Using an Avalanche to Tow

hey everyone,

I'm in the market for a truck to tow my X-Star. i've got a year to buy since i'm currently deployed so i'm taking my time. Anyways i came acrossed a good deal on an 04 chevy Avalanche with the 5.3L V8 with tow package.

Has anyone used this truck to tow before. How well does it tow and handle with a boat behind it. most of it is short pulls to the river no more then 10 miles but sometime it will be longer trips to. Just wondering if i should go ahead and pull the trigger because it is priced right or if i should wait and getting a bigger truck.

Thanks

I towed our 23' Cobalt with an 07 Avalanche for 2 years. It had the 5.3L. Some people say the 5.3 sucks for towing, but I didnt notice much issue with it. Like you, most of my tows are short hauls to the lake, which is about 15 minutes away. I live in IA so no mountain passes to pull. If most of your tows are short, and you live in relativle flat terrain, I wouldn't see any problems with it.

I really like the idea of a 4x4 Avy with Autoride for towing. Seems to me like the best daily driver tow rig with a bed out there. That will probably be what I replace my '99 Z71 5.3L that has served me well for 8 yrs towing my VLX.

Thank you for your service. Come home safe.

i am sure it would be just fine for towing short trips, but if you take many long trips with it you may want to consider a diesel.

I have put our avalanche through the paces. 130,000 miles later is still strong, blew an intake gasket because the catlytic converter went bad and caused a lot of backpressure. I even towed a trailer from florida to texas, picked up a f150 extended cab truck and pulled it on my trailer back 14 hr drive, stopped only for fuel and it did not miss a beat. I was crusing around 80-85 mph coming back. To me it is a great truck, pulls a hell of a lot better than my tahoe, they have the same 5.3 motor

The Avalanche is the same chassis as a Suburban, which has to be one of the longest living family tow rigs ever built.

I have an 05 I tow the Vride with. Short trips are 2 blocks. Longest trips with the boat are about 200 miles. We've taken a few ATV trips as far as 500 miles away. The truck never misses a beat. It gets about 19 - 20 mpg on the freeway, 15 - 16 mpg in town & 11 - 12 towing either trailer. It has the largest lockable trunk ever, and I can take 5 of my friends & family with me to dinner in style.

The 4wd works great now. We had a problem with the Encoder motor not engaging 2wd from 4wd. Once that got fixed, the truck will pull the Vride up a soft sandy beach without a problem. Last winter I pulled a Lexus 4wd SUV out of the ditch with it.

My dogs love the fact that I can open the bed & cab to the outside. It's usually open all summer long. Or close the bed but open it to the cab for the winter. I owned an 80s 4-Runner & a 90s Bronco that also has open beds so this was the perfect rig for me. We call it the Transformer truck because it has to be the most versatile rigs I've ever owned.

It will be great for short trips... its plenty of truck to tow that boat.

We take about 8 trips a year that are 500 miles and a bunch of 10 mile trips. We tow our boat with a newer 5.3l tahoe - Overall the comfort and power makes the long trips enjoyable. My father in-law has a diesel super duty that we can use if we would like but his truck is overkill for a 22ft boat.

Yeah, No need for a diesel. That said, I hate pulling my boat with my wifes Tahoe. It has no passing power.

there is no such thing as overkill*

^^^There is when you live in LA and can not find a parking spot because your truck is too big.

lolol

I tow a 21ft Supra Launch with my 05 5.3L Z-71 avy every weekend. It does great. I live in Colorado so we have plenty of "hills" to go up and down and it doesn't even blink. The great thing about avy is it rides like an SUV but has the qualities of a pick up. Oh and I tow about 70 miles each way each time I tow the boat. gets 11.1mpg while towing which isn't too bad.

There was a post a couple weeks back where the guy said he blew his tranny in his avalanche pulling his enzo. No opinion just a heads up. Andy was right, there is no overkill. I pull my heavy 20v Tige with my 06 super duty, there is a lot of great deals on used vehicle out there right now. Good luck in your search and as Trace said thank you for your service. We ALL count on and depend on you guys more than most realize. DO WORK SON!!!

Ed (Show) had his tranny go out while pulling his Enzo as Chris mentioned, here's a link

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/717154.html?1248752166

Diesels have their places and I personally prefer towing with a diesel over a gas, not always when pulling the boat, but if its a bigger boat, diesel all the way. The extra tourque comes in handy in the hill country here in Texas as well.

