Hey folks, first post here, I'm trying to figure out some stuff on my parents Burb for them.

First start with the goods:

'99 2500
8.1L w/ 130k miles
Automatic - 4L80E
It its 4wd, so 241 if I remember correctly?
Has been taken care of all its life, regular oil changes, Mobil 1 Syn only. They bought it from people who towed a monster boat but also took good care of it. They mainly use it for around town, road trips, and towing their new toy a 29' Camper.

Not some of the issues. I'm very technically inclined and know my way around trucks really good. I'm more or less looking to see if there are any common problems, and if the issues they have are some of them.

1. First off is probably what people complain about alot. Lack of power. I know shes not a race car and she's big and fat. I also know they're torque monsters but it still seems to me and them that it should just have more power. Mainly HP. Any common problems or simple tricks you can do to get some juice out of her? Are any programmers out there worth it? I know in some vehicles they make a huge difference and others they're hardly noticeable. So whats the word on that?

2. Next is a braking issue, and not when their towing. Just driving around town it seems like the brakes should be better. Good condition pads/rotors, and new brakes out rear (I tried to convince him to go disc.) I've driven many vehicles with Hydro-Boost and they stop on a dime. My buds '98 6.5 TD is like this, stops way better. I also realize the big weight difference from a pickup but still seems like its missing something. I doubt its air in the lines, I've bled them myself with a power bleeder.

3. Next is an A/C question. Now my father is retired and worked ALOT with refrigeration. The front blows no cold air. So probably a leak right? Well he called out of his work buds and they took the sniffer to the whole thing. They filled it up and sniffed the entire truck, inside, outside, underneath and got nothing. So if there some weird A/C problem or is it probably just a condenser or something? If I remember right he said the rear air works pretty good. I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure these have two seperate A/C systems? One front and one back? I really doubt its a blending problem, everything else in the dash works great.

4. As for the 4L80E he says it shifts weird sometimes. I told him he needs to get a trans temp gauge since they're starting to tow this trailer. I really don't know when the last flush was so that could be part of it, but from my experiences the 4L80 is a pretty bulletproof trans correct?

5. Lastly is there anything they can do to get better then the 8mpg or so they get while towing? Even on road trips not towing with speeds at about 60mph they can only get around 12mpg out of her.

Lots of info, I appreciate any comments you all might have. Thanks.