanks for the conversation.

@CarringB - the van does have the RPO for the tow package tranny cooler and aux engine oil cooler. So, it is "as good" as the factory will get. I am talking with Blackbear on tuning engine and transmission with the AutoCal box. I'll get their opinion on that TSB, I would generally prefer at all times less heat in the transmission and don't expect I would ever use heavy throttle at anything close to GVWR. I do have the "Torque Pro" app on my phone with a bluetooth OBDII interface which lets me setup a gauge set on a smart phone which includes Tranny Temp. I'll check if there is some converter slip sensor like diesel trucks have.

@fourgirls, yikes man, I'm glad I got a boy in third, or I may have just stopped. Guy I worked with had 5 all in a row. My shocks do look pretty old, and the springs sit pretty flat unloaded (contrary to what I thought at first). I'll look at replacing the shocks soon and am looking at manual airbags for towing use (and a big honkin' WD hitch).

@falcon, it is the 6.0. Those are some interesting looking springs, I'll look into them, they do want a pretty penny.
Dadoffourgirls
Explorer
Jun 20, 2017
ogre01 wrote:
Thanks for the conversation.

@CarringB - the van does have the RPO for the tow package tranny cooler and aux engine oil cooler. So, it is "as good" as the factory will get. I am talking with Blackbear on tuning engine and transmission with the AutoCal box. I'll get their opinion on that TSB, I would generally prefer at all times less heat in the transmission and don't expect I would ever use heavy throttle at anything close to GVWR. I do have the "Torque Pro" app on my phone with a bluetooth OBDII interface which lets me setup a gauge set on a smart phone which includes Tranny Temp. I'll check if there is some converter slip sensor like diesel trucks have.

@fourgirls, yikes man, I'm glad I got a boy in third, or I may have just stopped. Guy I worked with had 5 all in a row. My shocks do look pretty old, and the springs sit pretty flat unloaded (contrary to what I thought at first). I'll look at replacing the shocks soon and am looking at manual airbags for towing use (and a big honkin' WD hitch).

@falcon, it is the 6.0. Those are some interesting looking springs, I'll look into them, they do want a pretty penny.

Let me caution you about the Torque Pro App and OBDII. After a year of use, I was 10 miles from home when I made a turn, and lost all power. Took me almost a mile to get to 35 mph. After getting home and unhitching, did not have issue. Since I was still under warranty, took it to dealer. There was a code that indicated that there was a communication fault between engine and transmission. They indicated that it was caused by the OBDII device. So if you experience that, I would stop, turn-off, and remove OBDII device.
RoyJ
Explorer
Jun 20, 2017
carringb wrote:
Bewared that there is an open TSB for the transmission programming. The torque converter clutch slips at heavy throttle when operated at max GCWR, so the programming leaves the torque converter unlocked more. This saves the clutch, but at the expense of more heat. This was causing overheating issues for the motorhome guys, but Hayden came out with a better fan clutch that kicks on sooner.

That sounds like a bandaid solution to a improper design!

Is there not a way to increase the line pressure? On my old Dodge 47RE, a Trans-go shift kit increased the pressure high enough so that the stock V10 can't slip the converter clutch at any throttle opening.

The 6L90 is a tougher transmission, and the 6.0 is a weaker engine (torque wise), can't see there being any trouble. If they can run a de-tuned Duramax on this unit, how can a stock 6.0 slip the clutch?
ogre01
Explorer
Jun 20, 2017
@fourgirls, thanks for the heads up on the bluetooth. I've had the device for several years now on any of five vehicles or so, but I've never used it as more than a passing analysis for some driveability problem or code check. I know it gives you the ability to start writing values and really jack something up (with the custom PIDs), but never considered that it's "passive" use could cause an issue.