Back to the OP...if I were gonna built a gas motor tow rig, I'd do a higher compression stroker motor with a small torquey cam, keep that 4L60E, set the shift points really low, do something like 4.10's in the rear, and possibly run a small blower like a 112 with low boost, 4-5 psi. That would probably pull pretty good. Just my own personal opinion.

 

I'm seriously fed up with my quest for low end and throttle response. I've always wondered how much better it is even in a stock 3200lb corvette. Hell, I was even driving a 1998 ford escort ZX2 and it simply goes effortlessly on the highway. Sure, it won't even come close to what my truck will do at WOT, but man, this weight is just killer. The scary thing is I'm about to be swapping in a 4l80e

 

It's tough to get the weight moving. The GTO has fantastic throttle response...I don't know if it's the combination of gears and tire size, or the transmission gearing, or just the slightly lower weight, or what.....the truck has never been anywhere close.

 

I really can't compare stock to stock auto to auto on the GTO vs TRUCK, but with 3:42 gears and the 5.3 on my work truck, I would honestly say my 4.2L I6 with 3.73 geared Envoy pulls the enclosed trailer better and smoother. It could just be the gearing.

 

TO throw another wrench in here with y'all. I used to swear by my iron headed LT1, but after some tuning and doing away with torque management I'm starting to think differently. Yes- when folks would go on and on about how the LS1 was manna from Heaven I would think," what are you people smoking"? Now I just can't wait to see where I'll be with my Tran Go kit, then a cam. No- not loopking to win stoplight drag races but it feels good to have the toque under the hood to keep that mass moving down the highway effortlessly..............

 

my '94 z-71 with the stock TBI 350 seems to get a load moving a little easier than my '02 5.3 truck.
both have LT's, both have been tuned, both have 285's, and the '94 even has 3.42's compared to the '02's 3.73's.

I've really got the wrong 2 setups for trucks: a RCSB TBI 350 truck, and an ECSB 5.3 truck. if the '94 was ECSB, and the '02 was RCSB, I'd hook every trailer I could to the '94 and drag it up and down the hills here in kentucky all day long, and raise hell in the '02.

thanks for your responses!

 

Mighty Whitey, what size are you long tubes, a 1-5/8 or 1-3/4 primaries, and a 2-1/2 collector is what is going to give you the most down low power, if you have anything bigger than that, you might want to think about swapping them out.

If I were you I would look at a cam over maggie, unless you want a lot more power, and to spend a lot more money. While my truck rips up top, I still need to be above 2500rpm before it really starts to pull.

 

My truck is the same... under 2500 it jsut sucks down more fuel and doesn't move any faster. I need to adjust the shifting because when towing it in OD it goes into boost and has the power, but when it does down shift rpms jump to 3500(and full boost) and the truck screams forward so it then upshifts about a second later.. rather anoying

 

Thats where a manual trans comes in handy, I can just leave it in whatever gear I want, but I do run into the same problems, lugging in 4th or having the motor scream needlessly in 3rd, chugging down gas

 

Sorry to drag this on, but I just feel the need to clarify some things.

Were talking about an ECSB 4x4 that weighs in around 5000lb and on top of that we are adding a trailer of probably similar weight.

For you to get an adequate comparison of what i'm talking about on my truck or his you would need some 31" tires for your 3.73 gears, extra parasitic loss for a heavier drive train, and then add 2700lbs of weight in your trunk to make your car weigh about the same as my truck with a driver in it....On top of all of that add another 3300lb to your vehicle which is the payload of a 2500hd and that gets regularly exceeded, or add a 10,000lb trailer which is the trailer capacity. Once you have done all of that and then drove around town and on the interstate up and down hills will you realize that 400ftlbs at 4400rpm is actually quite a useless number.


And no the GEN I motor is not some sacred cow, it just makes a damn good truck motor.

Cheers