I tow either a 12' or 16' open trailer, pulling 3 or 4 atvs, depending on who goes. The place I go has alot of mountains and the tranny is continously going in and out of gear. Even in the tow mode this happens. I m scared I m going to tear out the tranny or blow up the truck. I know going to 3.73s or even 4.10s would solve the problem but I cant afford to do this at the time. I actually thought with the "towing package" it would ve came with 3.73s, had I known it didnt I probably would ve looked at a different truck. But that s my own fault for not asking or checking first. No way I can trade the truck either, I would take a beating on it, especially with all the red tag sales etc etc.

I would like to get a computer re-programmed but again, I dont have $500 to get one.

I did install a flowmaster muffler. Could this have caused me to lose some performance in the low to middle range? Would installing a K&N filter help any? What about the vette servo? Or am I pretty much screwed and going to have to deal with this until I can save the money to either do the gears or computer?

I m going on a 1000 miles trip in March pulling the 16' trailer so I need to do something before we leave if possible.

BTW I have an 05 crew cab, z71 with the 5.3 and 3.42 gears. No mods other than the flow master.

Brad

 

dude, you just need more gear. the 5.3 is going to be way out of its powerband on the highway.

with 3.42s and 265/70/17 is at 1600rpm at 65mph. that is just NOT going to cut it on a gas engine unless its the 8.1 or something. I doubt my 6.0 would like being at 1600rpm on big hills and a trailer.

 

I feel your pain. I have a custom tune, but it doesnt help as far as towing goes. I didnt have it set up for towing. I just leave it in Drive and take the 11-13 MPG when I tow. I will be going to 4.10's when the cash is available. That is towing a 12ft trailer that wieghs about 1500lbs with about 1000lbs on it.

 

390's or 410's will make you happy. hell 373 mighte even do the trick without losing any milage in comparison to the 342's.

 

save up and buy some 3.73's they will be more than enough for what you are towing and I will bet you see no effect on your mileage when not towing

 

When towing your trailer always have the tranny in 3 not D (don't allow the tranny to shift in over drive) because your OD can not handle the constant shifting in and out of gear. A 4L80E will not solve your because the weak part of the 80E is the OD, I have replaced several 80E's in my dad's diesel because he always has it in OD when towing a 30 ft. flat bed trailer.

 

Gears arent that expensive, just find someone with a dial indicator gauge that has doen it before to help you and it wont be bad at all.

 

i got 3.73s and i towed 6,000+ pounds from miami to ocala , bout 300 miles , in towhual mode in d . with the a/c on doing bout 80 most the way in overdirve crusiin . coming out of tolls no problem , truck had awesome power for the weight it had on it . and i think ia vewraged 13 mpg i dont remember or 12

 

If I m going up hills I ll pull in 3 in tow mode. If its flat and no hills, I ll put it in D still in tow mode. But even in 3 tow mode, some of the hills, it ll drop down one more gear, rpms real high, lose speed, and just feel like its straining. I just dont understand GM putting a tow package on a truck and using such a terrible gear.

As far as price on the gears, wouldnt it cost roughly $800-$1000 to have it done right? I figure $400 for the gears themselves.

Guess when I go on the trip I ll just have to baby the truck on the hills like I m doing now. But we re heading to Texas so I m hoping it ll be mostly flat.

Brad

 

gears themselves can be had for cheap. lots of used ones around for maybe 100 bucks, brand new are between 150 for cheaper yukons, ( still good quality, available through randy's ring and pinion ) and oem quality aam ( otherwise known as original equipment gm gears ) for 200. i have gm 4.10's in mine, and have zero gear noise, and they work awsome. worth the extra. the install can be done yourself honestly if you can get ahold of a dial indicator. don't be scared. This site convinced me to do mine, and i'd never have anyone do a rear end for me again. gm gears, with oem shims=good gear pattern, zero whine. made life real easy on me. dont be scared.... we'll walk you through it if need be.