yet another towing question

[lowriderb]

I have a 07 classic crew and it has the factory 3.23 gears installed, i have a tune and intake on my truck as of now and looking for gears to help me tow my 16x8 enclosed trailer. right now it kills my milage to pull it almost anywhere over 55-60mph. what gears would help me tow at a normal speed (70) and not kill my wallet.. so far ive been looking at 3.73's or 4.10's. i have the stock wheels/tires on there at the moment as well.
also could you recommend a place local between baton rouge and new orleans la to install them..
any imput would be appreciated.

thanks
B

[puma]

Towing regardless of gearing is going to make your fuel mileage suck.

If you have 3.23's right now I would suggest the 3.73's. The 4.10's will be a little high for the highway. I went from 3.42's to 3.73's and it helped a lot so they should help you even more.

I can't help you with the install location since I'm nowhere near there. Here a set of new gears, bearings and seals installed is $700.

[kcb37]

How heavy is your trailer?
Part of it is your low gears, but I am also willing to bet pulling your trailer is like pulling a parachute behind your truck. Something that can help some, is to put on a topper.

But for the most part 3.73 or 4.10's. What gears you have now makes no difference at all. It's the weight of the trailer you are pulling, along with areodynamics.
3.73's should do just fine, however 4.10's will do better, but your normal mileage is going to suck. Pulling is going to suck still cause you have low gears and you have a trailer behind you.

Honestly IMHO if you are over 7k or so, a diesel is so much better. You will hardly notice it. Your mileage will still drop.
Other then that a BB.

[lowriderb]

i was figuring that my trailer weighed about 2500 empty, the drag bike i have only weighs like 260lbs, fuel and tools camping gear ect may be 4 or 500 more lbs at the very most. so im just guessing that it all would weigh around the 3100 or 3200lb range, ill have to check on the trailer weight again to make sure im not wrong.

i kinda didnt want to buy a new truck just yet, i wanted to make this one work better for me at least till its paid off.

[Toadz]

Is your truck 2WD or 4WD? If it's 4WD you just doubled your costs because you're going to want to match your front gears to the rear.
How often a year do you tow? What type of driving do you do when you are towing? What type of driving do you do when you are not towing? What size are your wheels/tires? This will help determine which gears are right for you.

[lowriderb]

im just driving normal, mostly insterstate when im towing where the speed limits are 70mph im only doing 60 so it doesnt kill me to tow. mostly during race season when im off every couple of weeks through out the summer. my tires are the stock size 265/70 17. 2wd as well.

[chemist]

I am new to owning a full sized pickup, but not new to towing. I've owned two previous Astro vans, both of which sported the 4L60E trans and 4.3L engine. Say what you want, but those things were amazing machines. My first had 3:73 gears and a lot of power. My second had 3:43, 1" larger tires, and a lot less power for things like pulling and hauling. My current truck has 3:73 gears, and although it did amazing with a yard of wet, modified gravel in the bed, I've yet to tow with it. Astro owners that have put in 4:10s tell me they hated they're vans on the highway. Many of those van owners had also already upgraded their tires to 33s or 31s. But I'm curious to hear from the Silverado owners with 4:10s.

[Toadz]

I'm not sure what "normal" driving is but it sounds like you'd probably be better off with 3.73 gears.

[lowriderb]

normal driving, like not floor boarding it at every stop sign, going for top speed run every time i get in it. this isnt a race vehicle. i just want it to get my race vehicle there more efficiently..

[SteppinLo]

3100 pounds is not a bad load at all. If the trailer is aerodynamic at all, you should not have a problem. If it is not aerodynamic, you might simply consider driving in third gear instead of OD on the interstate.

I run thru Southern Louisianna all the time and there is not a hill in sight down there. If the terrain is pretty flat, consider what I said about shifting out of OD on the interstate.

Good Luck

[Toadz]

Originally Posted by lowriderb

normal driving, like not floor boarding it at every stop sign, going for top speed run every time i get in it. this isnt a race vehicle. i just want it to get my race vehicle there more efficiently..

I meant how much of it is city and highway driving. If all your driving is in the city 4.10 gears would work great whereas if a majority is highway then 3.73 would be better.

[lowriderb]

its a mix of both hwy and local driving, when i get to go anywhere its mainly insterstate to get there, as well as when im towing my trailer with my camping stuff and bike is almost all interstate.

[Toadz]

3.73 is what you want.

[kcb37]

You want a set of 3.73's
That should be more then enough power for your trailer and load. Your biggest problem will be the parachute effect of a big box behind you. But you are also talking about a light trailer well within the capacity of a 1/2 with 3.73's

[lowriderb]

i figured i had enough vehicle to pull this trailer as well, the whole wind resistance part does effect it. i just didnt think it would as much as i does.

thanks for the info fellas

B

[angrycookieman]

I have a stock 06 with 3.23's, and I find that putting it in 3rd works pretty good. The truck is so high geared that It isn't revving too high, it's just more in the power band. If I was to change the gearing, I would go for the 3.73's, but your milage will still suck when pulling, and I don't think it would be quite as good when not pulling either. It will feel much stronger on the bottom though.

[bowtieguy101]

You shouldnt be towing in overdrive anyway. good point

[Toadz]

As far as mileage is concerned with 3.73's, I can easily pull off 19 MPG unloaded on mostly highway. When my parent's drove my truck back from AZ unloaded they claimed it was getting over 20 MPG. That is unloaded, 100% highway, they probably never went over 65 MPH, and it's an '00 5.3 4X4 ECSB.