Towing with a older truck

I was looking for a Ford Expedition when I found the screaming good deal on the Chevy. Since I'm not brand loyal I bought the Chevy knowing that they need a transmission overhaul every 80,000 miles or so. My transmission is still tight and given the miles it's probably been over hauled a couple of times. I work at a community college that has a big auto diesel program. I asked a student that has worked in a transmission shop for a few years: What brand do you see in the shop for overhauls the most, Ford or Chevy. He said Chevy 2 to 1, or more. But, he also said that in our area there my be more Chevys on the road so, it's not a scientific result. It will take me a decade to put 80,000 miles on this thing and it's paid for. Buying an overhaul every decade is OK. As far as other repairs... I bought this thing with a few known issues. Since I fixed everything in January I haven't had any repairs all year.

I had a 2004 Chevy truck and the transmission went out at 80000 miles. That is quite common for them. The engine will run forever but, I think that you will be putting a transmission in it soon. With that kinda of miles it won't be the first. The original one was replace long ago.

Darned Chevy truck was in the shop every 3 months. Except for the transmission the rest of it was ll 100 to 200 dollar repairs but, it sure broke down a lot.

I'm towing with a 2000 5.3 Burb. The engine is new-ish but.. Go for it. The mighty 4.8 is a good engine.

Tyandkate wrote:
Okay so here it goes I’m towing with a 2001 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab. It’s got the 4800 v8 auto it’s rated to tow up to 6,000 pounds and our camper is below that rating loaded up and ready to hit the road. My question is, are there any precauntionary things I should do to my truck to make the task easier? It has a factory installed transmission cooler it’s about 3” wide and 12” long. I had the transmission checked out and my mechanic says everything looked okay. Just seeking some advice from
More experienced people. I’m not wanting to upgrade my truck. I know it’s old but it’s still running like a brand new one

I'd be more concerned with the fact that it is a Chevy than the age.
(JUST KIDDING!) I pull my 28' Alpenlite with my '79 F250 and never once have I worried about the age of my truck. I do regular maintenance and repairs as needed.

Thanks for that vote of confidence! The trucks somewhat new to me, but was a one owner maintained to the nines it looks as good as a new one with 262,000 miles on it. After getting on some scales and really looking at all we have in the camper and in the truck we realized we were pushing our weight limits. Once I get rid of some things we really don’t even need I will weigh again and we should be right where we need to be

Old? I been towing with a 1965 Chevy Van (flat windshield type). Put a 292 6 in it many years ago, 90,000 miles later still pulling. Never had a problem with it or breakdown. Constant maintenance is essential and the reason it's lasted so long. Oil changes, trans. fluid & filter changes, keep greased (has king pins), etc.

Recently went a lot newer, bought a 1994 GMC Suburban with the towing package on it with all the coolers. Truck was in great shape, one owner, garaged, have all service records. So, again I keep it well maintained and so far no problems.

“but that lack of a payment book always wins me over.”

Payment book? That takes me back...decades!

Lots of good advise but only you can determine your vehicle needs.

If you are at or near your vehicle's capacity you will increase the wear and tear quicker. If you are way over, even more so.

My old 200 hp F-150 had the payload capacity and the towing package but the tranny and motor simply did not match the load. The lack of acceleration and constant down shifting made it obvious that we would need a new truck when we finished our vacation.

Driving what we had, gave us a better idea of what we needed for the TT we wanted.

Ford had a better idea in their 10.5 corporate (Sterling) rear axle, no drain plug so you have to pull the rear cover to change the gear oil. Not bad with the Dana 60 high pinion in the front. It has a drain plug. Everything has grease fittings too. I love grease fittings. I hate to change non greaseable suspension parts.

I run a Hayden 12 pass heavy duty transmission cooler and have since the truck was new. I bought it to haul with so it's necessary to have the proper cooling. Heat is what destroys transmissions, inherent operation heat and heat from the shifting of the clutch packs.

I sometimes think about checking out a new truck with all the fancy dan stuff like tow-haul mode and engine brakes but that lack of a payment book always wins me over.

...and I actually have vent windows, something that Detroit forgot on newer trucks.

Like I said, you'll probably see my truck on a Rock Auto sticky magnet sometime.

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