Realistic towing expectations with the 5.3L

[Donstar]

16 hours ago, YEGbluesilverado said:

 The highway to Tofino has a 18% grade at one spot and the truck does great.  Its not passing diesels at will but tows just fine doing 100-105km/h

 

I've done this trip a few times.   Beautiful area!  The road wasn't a problem for my stock V6 pulling my Winnebago.  Op will be more than fine, imo!    

[Zasker1]

I tow a 2013 outback 250rs, with the 5.3 & 3.42 combo.

Pulls just fine, but I do get sucked around a bit when semi's pass me.

Running E85 helps, but mpg is terrible.

Probably the only real challenge is not having Tow Mirrors, which sucks ass, and using clip-ons is embarrassing, but I don't tow enough to justify a 3/4 or 1 ton.


Trailer Specs
Dry Weight - 5,915 lbs.
Payload Capacity - 1,635 lbs.
GVWR - 7,550 lbs.
Hitch Weight - 640 lbs.



Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[9c1fanatic]

2 hours ago, Zasker1 said:

I tow a 2013 outback 250rs, with the 5.3 & 3.42 combo.

Pulls just fine, but I do get sucked around a bit when semi's pass me.

Running E85 helps, but mpg is terrible.

Probably the only real challenge is not having Tow Mirrors, which sucks ass, and using clip-ons is embarrassing, but I don't tow enough to justify a 3/4 or 1 ton.


Trailer Specs
Dry Weight - 5,915 lbs.
Payload Capacity - 1,635 lbs.
GVWR - 7,550 lbs.
Hitch Weight - 640 lbs.



Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Thank you for sharing!  Your trailer looks to be about identical to mine in size and weight.  What type of terrain are you typically towing in? 

 

I'm gonna look for a max tow but if I happen to come across the right 5.3L 3.42 6 speed LT truck with a 6'6" bed that is low mileage and under warranty still I may jump at it.  I can always add the tow mirrors, upgrade the shocks and tires and maybe even upgrade to the max tow radiator.

 

I am curious though for all the guys that chimed in about their 6.2L, are you running premium fuel like is recommended?

Edited February 28, 2020 by 9c1fanatic

[Zasker1]

I did put some bags on my truck it's helps level it out and a weight distribution hitch is a must.

I have towed all over, never had a problem in the hills, driving to Flagstaff I had to slow 2 55 on several grades, but that's not the end of the world really need biggest challenge is the poor MPG.

This pic is a few years old but when I came back from Phoenix I had my trailer loaded down is truck I was certainly pushing the limit of my 1500.

Just remember the 6.2 will tow better on the hills but it will still have the same limitations as the 5.3 in the wind.

It also has a smaller payload weight due to the weight increasing the engine itself.

Where in Texas are you located

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[9c1fanatic]

Wow!  You were loaded pretty good.  My combined weight with the same weight trailer is usually just north of 10,000 with the 91.  Is this the same trip you were talking about when you had to slow to 55 going to Flagstaff?  I take it you were floored in 2nd gear/ over 5000RPM at that speed and with that weight?

 

I have a WD hitch and with my 91 it tows level without air bags but Im noticing as I truck shop that my old truck has more payload than most modern 1500 trucks (aside from max towing set ups and regular cabs).  I dont have air bags now but Im sure I will need them with a newer truck.  

 

I only like the 6.2L for the increased performance but I dont like the packages most of them usually come in.  Basically Im trying to avoid the situations I now have with my current truck in the hills.  When I get in the hills, the truck will lose speed.  I never use over drive but even in 4th (direct) It wont pull hills and some longer hills even 3rd (1.40:1) wont pull hills.  If I leave in third on longer hills I end up crawling over the top at 40 MPH.   I have found that I can attack pretty much any hill of any grade in 2nd gear meaning my max speed is 55 at 5000 RPM.  Its just really working the truck over.  I realize I could throw a 3.73 under this thing and it would tow significantly better but still would not be as good as a K2XX truck.

 

I would like a set up that can maintain reasonable speed on hills.  Constantly down shifting a manual to 2nd gear on roads like US 281 where everyone is driving 75-80 gets exhausting.  And this is with a mostly empty trailer.  I like to keep the trailer at least between 55-60 when Im on farm roads, State Highways and US Highways.  I want to option of driving 70 on Rural Interstates when appropriate.  My buddy has a 2018 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 4x4 6.0L(360HP/380 TQ)/ 6L90E/4.10s and last year he was able to maintain 70 MPH from Kerrville to Davis Mountains on IH-10 west no problem with a longer and heavier trailer. 

 

I would like to think that the GEN V 5.3L with almost identical power and maybe even a slightly better torque curve and lighter curb weight would have comparable pulling performance (Note: I didnt say towing performance) despite the gearing disadvantage the 1500 has.  

 

I live in the Hill Country, New Braunfels area but have family in Kerrville so I use that quite often as my launching pad for my westward trips.

[movario]

I recently towed this combination (around 3500kg / 7700 lbs) through our mountains, and haven`t had a problem at all. You "notice" that there is weight on your truck, but it`s not like it feels "underpowered". For shifting, I just used towing mode when driving on the highway, and when driving on steep hills, I shifted manually, and kept it in gears for a little longer.

[Zasker1]

Well remember towing weight on a flatbed like a vehicle is a little different than towing a travel trailer which is just a giant Airdam


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[9c1fanatic]

So true!  I've pulled 6500 lbs of car on a flatbed trailer and huge difference compared to the TT.

[UnlimitedMatt]

I have a 2018 Silverado, 5.3, 6 speed, 3.42 rear end.  I tow a 2019 Grand Design 2800bh that weighs 7920 lbs fully loaded.  The camper is 28 feet long plus a 3 foot tongue.  The loaded tongue weight is between 850 and 950 pounds.  When looking at the scale tickets, I am just below all of the weight ratings of the truck except for one.  On this trip, I was over the rear axle rating by 270 lbs.  I corrected this by adjusting the weight distributing hitch. Unfortunately, I don't have the updated weights yet. 

 

I have added LT tires, rear airbags and factory tow mirrors. 

 

My truck now pulls my camper much better than it did before the above mods.  Side winds still move the trailer but not as bad, I no longer get white knuckles.  I still can feel when getting passed buy larger vehicles, but again, not as bad as it was stock.  The truck pulls my camper just fine the way I drive it, slow and steady.  I stay below 65 mph at all times.  Of course my stopping distance has increased, but I have never felt that they were inadequate.  The factory tow mirrors have been a terrific upgrade!  The mirrors were installed after this picture. 

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about my setup. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by UnlimitedMatt

[NE18]

The one perk with the 5.3 is the increased payload. Incredibly important when loading for a long camping trip. I’ve been on the cat scales too and it’s surprising how quickly the weight adds up. 

[9c1fanatic]

2 hours ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

I have a 2018 Silverado, 5.3, 6 speed, 3.42 rear end.  I tow a 2019 Grand Design 2800bh that weighs 7920 lbs fully loaded.  The camper is 28 feet long plus a 3 foot tongue.  The loaded tongue weight is between 850 and 950 pounds.  When looking at the scale tickets, I am just below all of the weight ratings of the truck except for one.  On this trip, I was over the rear axle rating by 270 lbs.  I corrected this by adjusting the weight distributing hitch. Unfortunately, I don't have the updated weights yet. 

 

I have added LT tires, rear airbags and factory tow mirrors. 

 

My truck now pulls my camper much better than it did before the above mods.  Side winds still move the trailer but not as bad, I no longer get white knuckles.  I still can feel when getting passed buy larger vehicles, but again, not as bad as it was stock.  The truck pulls my camper just fine the way I drive it, slow and steady.  I stay below 65 mph at all times.  Of course my stopping distance has increased, but I have never felt that they were inadequate.  The factory tow mirrors have been a terrific upgrade!  The mirrors were installed after this picture. 