I would stick with the gas if you only tow your boat and nothing else

Buddy of mine has an Avalanche that has a 6" lift on it and he has a 01' SAN 210. Went on a road trip this past weekend and I had to keep slowing down b/c his truck kept overheating when we were going up hills!

Lifted trucks are a whole different ballgame. Even if they're geared right, there's a lot more stress on the driveline from the big meats.

The 4L60E (1/2 ton tranny) in my '99 5.3L Z71 went 161k before it blew the 3-4 clutches and had to be rebuilt. Only mods are a Transgo shift kit on the mellowest settings and a Corvette servo at about 40k.

I have a 2000 Z71 w/5.3L and a 2003 Tahoe w/5.3L. The Z71 has 4.11 gears, the hoe has 3.73s. The truck does much better up hills and up on-ramps but the Tahoe is more comfortable with the rear coils (no bouncing). The Avy suspension is closer to the hoe than the truck. I would guess an Avy with 5.3 turning 4.11 gears would be a great tow vehicle, if it has 3.73s it's still probably OK as long as you don't do too many hills in the headwind. When we come back over the Altimont Pass into the wind with the Hoe I just pull it down into second and run 55MPH at 4k RPM, pretty hard to slow it down in second at that RPM. In general I don't go over 4k RPM for more than a couple miles.

Don't push that 4l60E in overdrive or it will die.

Don't lift your truck. I run 265/70x17's on both of my vehicles (largest factory combo from that era). I would not try to push any more rubber than that with a 5.3L.

I have 8 inches of lift and 37's, no gears. Have no issues pulling an X-Star wherever I need to go and still get good gas mileage!!...Get a diesel!!

thanks a ton guys. Yeah i've been looking into diesels as well for a long time now. i started looking last January for a deal that i couldn't pass up. so far this is the first deal that i really can't pass up on the avalanche. just wanted to make sure it could do what it needs to do. thanks again guys for all the help and knowing now that it can pull i'm definitely going to pursue this truck.

Thanks again guys, and enjoy the rest of your riding seasons

I had an '03 Avalanche that I towed quite a bit with. I lost the tranny at 60k miles and they said it was due to it not having a large enough tranny cooler from the factory. I towed my Tige RZ2 with it about 100 miles round trip each time to the lake and there are some good hills on the highway here in Colorado. Personally, I think the power band is too high in the RPM's for towing. Towing my 19' Rinker, I got 10-11 mpg, towing the Tige I was down to 7-8 on a good day and it really struggled to maintain 75 mph on the highway if there was even a slight hill but we are at 5280' up here so it is down on power. I was also running 305/50/20 Toyo Open Country's on it (no lift) so maybe that had something to do with the lack of power.

Long story short, I traded in my Avalanche on a Duramax and couldn't be happier. I will say one thing though, the Avalanche is still my favorite out of all of the trucks that I have owned now (9 total). The ride and handling are awesome and I REALLY miss those tool boxes on the side of the bed.

Like Mikeski said, do not tow in D (overdrive) with a 4L60E unless you have a billet servo in it (which will also make shifts extremely harsh). The apply pressure is not high enough on the band, and it can slip under load. Always tow in 3.

I agree the powerband is too high. The old smallblock was really a better motor for towing.

I've owned a couple diesels - a 95 Dodge 4x4 dually and an 04 CCLB Duramax. I had the Duramax for about a year, but sold it and kept my old paid off Z71. I couldn't justify the payments when my old truck towed my boat just fine, and I hated driving it around town (parking, and turning the motor off so I could be heard at drive-thrus). 3/4 and 1 ton trucks also really ride like crap unless they are carrying a load.

If you want to do some research on avalanches check out this website. http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com

It has more info than I know what to do with.

just make sure that you get the correct gears in the truck and you will be fine. 3.73 are ok but 4.11 would be the best bet.

Here, I'll spruce this thread up with a picture of my Avalanche



(Message edited by timmyb on July 30, 2009)

Now your talkin..... 05 Av with the 5.3 & 4.11s.



Or pullin the quads into the mountains in Norcal.

Bill, what wheels/tires are you currently running, 1st or 2nd pic? I run the Avy wheels on my Hoe, I like the look much more than the factory 16's. On the Silvo I am currently running Tahoe Z71 wheels/tires (takeoffs).

I have the rims & tires in the 2nd pic on the Av now. Their nothing special, old school American Racing & 265 75/16 all seasons. The truck went everywhere I pointed it, even towing the ATV trailer in the snow & worst winter in 50 yrs.

