Which tow vehicle?

Does any one tow with a newer yukon, with the 5.3 litre motor? How about through hills or mountains? Is there enough power? Any thoughts would be appriciated.

why do that to yourself, buy a REAL TOW vehicle. F-250 PSD. If you don't go with Ford, go with another 3/4 diesel. Once you tow diesel and 3/4 ton you will never go back. Have to love towing at 75mph and 13 mpg with plenty of torque and HP.

I generally agree. I had an f-150 with the 5.0 V-8, and while it did the job just fine, whne we upgraded to the f-250 w/ the PDS, we found ourselves getting to the lake in a much more relaxed state of mind. We did not have to listen to the engine turning 3-4 thousand rpm for an hour and a half. Now we just listen to the rather soothing sound of the diesel clattering at 1,700 rpm. It is a much better and more peacefull sound.

I would get the excursion with the diesel if a people mover is what I was looking for, otherwise any of the big three's 3/4 ton diesels are sure bets.

And to answer your question, yes the 5.3 will have enough power to get you to the lake, I will just get ther before you using less fuel, and feeling much more refreshed.

Ford needs to make an F150 with that same Powerstroke Diesel.

My buddy has a 2003 F250 to tow his X10. It pulls very nicely, like the boat isn't even back there.

The problem is with the ride. We have some bumpy roads on the way to the river, and a 3/4 ton truck is not easy on the ol' kidneys!

I had a F-150 Lariat with the 5.4l and it did pretty good. Now I have a new Yukan Denali with the 6.0 liter and it kills... I fly by everybody towing going up the mountains.. You can buy a f250 and drive a tank or have a luxory ride and tow nice with the GMC.. different strokes for different folks..

Its all about personal opinion, but at work I drive Ford diesels constantly. When it was time to buy a tow for the boat I went GMC & the ride is twice as good with just as much power.

Steve we tow with a 5.3 Yukon. No problems at all.

Change over to Rancho 9000's and the PSD drives fun. Smooth ride, I suppose if I wanted one of those I would sell the M3 and get a Camry, oops meant Lexus. TMorefi anytime you want to race in that pretty GMC towing let me know. When it comes to towing vehicles, diesel 3/4 or 1 tons can't be beat, fact. If you are looking for an overall means of transpo and don't live in Texas, maybe something else works.

um, back to original post, I run an 02 Hoe with 5.3. Tow up to 10K box trailer, and pull the boat through the ozarks all the time. Really it does a good job. It will not out pull a diesel, but then if that was what you wanted you woudl have one. Make sure you have the higher rear end option and I strongly encourage both intake and exhaust upgrades.

I have the 5.3 in a '99 GMC Sierra and it does a pretty good job. The key will be where you're pulling. If there are a lot of hills then you may want to go a bit bigger...but if not or your tow is usually short w/ a few longer trips a summer then it'd be fine. One thing I get tired of is it shifting all the time in the tow/haul mode, but I don't take a lot of long trips so not a biggie. But I do think my next rig will be a diesel......

i tow with a 2002 chevy avalanche and we love it the other day were at the launch and every single person had problems pullin their boats up we just put ours into 4wd and drove off no problems

I ran a thread on pretty much the same subject last year. We just bought a Denali w/ the 6.0 liter engine but have yet to tow with it as our boat is in the shop getting a tower installed. I agree with Shane, as far as towing goes, you cannot beat a diesel! But the only SUV with an available diesel engine is the Exscursion, which is a bit too large and bulky for us. We also figured that we'd be towing only about 20-30% of the time. So we decided on the Denali with the bigger engine, which gives you towing ability without sacrificing comfort and ride.

TMorefi, excellent choice! Great to hear the Denali kills up the canyons. We're likely going to upgrade with an airbox and performance exhaust. They say We'll get 36 more hp, and 80 more pounds of torque.

Steve, my father in law has a 5.3 liter GMC truck and just pulled his 5th wheel up over Parley's Canyon (long, big haul)for the first time this past weekend. He wishes it had more power. If you're doing a lot of towing, get a diesel. If you go gas engine, get the bigger 6.0 liter. engine.

i have to get on the bandwagon with shane. diesel is still holding at 1.55/gallon.

if your sole intent is just to tow the boat and not a daily driver, find a 96 or 97 psd. i have had a few psds and this version ran the best.

I sort of like living in Tejas, everyone drives a PSD, not looked down upon for your daily driver. Considering I dump some type of boat in the water 150 days a year and average 25Kmiles a year a diesel is right for me. I think the real advantage is the stability, longevity, and breaking. I have had several hard stops and felt pretty at ease. Besides it is great to pass all the soccer haulers on the two lanes and while they are parked at the gas station

I've had both the 5.3L Chevy Z71 (2001) and the Duramax Diesel (2004) and can say without a doubt that the diesel is the way to go. My Z71 didn't do too badly when just towing around town but highway travel wasn't very nice and the hills around Austin were barely do-able.

My Duramax with the Allison tranny mated to it pulls like there's no tomorrow. No problems passing people at 75-80. The interior is very nice as well....I got the crew cab so basically I have an SUV with room for 5 people but I don't have the storage area....just throw stuff in the bed which is better IMO.

GM was making great financing deals in Jan...0.9% APR which made the diff in payments for me only $20 which I easily make up in less gas. I also test drove the 03 PSD F250 but they wanted WAY too much money for it and I didn't like the interior as well.

A pic just for laughs (me towing my buddy's F250 AND his new X2 out of the mud)....

