The Art of Towing

[srfinatsunset]

2018 Tahoe LT1 5.3 and 6L80 48k miles

Is there an Art/Craft/Technique to towing?

I live in Souther Cali there are some hills and some flat stretches. I will be towing a boat/trailer and travel trailer at times. (obviously not triples but with the weight rating of the Tahoe) The Tahoe is our family car. Not driven daily but mainly on the weekends. Soccer, baseball, lake, and campsites. Our towing trips can be 20miles to 700 miles round trip.
I need this vehicle to last.

 

[swathdiver]

2018 Tahoe LT1 5.3 and 6L80 48k miles

Is there an Art/Craft/Technique to towing?

I live in Souther Cali there are some hills and some flat stretches. I will be towing a boat/trailer and travel trailer at times. (obviously not triples but with the weight rating of the Tahoe) The Tahoe is our family car. Not driven daily but mainly on the weekends. Soccer, baseball, lake, and campsites. Our towing trips can be 20miles to 700 miles round trip.
I need this vehicle to last.

Lots! Use a quality weight distribution hitch with sway control. Try to keep your payload and towing numbers at about 80% of capacity if possible.

The short wheelbase Tahoe does not like to tow long and blocky trailers, keep your travel trailer on the shorter side, maybe a 26 foot body or less. Opinions vary, ask around here on that one.

Keep your driveline fluids fresh and clean, change them every 36K miles or less if towing heavy. The transmission fluid is dead by 45K miles. If your transmission's thermostat has not been modified, do it now! Heat kills them, most barely make it to 100K miles.

Weigh the truck by itself and with the trailer at your local CAT scale. They have an app to help you find them and to pay for it electronically. Your choice.

 

[shock]

So many things… but keep your speed lower than you think you should and never be in a hurry.

 

[B-train]

Agreed with ^^^^^^^^

Also, don't try to prove you can keep up with traffic from starts, or going to stops. One will kill your trans, the other your brakes.

Use tow/haul if you're unsure about what gear to be in - GM figured that out for you. These motors love RPM, so let it eat at 3k if it wants to. Use a lower than normal gear going up (if in M mode) and also going down hill. Let the engine do the work with compression braking.

The RPMS will probably be in the 3 to 4k realm if it's a long hill (up or down). Use brakes as a 'plugging' method meaning Use them semi-aggressively to drop about 5 mph below your target speed in a shorter distance. Then release the pedal and coast and let the engine and trans continue to hold and slow you down. I always shoot for letting the engine and trans do the majority of work and use the brakes as need.

This allows good heat dissipation/ thermal transfer (that's how brakes work FYI). If they stay always hot, you will get brake fade where they are scorched, can't absorb any more heat, or transfer it, and you'll get the joy of using a runaway ramp.

 

[Jeff_]

If you follow and watch towing videos on YouTube from the channel “the fast lane truck” you can learn a lot of tips.
They tow up and down the Ike over Loveland pass in Colorado a lot.

Like others have said, flip the pill in the transmission. It’ll run much much cooler.
Take it slow but “let her eat”. These 5.3’s tow well with some RPM.

 

[OR VietVet]

Everything that has been said is the way to go but, one thing that I must stress. Make sure you get that good quality weight distribution hitch and good sway control, that @swathdiver talked about. IMO, that in and of itself helps so much towards safety. Also, distribute the weight correctly. Load the front a little heavier than the back and let the hitch help you. The towed load handles better that way, IMO.

 

[swathdiver]

I forgot to ad that the shop manual for mine says that maximum cooling efficiency is found in 4th gear (assuming 6L80 or 6L90) so like others have said, don't hesitate to shift down to a lower gear for more control.

I remember my father playing this song on Saturday mornings...

Then there's this one that I used to play on my record player as a boy! LOL:

 

[TahoeFL2017]

Make sure to put some E85 in, then stomp the gas.....

 

[srfinatsunset]

Thank you guys!! I’m Going to get the trany serviced this week! Never thought it was a big deal.

 

[Bigkevschopshop]

Few tips I have,

Keep the motor in the power band when towing... I like to keep mine in the 2-3k rpm range when towing. Depending on rear axle ratio this has a variety of speeds. Mine is a max tow with 3.42 gears... I believe the difference in 3.42 and the 3.08 is so drastic that I will never own another 3.08 anything. The 3.42 is ok to lock out in 5th gear Tow haul active also. This disables AFM also so no back and forth. If on long stretch of road and your weight is low you can go 6th gear but the heat build up in the trans is bad for it so I suggest let it eat in 5th gear when towing. In major hills 4th will do you just fine, let the grade braking do some work for you also on downhill portions, it should keep you from burning up the brakes on your rig.

Trailer brake controller is key on downhills, a gust of wind or passing car can cause sway depending on your weight and the axle ratio of the trailer. Just ease on the trailer brake controller on the down hill portions if it ever gets a little tail happy. Don't ever stop of the tow vehicle brakes in that situation as it compounds it and makes things worse.

The shorter wheel base tahoe/yukon/escalade is a very capable tow rig when done right. As others mentioned the short WB makes it prone to sway on a larger trailer. Travel trailers normally do weight distribution hitches, just do not do too much on the hitch as without tongue weight the trailer will be more prone to sway. The sway control systems/ bar do help, but a properly setup trailer hitch, tongue weight etc is more effective than any bar you add. Remember to always have the front of the trailer about 1-2" above the rear of the trailer, this makes it track straight.

If you have air suspension and MRC it will help things out, if you don't, I would suggest helper bags in the rear coil springs for towing heavy for added suspension handling.

Towing with a short wheel base does have a great benefit when it comes to maneuvering and backing up.

Another aspect, Max air pressure in the rear tires when towing heavy loads helps keep the rear end planted and more in control.

Keep up with maintenance on the tow rig... fluids, tires etc and she will do you just fine.

Sorry for the long response, just figured alot of things need to be covered to tow safely and secure. I've been pulling trailers for 30 years and have seen so much wrong over those years.