I have a 2000 Hoe (5.7L) Limited. I plan to toe a 4000lbs trailer (loaded). last year I toed it but got crappy gas mileage and poor handling.

So I have a few questions:

1) What should I inflate my tires to before I connect the trailer?

2) Is there a switch to turn off the OD? At 55mph she wants to bounce between gears.

I did a full tune up, oil change and coolant flush just to be safe.

 

what kind of handling and MPG were you expecting with a 4,000 lb trailer?

the only way your not going to feel 4,000 lbs behind you is if it has it's own brakes and your driving something bigger than a tahoe...

 

My last truck was a 2000 Tahoe. I towed a 23' cuddy cabin speed boat with a 496 big block in it. I never did anything with the tires before towing. You can not tow in OD that constant up shift down shift will kill the trans quick, Put it in third gear to tow,that will be no overdrive. All overdrive in any vehicle is a extra gear. That gas mileage is what it is, anything you pull that much weight behind will get terrible gas mileage. Make sure your rear brakes on your truck are adjust good all the time.

 

ok, I will drive in 3rd...I dont normally drive auto's so can i start in 3rd or do I have to cycle from 1 to 2 to 3 on the shifter? My first auto in 20 years. Will it help to inflate the tires to 36 lbs? Or just leave them at 32lbs?

I got 8 mpg last year.

 

you can start in third. tire pressure depends on load rating of tires. a "c" rating shouldn't be above 32. "d" rating can take 45 if i remember correct. "e" rating can handle 60-65 psi. look on the sidewall of your tire, you will find one of these letters and quite possibly the proper inflation value as well. it's on there, just gotta look close. and yes, when towing with a gas motor, your mileage will suck. my old 97 z71 with vortec 350 barely got 5-7 mpg while towing about 4000 pounds. not much you can do about that, unless you step into a duramax truck.

 

Your tire will have the max cold PSI on them. It is up to you if you add air, I not sure what will happen. It may wear your tires out faster from them being over inflated and having all that weight. Yes just put it in third and drive, it will still shift on it own.

 

thanks, I am trying to remember back to autoshop class 20 yrs ago and I seem to remember that my instructed said an under inflated tire is worse then an over inflated tire as you cause more resistance with the road and increase the heat on the tire if its under-inflated. I will check the side of the tire and go from there.

 

You should always run the tire listed pressure in the door jamb on any vehicle. That is the pressure that the manufacture has found will handle best and wear best.

 

assuming the tires on vehicle are same weight rating as stock. load range E tires can be run at 32 psi, which is typical pressure for factory tires, but they will wear faster as this is technically under-inflated versus a load range C.

 

Not much of a reason to put load range E tire on a Tahoe, You could never load it enough to need them.