If you are looking at kon with 5.3 you probably have already thrown out pickups. No diesel SUV, so there you are. You can get the 6.0 with the Deanli, but damn those are high. A friend who I pull box trailers with (about 10K race car trailers) has the Deanli XL. It has a nifty air suspension that adjusts the rear end to keep it level. Of course you could get an adjustable hitch for 150 bucks, but that is not as cool.

Anyway, my 5.3 with some mods pulls better than his 6.0 stock in the longer body. the trick is the rear end ratio. I don't downshift until the hil gets STEEP, but he has to drop quick.

of course with gas going up maybe I should get a diesel and tell the wife no more kids.

If only chevy would drop the diesel into the tahoe and suburban like they used to in the eighties and early ninties, they would make a killing with all the people that want them.

Too bad the only SUV with a diesel is the excursion, and ford plans to stop that in a couple of years or sooner.

soccer mommies do not like the diesel sound, or smell, at lease that's what I here in suburbia.

Not to highjack this thread, but I've got a question that I have never gotten a straight answer on. I tow with '01 Z71 with the 5.3L in it. Is it better to tow in third gear all the time at a higher rpm or do you put it in drive and just go?

JimR - Doesn't your truck have a "Tow/Haul" button on the end of the shifter arm? I push the tow/haul button and put it in drive and off I go. It really changes the shifting points and revs the engine higher before shifting.

You can only pull in Overdrive if the road is flat. Any hills or around town you need to pull in 3rd. 95% of the time you need to be in 3rd.

In regards to the GM and diesel in Tahoes/Yukons or Suburbans/Yukon XLs, they don't fit.

The new Duramax diesel and Alison tranny are to tall to fit under the hood of these rigs, that is why you don't see them.

I'd like to see GM work this out and drop a diesel in the 3/4 ton Suburbans, they 8.1L gassers with the Alison tranny for now though.

I have the tow haul mode but that really only helps when coming up to speed. The question is what gear should you be in once you reach the desired speed. I used to tow in drive but for the last couple of years I've been towing in 3rd. If you keep it under 60 mph you never get much over 2600 rpm, but what if you want to go 75 mph or better?

We have a 00' Silverado with the 5.3L and we tow in 3rd gear with "tow/haul" mode on. Seems to work great, we tow up alot of hills on the way to the lake and it does just fine.

Shawn, what is the reason you stay in 3rd? Is it just to avoid the shifting up and down from 3rd to 4th? I figure if I hit a high enough speed then why not be in 4th? (my truck will not shift into forth until about 63mph in tow/haul mode.). If I was going 75 then I don't know why you wouldn't want to be in 4th....and if you're going up an incline at that speed then I'm sure the tranny would be in 3rd anyways. Heck....on long hauls I wish I had a stick! And I usually don't go much over 70 towing anyways.....

Brad, If you think your going to get 36hp/80tq out of an air intake and exhaust you need to go slap whoever told you that.

Maybe, if your lucky, 10-15hp and about the same on torque and only in the upper rpm range where the stock intake/exhaust is lacking.

If an improved exhaust and intake system gave you that much more power the factory would already be installing a similar version.

JimR read the manual. Leave in D with tow on. Only use 3 if you begin to notice "excessive" shifting. Of you see the transmission in the rear view mirror.

Trust me, I pull 10K with my '02 Z71 and leave it in D. Let it shift. You ain't hurtin' nothin'.

Oh yeah, 36 hp out of both a cold air box and exhaust is little high, but figure 25. You will feel the difference, I did.

"If an improved exhaust and intake system gave you that much more power the factory would already be installing a similar version."

That's debatable. It's usually a performance vs. cost issue. $700+ for ~30 hp is not cost effective from a manufacturer's standpoint. We like it, but I'd say the majority of people don't want or like the sound produced by a performance, high-flow exhaust system. If noise wasn't an issue, everyone would be driving a diesel.

noise????? This coming from the same group of people that dump 5K+ into a sound system for a boat? Dump 5k into the truck stereo system and the diesel can't be heard. Truth be told, the new PSD and Cummins are pretty damn, quiet, not even a real excuse, I think that 4-5K uptick in price is the real issue.

Levi, the reason I leave in 3rd is because while towing around here it will never get into 4th gear, or if it does it wont stay there for long. So to take a little stress off the tranny I just leave it in 3rd. I started doing this after a friend recommended it, and after trying it a few times it does seem to keep speed better.

"noise????? This coming from the same group of people that dump 5K+ into a sound system for a boat?"

Please see "...the majority of people..." When it comes to diesels, smell is also a factor, but it wasn't relevant to my point at the time.

Once you've towed with a diesel.........you will NEVER go back to a gasser......my F250 is as comfortable as any SUV out there and tows 10 times better.

15 - 17 mpg towing, 70 mph at 1800 rpm's....get the DIESEL if you can swing it.

Greg, I appreciate the input with the horsepower and torque issues. It sounds like they're stretching the truth a bit. I initially try to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially since they're the supposed experts, and I know nothing about installing airboxes or exhaust systems. It seems however, that 25 -30 hp is not out of the question, and if I can get the same amount of torque: done deal.

What Swass said is probably right on regarding cost effectiveness.

Anybody that thinks you will get 35+ HP and 80+ Ib*FT of torque from an exhaust and intake must be talking about the eaton or wipple intakes with an exhaust. There is no way you will get 80+ Ib*FT of torque from those two mods in a gasser.

Now a diesel you can get more than that just from a $300-500 chip or tuner, but that is apples to oranges.

nothing like a chip, gauges, air intake, and downpipe, and exhaust on a diesel to obtain an extra 100ft/lbs torque.