Towing power needed from my 05 Yukon Denali XL

[Ridculous]

All right fellas need some help. I just returned from a nice family vacation to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado (from Tulsa, OK). I put around 2800 miles on the Nali while pulling a 5800lb travel trailer + 600 lbs of "family gear" inside plus my wife, daughter, father and 1 75lb boxer and 1 110lb Akita in the vehicle. Needless to say we were very close to the 14,000 GVW of the 2005 Yukon Denali XL. The vehicle was doing great towing and driving in eastern CO and Kansas...hit the mountains and I was at best doing 35-40 in the right lane. The truck held up great considering she has 110k on the odometer especially though Monarch pass (7 miles of up and down curves with a summit near 11,200 ft above sea level). I plan on doing this trip to Colorado (Denver, Glenwood Springs, Red Stone, Gunnison than back to Tulsa OK) once a year....so my question is I want to get some more towing and stopping power in Nelai. My thinking is....

1) Big brake kit all four corners (will be ordering the Wilwoods this week)
2) Vortech, turbo or a new GM crate engine or heads and cams?? (remember that I lose 20% or more in the mountains because of the thin air)

Anyone do #2 for the purpose of towing? I'm a performance nutjob (as is my wife who gave me the thumbs up to do #2 when a Prius passed us going up Vail Pass!). Not looking for low quater mile times just towing and stopping power as this is our family vehicle...I have two modified toys - Jeep SRT8 and Subaru STI for my speed addiction.

Thanks for your help!

 

[hoe]

Welcome to the site. You are in the right direction. I too understand your needs. I pulled my 85 Suburban with my 01 Tahoe cross country, through CO as well. Those hills are extreme, but I didnt have 1 bit of problems, passing truckers doing 100+ uphills due to my modifications. The difference between our trips was I was blowing pass Prius's while towing.

#1 The big brake kit is excellent if you can swing it.
#2 I would look for a twin screw supercharger for TORQUE which is what you NEED. Look for a TVS 1900 supercharger kit. <<IMO get that and a tune, and be set.

 

[Ridculous]

Thanks I was thinking the vortec S/C kit any other vendors have a kit for the 05 Yukon Denali's? Also can the transmission handle the extra power or do I need a built one or just a new torque convertor?

 

[Phantomx55]

There are a bunch of different vendors for s/c. I personally just bought a procharger kit for my Tahoe which I will install after my new trans is in. It is a centrifugal supercharger, much like the vortec. Its power output is relative to your rpm's and would make most of it's power in the higher rpm's. You can stay out of boost and have better fuel economy, but it should also lack a lot of low end power. Then there is the magnacharger tvs1900 or the mp112 which are screw and roots style. These will keep the power consistent throughout the rpm range, but since they are always in boost, your gas mileage could suffer a bit.

Personally for towing I would go with either a tvs1900 or a mp112. You can find a used one quite easily on performancetrucks.net, and for half the price of a new one.

Also, these transmissions can barely handle the stock power, you should definitely look into either a 4l80e conversion, or a built 4l60e.

 

[Ridculous]

Thanks guys for the information. Also any suggestions on "refreshing a engine with 110k" before applying the S/C on top. I'm new to GM's and have no idea how efficent it will be to be a blower on a truck with that many miles. Also any recommendations on a rebulid shop for the transmission?
...in the meantime I'll start looking at the website!

Thanks!!

 

[hoe]

Phantom hit it on the head, between twin-screw and centrifugal. Thats why I recommended to you a TVS 1900 or 2300. You need to do research on the different types, if you are heavily modded when Centrifugal maybe what you want, but for a stock truck, just get a TVS kit or a twin-screw.

I like my power to kick in with RPMS the higher the more power. But that's not what you would want/necessary for towing.

---------- Post added at 07:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 PM ----------

Thanks guys for the information. Also any suggestions on "refreshing a engine with 110k" before applying the S/C on top. I'm new to GM's and have no idea how efficent it will be to be a blower on a truck with that many miles. Also any recommendations on a rebulid shop for the transmission?
...in the meantime I'll start looking at the website!

Thanks!!

Nothing really, just drop the SC onto the motor. Get a 4l80e transmission swap and be happy. With all the reliability that you would ever want.

 

[LinuxMint]

Putting trailer brakes on the trailer and a trailer brake controller would help take some load off of the car's brakes. Trailer brakes help a lot. We use our Denali for hauling all kinds of things it should have never hauled, like a trailer and landscape roller we had to rent at a jobsite that weighed about 10,000 lbs.

Full synthetic in all fluids would be great, if you haven't already. Synthetic fluids hold up to high-heat better, if I'm not mistaken.

As to replacing the transmissions, I only know from experience that ours lasted 244,000 miles before it started slipping and we replaced it with a re-manufactured one.

 

[Ridculous]

Putting trailer brakes on the trailer and a trailer brake controller would help take some load off of the car's brakes. Trailer brakes help a lot. We use our Denali for hauling all kinds of things it should have never hauled, like a trailer and landscape roller we had to rent at a jobsite that weighed about 10,000 lbs.

Full synthetic in all fluids would be great, if you haven't already. Synthetic fluids hold up to high-heat better, if I'm not mistaken.

As to replacing the transmissions, I only know from experience that ours lasted 244,000 miles before it started slipping and we replaced it with a re-manufactured one.

Correct - trailer brakes were a HUGE help in going down the multiple mountain passes (8,000 - 11,300 feet above sea level) and have them on the travel trailer....the Wilwoods would be a nice plus to that mix! Also flush all fluids in the radiator, trans and oil changed. But need that power to push pass those passes.

 

[The 'ER]

Correct - trailer brakes were a HUGE help in going down the multiple mountain passes (8,000 - 11,300 feet above sea level) and have them on the travel trailer....the Wilwoods would be a nice plus to that mix! Also flush all fluids in the radiator, trans and oil changed. But need that power to push pass those passes.

Couple quick questions. I work at an RV dealership in the service department so just some things trailer wise I can help you with. What hitch (weight and sway) are you using? Brake controller? Last time trailer brakes and axle bearings were serviced? I don't want you going on a trip and throwing a bearing and having a missile on your truck. What kind of trailer also?