The boat trailer has nicer rims & tires than the truck does. An upgrade is long overdue. I'd like to find some nice rims & tires I can run all year rather than having a summer & winter set.

bruizza, thanks for the forum i'm going to join that right away and ask some questions on there before pulling the trigger on the avalanche. and thank you all for all the posts you guys have been amazing as always.

Does anyone know that fastest way to find out what type of gears are in it if the current owner is unsure. thanks again wakeworld

If it's a < '08, they are probably 3.73's unless it's a 2wd or a 2500. You can also find a website and calculate the ratio based on rpm's, speed and tire size.

We have a Yukon XL Denali with a 6.0L V8. We used to tow a 26ft SeaRay Sundeck 260 which had some weight. We ended up having to put a seperate new transmission cooler in because of rising heat on trips.. Works perfect now.

From the Avfanclub site:
The 4.10 gears is the GT5 option code listed on the build sticker inside the glovebox. GT4 is the code for the 3.73s.

(Message edited by bill_airjunky on July 31, 2009)

I agree with most above, it's all about the gear ratio. Just like a lower pitch prop on the boat, can make a huge difference.

If you find a truck you like, don't let the wrong axle ratio be a deal breaker, you can have the ring and pinion swapped out for seven or eight hundred bucks, or do it yourself for the cost of the gears.

I always try to find trucks with 4.10's, but if they don't have em just swap em out.
Best improvement per buck you can make on any truck IMO.

Lower gears are definitely nice, but since we're talking about it - you will sacrifice a little fuel economy with 4.10's, maybe .5 to 1 mpg. If you don't tow much, you might prefer the 3.73's.

People with faliures or overheating issues - are you towing in 3 or D? I've never had a problem with heat (I always tow in 3), but it's not exactly mountainous around here either.

I tow in D. But we don't have mountains.. It was just when we would make the trip down to Lake Cumberland in KY or to Lake Hartwell in SC, both perfect lakes around september, we'd hit mountain ranges and we'd see an increase in heat.. But nothing catastrophic or anything, but didn't want to risk it.. Better putting in a little to save a lot in the long run.

And this may seem like a stupid question, so bare with me.. Putting the truck in 3rd will knock out 4/5 right?? So your RPM will be higher.. right?? Wouldn't that raise heat rather than lower?? I've heard it will help your cause with saving brakes and such but I would think it wouldn't help, but rather hurt your heating issues.. But I'm not real knowledgeable in this so I'm trying to learn and every little bit helps! Thanks!

--William--
Thanks for your commitment and sacrifice to this country! It is greatly appreciated and you along will all the armed forces are in my prayers.

I tow in D with the Tow/Haul mode on. The truck has the factory tow package on it, which includes the trans cooler. I towed the boat to Banks lake & back home in 95 degree heat a couple weeks ago without any problems. The trip home includes a drive up a 5 degree hill that is like 8 or 10 miles long..... the truck pulled it 50 - 60 mph without any trouble. About 1/2 way up the heat started climbing, so I turned off the AC & the temp went right back down.

Anyone have a recommendation for a larger aux trans cooler? We have an 07 5.3 tahoe, I would assume it would be the same cooler for any of the gm 1/2 ton trucks.

Check with your local transmission shop for a bigger cooler or maybe like summitracing.com or jegs.com. For me, I was towing at the trucks rated capacity so it was kind of a bigger deal to get the bigger cooler. You can tow in D as long as the truck isn't always hunting for gears on those inclines, or so I was told by the transmission shop after having it rebuilt for towing. I think it would be a decent setup with 4.10's in it but still too much rpm for my taste.

Timmy, you're only looking at 180 rpm difference at 65 MPH with 31.5 tires, you probably wouldn't even notice the difference without a tach.

Here's one calculator, have fun with it and see what affect larger tires have as well...

http://www.ringpinion.com/Calc_RPM.aspx

Towing in 3 prevents the 4 speed tranny from shifting to 4th gear. 4th gear is held by the band, and the stock band is known to slip under heavy load in a 4L60E. Yes the RPM's are higher, but that really does not make it run hotter. If anything, it is circulating the fluid thru the cooler at a higher rate, and thus should run a little cooler. Not to mention the band isn't slipping and generating heat. If you notice it shifting a lot, you should also drop to 3. I usually tow pretty short distances in traffic, so I always just leave it in 3. If I'm on the highway with long straightaways and/or a tailwind, I'll pop it into D sometimes.

One more thing...

All of these trucks have built in temp sensors in the tranny. All you need to do is swap in a dash out of a Denali or Escalade and you get a trans temp gauge in the lower left corner.

i cant take credit for it but here is my buddys..

Works great for me