towing with Chev 4.8 vs the 5.3

anyone tow with a 4800?? I am looking at at couple used options - tahoes to replace my Burban (5700 vortec)as her Mileage is getting pretty high to tow over the passes!!!
I like the 5.3 engine and have lots of experience with it....but with gas prices and all ..for when I am not towing...wondering about the 4800 as I am not too familiar with that engine, and have seenn acouple used tahoes reasonably priced with that engine..any feed back / experience / numbers/..mucho appreciated!

I towed my direct drive with a 4.6 Ford, and it did fine. Would had probs with my new boat. Bigger is always better for towing. I've gone bigger everytime I bought a new truck, and been glad i did. Current v10 excursion can pull anything without any stress. Mileage is around 11 towing, I got 13 or 14 with a 5.4 ford super crew before that. Not sure, but you're only talking about an extra 1/2 a liter. Don't think the mileage will be too much diffrence. if you were looking at a 4.8 vs an 8.1, maybe an issue.

I think you will be disapointed with the 4.8 coming from the 5.7. First the power band in the new chevrolet motors is a lot higher than in the older 350's. The new motors make max power and torque around 4000rpms whereis the older 350s made it at like 1800-2000.. I have a 5.3 and it tows pretty well but will downshift with a decent load and going up a hill.. There is not a big difference in gas mileage between the 4.8 and 5.3. My buddies who have 4.8 dont enough gas mileage difference to warrant the lower power. Also make sure you look at the 02-up because the 99-01 dont run as well as the 02-up... If you want more info i can go into detail.. Basically I recommend that you go with the 5.3 because the weight of the tahoe combined with the weight of the boat is going to warrant the extra power..

The gear ratio is what will break the vehicle. The bigger motor will probably not get any worse milage in town, and when towing will get better milage. If you want fuel savings and a higher towing capacity get a 2WD.

I use the 4.8L and it pulls just fine. 70-75 is no problem and the fuel burn is 13-14 MPG.

My 4.8 got around 9mpg and hit a top speed of about 70 while towing the SAN. It was 2wd.

I had an '04 Yukon with the 4.8L in it. After towing with a '97 Yukon with the 5.7L for two years, I couldn't get used to the high revs the 4.8 had to turn to pull our Wakesetter up the hills of north Alabama. The 4.8 has a higher hp rating than the older 5.7, but the torque number was significantly less. We ended up selling our '04 and keeping the '97.

The 4.8 and 5.3 seem to have higher powerbands than the old 350. I would look for one with some optional gears like 3.73's. My dad just got an 05 tahoe w/5.3 and standard gears, it definitly feels too steep for any serious towing. I think GM puts in those gears for better hwy mpg. I don't think there is much mpg diff 4.8 vs 5.3, I think window stickers were maybe 1 mpg better city.(check a local dealer)
BTW, my 04 Silverado has the 5.3 and 3.73's and it feels much stronger(also weighs less though).
I'll second Drew's comments, my 04 runs better than my 00. With the same options my 04 feels stronger and ran almost 3 tenths quicker in the 1/4.

BTW the 4.8 I pull with has the optional 3.73 gears and is 2wd. I also pull a 23' toyhauler with it and see 60 and 9 mpg.

thanks for all the feedback..I went with an 01 Yukon XL...I guess with the gas prices the dealer was pretty motivated to sell...now comes the fun times..bars, rims and tires..I may start a new post..I am thinking 18's with perhaps a Geolander a/t-285 60 18..anyone want to post what you are running on yours?
My 96 has 265 75 16 geolanders with Eagle alloys-the simple ones, I will try to post a shot
Also, I have headers-edlebroch on my 5.7 anyone ever throw headers on a 5300?? I love the extra power it gives the 5.7 (although just recently one of the ends warped and is now making a nasty seap noise..mechanic says not too worry as they do that...) anyway...looking forward to any replies

Headers will definetely help the 5.3 but you will want to go longtube headers.. The shorty headers on the 5.3L dont work as good as they do on the 5.7 www.tbyrnemotorsports.com has some good deals on headers and things like that.. A couple of brands to look at are Arizona Speed & Marine Long tubes, The Other Guys Long Tubes, Dynomax Longtubues... Also I would recommend getting your pcm custom tuned. I am not talking about a hypertech or superchips tuner either. Check out a few of these websites for computer tuning.. www.nelsonperformance.com www.wait4meperformance.com
If you need any help let me know