thinkin about buying a gmc sierra 1500
 

its a 2001 fullsize extended cab with 4 wheel drive. it has the 4 speed automatic with a 5.3L motor. my questions is, would you think that i could tow my camaro on my open car trailer with this truck. im not really sure if that small of a motor would be any good at towing. does anyone on hear have one of these trucks. any complaints about it. what kind of gas milage would i expect from it. any info would be a great help. thanks alot

we have people on here towing boats w/ their cars
i dont think you should have trouble towing with it

My friend had the same truck, but the 2wd version and we towed my '79, '55, and '72 around with it for four months before toasting the trans. On flat ground it was good, but on hills is where we did the damage.

ps- the '55 and trailer did out weight the max towing capacity considerably so that was our fault.

That truck you should get 14mpg while towing and the truck will easily tow a car. It should be able to tow a 8,000lb trailer. If your camaro is that heavy then somethings wrong. And with 285hp and 325tq you should be fine. And if you plan on doing alot of towing get the Duramax Diesel.

IMO if you want a vehicle that will be mainly for towing, go diesel.
I'll be using my 96 ram 2500 2wd once i get a nice car trailer for my SS.
I have a 99 denali(5.7 vortec though) and that thing is horrible at towing just an open trailer loaded with car parts.
I towed dozens of vehicles with the Ram and you could barely feel anythign was back there.

make sure you get a trans cooler

You will probably be fine, but I don't know how easy it will be to set it up for electric brakes (if that's what you want to use).

What's the rear axle ratio?

those are good trucks, the only thing is the engine is a dog. small v8. the 6.0 is better imo or diesel.

6.0 wasnt available that early. 6.0 didnt show up till GM started offering the VortecMax engine.
Trans-cooler is a 102108430128402384% must to have when towing anything...hell, if you drive more then a grandma would, you should. Heat will destroy your trans. All the filters in the world arent going to do **** to keep your trans from roasting in its own fluids.

thanks for the replies. im going to look at it on sat. its main purpose is my daily transportaion. ill only be towing the camaro maybe once or twice a month. and thats to the track and back. right now i use my dads 2000 f250 with a triton 5.4l. that truck seems to struggle on the hills as well. its just that i want to get to the track more often this year and i feel bad asking him if i can barrow his truck all the time. i really want to get an 04ish 2500 with the Duramax Diesel, but that is no were near in my budget. this truck that im looking at is. this truck that im looking at has 56000 miles on it, which is alittle high. but if you think about that, it was averaging about 10k a year. thats under the average yearly milage of most cars. i dont know the gear ratio, ill have to ask. but the dealer is asking just under $15k. which i think is a pretty good deal. i can probably get them down alittle lower. judging from the pics i saw of it, it looks like its in really good shape. ill just have to wait until saturday and look at it. ill let you guys know what i think.

See if they will deal on 12k for the truck. Dont be pressured into getting it now, Chevy makes close to a million trucks a year.

I have a 99 Sierra ext cab, 5.3 with the Z71 and tow package ( T- package has a switch that sets the trans for higher RPM shifts and firmer shifts and also has oil cooler and 3:73 gears). My truck came prewired for the brake controller and the fuse box under the hood has all the slots for the extra fuses for the trailer lights.) All I had to do was plug in the controller to the port under the dash and put in the fuses. I 'm not certain if this is on all trucks or part of the tow package?

I tow my 93 camaro with an 18' open trailer. The 5.3 is fine on the open highway going 65MPH. It does struggle a little on the big hills, but I don't push it hard on them. I tow 6-10 times a year, about 2,000 miles towing yearly.

Currently I have 140,000 miles on the truck and I drive it about 300-500 miles a week. On the highway get about 20 MPG highway with the cruise set at 70MPH. When towing I get about 13-15MPG.

If you plan on doing allot of long distant towing then I would say diesel, but I think the 5.3 will be fine.

John

You should be fine towing, stopping may be a problem though. My dads 05 1500 chevy with the 5.3 tows VERY nicely, but slowing down is sometimes a little scary. If you only plan on towing once in a while, you will have no problem.

you'll be fine. i pulled a 25 ft trailer from harrisburg to michigan with my dad's 01 silvy 5.3L. did just fine.

Id say go for it. You should be fine.

Definitly do as suggested and add a aux trans cooler.

Another thing you can do if it doesnt have the tow/haul mode, or even if it does, is have someone tune the pcm. Im sure someone on here can do it. In addition to getting some more power out of the truck, they can prolly modify the shift points/firmness aswell. Remember, a firmer shift is better for a trans because it keeps it from trying to be in two gears at the same time.The factory gives a smoother shift, but more friction. Friction=heat. Heat=enemy

No matter what anyone says, what it all boils down to is the only thing that kills automatic transmissions (and alot of other things, hah) is heat. Eliminate as much as you can and your golden. :)

duramax is where its at. id find a used Dmax if i were you. better economy and waaay more pulling power

!!!

I have 96 heavy duty suburban for sale. 10k pounds towing capacity. Let me know if you are interested. You'll have NO problem towing anything with it.

i would deffinately put a trans cooler on it. that and i would service the trans on a regular basis. the truck does have the z71 offroad package. im not sure about a tow package(it has a hitch on it, which doesnt really mean anything). thats another question ill have to ask about.

it would love to get a duramax, but a good clean low milage truck is in the $25k-$30k range. i just cant afford that right now. plus they are more expensive to maintain.

i think all gm trucks come with the place in the fuse box to plug in the brake controller. i would just have to get the wire harness and plug it in. ive installed a couple of these on gm pickup. they were all very easy to install.

OR YOU CAN GET A TUNDRA WITH BIGGGGG MASSSSIVE BRAKES TO STOP THAT BIG UGLY HUNK OF CRAP!!! IT CAN STOP THE EARTH FROM ROTATING THE ROTORS ARE SO BIG LOOK AT THE ROTORS THE ROOOOTORS!!!!!BRAAAAAAAAAAH

Still some left over anger from yesterday's Toyota display. Between that and the NASCAR lesson Toyota was giving everyone, Id say that is down right comical that they are wanting so hard to be American.

Come on, you know you said you wanted bigger rotors and a larger ring gear on your pickup.

we have 2 trucks for race shop one is a 305 5 speed stick 2500 GMC - for local to the track its ok your not getting their in a hurry and gets 10 to the gallon towing -- our 28 foot haulmark with stuff 10,000 pounds our 03 chevy 4 door 2500 HD Dura Max diesel / allison on cruse towing the trailer up and down the hills in PA going to the grove or atco or US75 at 70 MPH gets 15 to the gallon -- no ford diesel had 4 we have had or dodge had 2 has been close to the truck - the d max is it now has 94,000 miles in 3 years we have it and its sweet if you can afford one go that way for sure -- jz

that truck will be adequate to tow it. i have a 05 silverado 1500 with the 5.3HO and an 8" lift on 35's and would have no problem towing. The general rule on half ton's is that the combined weight of the trailer and what is being towed now weigh more than the truck. That truck should weigh 5500-5800 so you should be fine.

I actualy said I want 2 ring gears, and 18 inch rotors with two calipers per wheel. Way to fall short, Toyota.

Yeah, I told them I wanted my truck to fly, and to spray Johnnie Walker on the windshield when I hit the sprayer. I think that fell on deaf ears, though. :rofl: