VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION Hauling or Trailering Towing Vehicle

Does anyone use a Chevrolet 1500 Silverado with a 5.3 engine to pull a closed trailer w/car inside?

I'm sure a 2500 would be a better choice, however you don't pull a trailer all the time.

Would like to hear your experience and advice.

i used my 2005 k-1500 4.8 ci silverado just once to haul a trailer of sawmill boards back to the farm. estimate weight of the tag trailer and boards about 3500#. wouldn't do it again.we have a 3500HD with duramax that easily handles the 5th wheel box trailer with vet(10,000#). i suppose short trips at lowered speed would be ok with the 1500 silveraado with 5.3 sbc. thanks again for the 61 radio.mike

just brought a 1500 with z71 package and 5.3.traded in a 2006 with a4.3 pulled my 36 on a heavy open trailer 2200 pounds and 36 chevy close to 3000. done ok went 4 states away was not in mountains through.best truck iever had was like new when traded in with a lot of miles. i only pull a trailer about 2 times a year.this 1500 crew cab is a allround family truck. gets about 19 miles a gallen florida flat land .smitty

We have a 2005 Tahoe with 5.3 engine and trailering package, and it does a good job pulling both a open car hauling trailer and a closed car hauling trailer using a Reese equalizer hitch.

Thanks for the reply, to each of you.

1500 or 2500 is not the question. What gear is in the rear is important.

Hi Ray,

I have experience using a 2005 Avalanche with the 5.3. I have towed many miles. While in WA we towed to Grand Junction, CO. It did great. Only issue was the hills. There was one hill going into Price, UT. It was 99 degrees, had to turn of the AC and turned on the emergency flashers, while going 40-45 mph up the LONG hill.

Also, towed from Redmond, WA to Yakima, WA several times. Again the only issue was the hills.

I towed about 2500 miles while here in NJ. Last trip to Palmyra, PA near Hershey. I had to put the flashers on b/c I got stuck behind a big rig on a hill.

All my experience has been with an enclosed trailer. I have added an extra tranny cooler on the Avalanche, electric brakes and a weight distribution hitch. It has about 290 hp and only a four speed auto. The new ones (2013) Avalanche have 320 hp and a six speed tranny.

I think the MAJOR questions are: 1) How often will you be towing and 2) Where to and from.

The amount of towing I do the 5.3 is fine. The trailer weighs about 3300 lbs. and the '54 weights about 3400 lbs.. So I am close to the 7100 lb limit.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

I'll bet you have the 3:42 Gear in the rear. If you had the 3:73 it would do much better.

Probably, but would he then get poorer gas mileage? Probably should start another thread but I'm curious what others are getting for TOWING fuel mileage with the 5.3 and 3.73 ratio. Pulling an open trailer with my 32 sedan on it I am averaging 13 mpg with my 2009 chev. silverado ext cab 4x4. Same as I was getting with my 1999 Dodge 2wd with the 318.EPA fuel estimates are not stated for towing mode.

The way the 5.3 winds up so fast, I doubt that the 3.73 is a problem, it hasn't been for me. I get from 18 to 19.5 highway depending on how much idleing on the Tahoe I do while shopping or waiting on the mrs. at doctor Me and the pup in the Tahoe with the A/C on or heat. When I really try with the tires aired up as per BHO I get 19.5 at around 65 to 70 MPH. But, pulling the covered trailer with the 28 4 door sedan to Santa Fe from Midland, Tx via Amarillo, Santa Fe Espanola and back I averaged 16.5 MPH and from Midland to Grand Junction pulling the open trailer and the 53 2 door,and lots of baggage, Via Mammoth pass and Gunnison, Montrose and back, averaged the same 16.5 MPG We did slow down to around 45 - 50 MPH second gear in the automatics on passes to keep the RPMs down around 3200 but on flat ground or rolling hills we drove around 62 MPH. That is a good steady easy feeling speed. My Brother did about the same with his extended cab 1/2 ton Silverado 350 with his 53 on his open trailer.

I'm getting about the same mpg when not in the tow mode. Perhaps a little more air in the tires (presently 35)and a little less speed would help. Also not a lot of flatland getting out of New England.

I run 40 to 45 PSI with and without towing with a 2005 Tahoe, 16" wheels. Use the accelerator like you have a raw egg between your foot and the accelerator peddle. When you know you have to turn off or stop, coast the last couple of tenths of mile, it saves your brake pads and tires also.

Thanks for the info Mr Mack, I'll crank up the pressure on my 17" tires.Coasting to a stop seems like a good idea, but with the heavy traffic it seems all the cowboys are here in New England and always on your bumper.

Ray,

It should pull it just fine.

Back in the day, I used my dad's 68 six cylinder half-ton pickup to pull a heavily built trailer and a heavy load of mechanical parts inside with no problems. Climbing two steep hills from Fredrick, Md to Hagerstown, Md, it would get down to about 25 MPH for a while in second gear (mechanical transmission) but on open and rather flat roads it would go along at 55-60 with no problems. Your pickup should do as well.

Expect the following:

a. Some sway as cars and simi's pass you. You don't have the stiffer springs that come on a 2600 or a dually.

b. Lower gas milage. About 10-12 MPG. It won't vary much except on hills.

c. A need to use four-lane highways so others can pass you,

d. Take your time. The time to arrive at your destination with the peddle to the metal or just going along below the speed limit and at a good pulling speed, won't be that much different.

Word of advice. Weight and balance when you load the car in the trailer is critical for good towing. Tongue weight of about 200 pounds is enough. As my dad advised me, "Let the trailer carry the load." He meant that you should balance the load in the trailer so that you get the proper tongue weight and that you shouldn't try to lessen the load on the trailer by loading up the rear of the pickup with heavy stuff. That's what causes most of the sway problems, i.e. heavy pulling vehicle rear weight and heavy tongue weight.

I haul a heavy 8x18 enclosed trailer with a load so heavy there is nothing left in the springs (torsion axles) and do it with a 200K, 2003 Yukon Denali (6-liter) and do just nicely. I get about 7-8 MPG on the level and down to 5 on climbing hills.

Forget the speed and the gas mileage. Don't worry about those minor things whilst a-pulling a load.

Good luck with it.

I had a 2003 3500 GMC Dually with Duramax diesel with the Allison transmission, before the Denali. Hardly knew the trailer was back there. Now those, Ray, are a pulling machines! Family talked me into trading it in on the Denali. While the Denali is good the Duramax was outstanding. Fuel milage was about 9-10 all the time, pulling or not. Both vehicles have built in transmission coolers and trailering mode.

Good luck,
Charlie

Thanks Charlie for your words of wisdom.

FYI. I just drove my Duramax Diesel from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington this weekend. (Approximately 3 hours.) Traveled between 65 and 70 miles per hour. Averaged 20.3 miles per gallon for the entire trip.

Bill,

Now that right there is an interesting post. You, however, didn't say what year Duramax you had or the series (2500 or 3500) truck you drove and what transmission it has. That is sure some great gas milage for a 3500 with an Allison. :dance Do you have a straight drive? Did you kick it out of gear on the downhill? Were you tailgating a 18 wheeler? As the barb would put it "Something smells rotten in the state of Denmark" here.

My 2003 3500 with Duramax diesel and Allison transmission never got anywhere near what you claim. It was not a 4X4 either. About 17 MPG would be all that it would get on reasonably flat ground at 55 MPH with no load save on it be my own 190 pound [bleeped]. And I don't deal in donkeys.

Please check your math. If you have a 3500 then I suspect you may be fudging a tad. Or, it may be downhill both ways. Or, you must have more powerful fuel on the west coast. (It seems that everything else out there is superior to things back east. You mates downunder don't know what us easteerners have to put up with up here) Just saying.

Question: Has anyone else averaged 20.5 MPG with a dually Duramax on a significantly long trip? (I don't expect an answer here)

Charlie

BTW: Now I'm a reasonable may. So, I'll believe you if you go to your missus and say: "I just posted on Chatter that I got 20.5 MPG on the 3500 Duramax, on that last round trip to Seattle and back." If you can do this whilst a-looking her straight in the eyes and keep a straight face whilst doing so, then I will believe you. Will too! But, If you smile (even a crack at the corners of your fudge dripping lips) whilst a-saying this to her then please have the kahonies to fess up to us for the heap big fudger you may be.

BTW2: I'm a-gonna go by the local GMC or Chevrolet dealer and note what the sticker says. And, you know how big a fudgers they are. Full exposure is called for here. Is too!

Ray, I have a 2002, 1500 Siverado, 4-wheeldrive, Quadrasteer with the 5.3. I put my '32 coupe in my 23' enclosed tandem axle trailer with my wife and my grandson last year and drove from Ft. Lauderdale, Fl to Flint, Mi. for the 50th VCCA Covention. The trip included a stop in Memphis to visit Graceland, the Gilmore Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Oh., the Corvette Museum and the Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Ky, the Chevy Nomad Convention in Dayton, Oh and lots more. I put over 4,000 round on the truck during the trip including mountains. The only precaution I took was unhooking the trailer before we climbed Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls. My 9 year old Chevy Silverado never coughed once during the entire trip. A bigger truck may have pulled better through the mountains but I no problems with either my truck or trailer. I would advise taking 2 spares for the trailer. I had one trailer flat due to age.

Thanks olsarge, that is some good information. I am looking for something to make local trips. If I do a long trip the car is in an enclosed trailer and I pull it with a motor home with the 7.2 Vortex. Only the most fearsome hill is a problem.

Charlie,
I am going to make essentially the same trip again next weekend, only a little bit (50%) longer distance (4.5 hours). I will fill up before I depart and set the trip odometer. It will be as scientific as the past election results were!!

By the way, my Duramax is a 2011 3500, 4x4 with the six-speed transmission.

And... I expect to get 20 MPG again.

--bb

Bill,

I hope you do get 20 MPG. Those Duramaxes are great, arn't they? Wish I still had my 03.

Good luck on the trip.

Are you pulling anything? If so, good luck with that too.

Charlie

Just to give you some perspective, I tow a 5000lb 21' boat with trailer using my '09 Silverado 1500 with the 4.3L 6 banger without a problem. Using the tow function on the tranny helps on hills. She works pretty hard and gas mileage is prob worse than an 8 when towing, but she gets the job done. I would think a main concern would be braking unless you have trailer brakes on the trailer . A trans cooler wouldn't be a bad idea either.