Newbie to the board here. Did a search but didn't find much so.....

I have a 2005 1/2 ton burb that is all stock (and paid for). Came new with 17 inch wheels. Towing about a 7,000 lb trailer loaded. Does ok on flat land but hills drive me nuts.

How can I make this beast tow better? Thinking about taking the camper to Colorado but concerned about towing. Thought about the following stuff....

Retuning the computer;
cold air intake
regearing

What can I do?

thanks

 

you say it's driving you crazy ,what's it doing? what problem are you having ?

 

on hills and some overpasses, it gears down to 2nd and screams to 4500 rpm if I let it. In the texas hill country, it really struggles on some long high hills. In a head wind, I really struggle to maintain 60 mph. I'd just like to see it not work so hard to keep my speed up and be able to handle hills better.

Does that make sense?

 

does your truck have tow haul ? i would give the guy's at hypertech a try they should be able to help .http://www.hypertech.com/

 

A decent programmer will eliminate that whole issue.

 

What do you mean about a decent programmer?

 

Are you using Tow/Haul mode? Remember you are towing right at the maximum rating.

 

We tow with our 2004 burb. We use the tow haul button and tow in o/d when it's not hunting for a gear otherwise we are in 3rd. We have hit 2nd gear a couple of times on long steady grades but that didnt suprise me. We drive around 60mph. Do not use the cruise control as it will keep downshifting. Take a bit of a run at the hills not big speed but if your getting ready for a hill pick up the speed a bit. Our burb is 100% stock nothing done to it except changed the round tube peice of junk hitch to a nice reese hitch and p3 brake controller. We are towing 5500lbs and get around 10.5 mpg average. I am going to be looking at some stuff for better mileagemyself but am happy so far. I also have 3.73 gears I beleive.

 

assuming you have the 5.3, it makes its max tourqe at around 4400 rpm. so when you say its screaming at 4500 rpm, that's where its maximum power range is. plus you are towing a tank with a tank.

get a custom tune from someone like neslon or blackbear performance. and use the tow/haul mode with that heavy of a load.

assuming you have 3.73 gears, then regearing to 4.10's might not give you enough difference to justify $1200+ for the swap (assuming you have a 4x4). you might consider 4.56, will tow better at the expense of lower mpg on the highway.
good luck