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about my setup. 

Thanks so much for sharing your input.  This is about as close as it gets to a real world review.  I have pretty much your exact trailer minus the 2nd door, the couch and about 4 feet.  Ive been very happy with the Imagine trailer.  Thanks for letting me know about your payload situation.  Im gonna try to find a 5.3L max tow truck for some extra payload but its nice to know if I cant find one a 3.42 truck will get the job done.  Maybe I'll lean towards a 2WD for a little extra payload.  My trailer is lighter of course and my hitch weight is usually around 600 lbs with WD hitch installed.

 

I see you live in Colorado.  My main question would be how does your truck handle the mountains out there with that weight?  Are you able to maintain the speeds you wish to drive up to and including 65 MPH on most of the grades (if conditions permit)?  How does the engine and trans temp respond once you are in the mountains with that much weight.  If your truck can handle it my slightly lighter and shorter trailer should be even less strain.  I just don't know what to expect with the grades and the toll elevation takes on a NA engine. 

 

Although I rarely drive in the mountains, I'm not wanting a TFL Truck Ike gauntlet experience on every grade where you have it floored and the truck is upshifting and down shifting constantly between 2nd and 3rd gear just to maintain 55-60 MPH like when they tested the 2016 Silverado pulling that grade to the Eisenhower tunnel with a 6500 boat and trailer although that was a 3.08 geared six speed truck.  In this rare situation I can see why some say the 2nd/3rd gear spread is too wide on the the 6L80E.

 

So glad you chimed in.  After I got my trailer and pulled it 10 or 11 times around the state, I noticed that these imagine trailers seem taller than most competing travel trailers are in this class.  They definitely seem a bit heavier than most similar size trailers with the same amount of slides but they seem built better in some ways, at least that's my impression after a year of ownership combined with all the horror stories that you hear when people find out your buying an RV.  Im a first time RV owner with now a year under my belt.

 

And coincidentally, I'm taking my GD Imagine 2400BH to Colorado this summer.

[9c1fanatic]

45 minutes ago, NE18 said:

The one perk with the 5.3 is the increased payload. Incredibly important when loading for a long camping trip. I’ve been on the cat scales too and it’s surprising how quickly the weight adds up. 

Very true.  Most of the non NHT trucks I have been looking at are LTs and if they are 2WD many of them have 1800 + payload ratings which is fairly decent for a crew cab comparatively.  One thing I am finding is that its rare to find a factory brake controller on a 2WD truck that does not have MAX TOWING where most of th 4x4 trucks Ive have found (no max towing) have the factory brake controller.  Weird.

[protovack]

you'll be fine with a 5.3/6spd, but you'll want the heavy duty towing package and the tow mirrors, if you can. 

[UnlimitedMatt]

15 hours ago, 9c1fanatic said:

Thanks so much for sharing your input.  This is about as close as it gets to a real world review.  I have pretty much your exact trailer minus the 2nd door, the couch and about 4 feet.  Ive been very happy with the Imagine trailer.  Thanks for letting me know about your payload situation.  Im gonna try to find a 5.3L max tow truck for some extra payload but its nice to know if I cant find one a 3.42 truck will get the job done.  Maybe I'll lean towards a 2WD for a little extra payload.  My trailer is lighter of course and my hitch weight is usually around 600 lbs with WD hitch installed.

 

I see you live in Colorado.  My main question would be how does your truck handle the mountains out there with that weight?  Are you able to maintain the speeds you wish to drive up to and including 65 MPH on most of the grades (if conditions permit)?  How does the engine and trans temp respond once you are in the mountains with that much weight.  If your truck can handle it my slightly lighter and shorter trailer should be even less strain.  I just don't know what to expect with the grades and the toll elevation takes on a NA engine. 

 

Although I rarely drive in the mountains, I'm not wanting a TFL Truck Ike gauntlet experience on every grade where you have it floored and the truck is upshifting and down shifting constantly between 2nd and 3rd gear just to maintain 55-60 MPH like when they tested the 2016 Silverado pulling that grade to the Eisenhower tunnel with a 6500 boat and trailer although that was a 3.08 geared six speed truck.  In this rare situation I can see why some say the 2nd/3rd gear spread is too wide on the the 6L80E.

 

So glad you chimed in.  After I got my trailer and pulled it 10 or 11 times around the state, I noticed that these imagine trailers seem taller than most competing travel trailers are in this class.  They definitely seem a bit heavier than most similar size trailers with the same amount of slides but they seem built better in some ways, at least that's my impression after a year of ownership combined with all the horror stories that you hear when people find out your buying an RV.  Im a first time RV owner with now a year under my belt.

 

And coincidentally, I'm taking my GD Imagine 2400BH to Colorado this summer.

After reading your post, I realized that I did leave out a few mods to help while towing.  I followed some of the suggestions in this thread:

 

 

I installed a 194 degree thermostat, tuned the fans to come on earlier, bypassed the transmission thermostat, added an aux transmission filter and switched to 5w-30 oil. 

 

In having my current truck and camper set up, I haven’t gone up I-70 yet.  I’m pretty sure I will get that opportunity this summer.

 

Here are a few towing stories:

One of my favorite camping spots is in a National Forest at 9200 feet above sea level.  The last part of the trip to get there is 3 miles uphill on a state highway with a speed limit of 45 mph, then up a steep dirt road another 3 miles.  The dirt road is rough, so I usually just creep along in 4 low range.  The first time I made this trip with my stock my trans temp got up over 220 degrees.  After these mods it stays around 190 degrees.

 

My second favorite spot is in Wyoming and I do have to go over a mountain pass.  It is a 2-lane state highway that is long and steep.  The truck does go slow up the steepest part, just under the 45 mph speed limit.  The temps do stay in check.

 

My favorite fishing spot is also in Wyoming, northwest of Laramie.  Towing across I-80 is sometimes a handful depending on how hard the wing is blowing.  Going east out of Laramie is a long uphill pull with a speed limit of 65 mph.  I go up that hill at full throttle and my speed stays around 60 mph.

 

I hope this gives you some perspective.  I am still loving my Imagine!  I do see the quality in the Grand Design brand.

Edited March 2, 2020 by UnlimitedMatt

[9c1fanatic]

8 minutes ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

After reading your post, I realized that I did leave out a few mods to help while towing.  I followed some of the suggestions in this thread:

 

 

I installed a 194 degree thermostat, tuned the fans to come on earlier, bypassed the transmission thermostat, added an aux transmission filter and switched to 5w-30 oil. 

 

In having my current truck and camper set up, I haven’t gone up I-70 yet.  I’m pretty sure I will get that opportunity this summer.

 

Here are a few towing stories:

One of my favorite camping spots is in a National Forest at 9200 feet above sea level.  The last part of the trip to get there is 3 miles uphill on a state highway with a speed limit of 45 mph, then up a steep dirt road another 3 miles.  The dirt road is rough, so I usually just creep along in 4 low range.  The first time I made this trip with my stock my trans temp got up over 220 degrees.  After these mods it stays around 190 degrees.

 

My second favorite spot is in Wyoming and I do have to go over a mountain pass.  It is a 2-lane state highway that is long and steep.  The truck does go slow up the steepest part, just under the 45 mph speed limit.  The temps do stay in check.

 

My favorite fishing spot is also in Wyoming, northwest of Laramie.  Towing across I-80 is sometimes a handful depending on how hard the wing is blowing.  Going east out of Laramie is a long uphill pull with a speed limit of 65 mph.  I go up that hill at full throttle and my speed stays around 60 mph.

 

I hope this gives you some perspective.  I am still loving my Imagine!  I do see the quality in the Grand Design brand.

Awesome.  That does give me some useful perspective.  Thank you.  Just curious, what is the idea behind switching to 5W30?