towing with a chevy silverado v6

[lobk]

The manual list the tow capacity at 4700.

I'm looking a a boat that will weight 3700 including trailer. Trailer will have disc brakes on it.

Would nayone be able to tell me if the chevy v6 will be able to handle this, both towing and how it will handle the ramps?


Thanks,
Lobk

 

[Ezrider_92356]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

the chevy silverado with the 4.3 v6 you will hate for any towing, it will be slow and gutless and get worse millage than a 350. i had an 95 gmc siarria with a 4.3 and it was a dog any time you put anything behind it.

 

[tommays]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

I tow with a BASE 05 4.3 with a 19' that is about the same without problems

I leave it in 3rd as that gets the motor at about 2600 RPM which seems to give the best result, I have found if i use 4th it waits to long to drop to 3rd on hills and you end up droping to 2nd on long hills in upstate NY

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

you don't say where you are. flat lands it will be fine, hilly, mountains, you want more guts. we tow 4700 with a Surburban 5.0.

 

[lobk]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

I'm in Texas. The lakes I plan on going to is mostly flat road.

I'm real concerned on useing the ramp, on a slippery ramp I'm afraid this truck will have a hard time getting the boat out.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

slippery ramp other than 4 wheel drive will have problems. the object, is to drive 2 footed, you do not want to spin. or if you have manual trans, you learn to use the emergency brake.

 

[bhammer]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

What lakes in Texas or what cities? Here in North Texas, I use some ramps with a gutless CX9 and it's FWD on a 3500# boat and made it up just fine. Steeper ramps werer not possible at all though.

The problem wasn't the ramps but it was the highways getting on with the short access and them the up and down while going over hte cross streets.

 

[AZMinyard]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

I had a 2000 Silverado with the 4.3l V6 5-speed manual transmission and the only problem I ever had with it was typical of most trucks ? a very light rear end. I think you will find yourself spinning your wheels quite a bit on wet, inclined boat ramps.

I pulled 1-2 ton loads with it on several occasions without a problem. The larger loads where mostly around town, but I have also hauled large loads up the hill from Phoenix to Flagstaff. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of stopping space, though.

The gas mileage of this truck is one of its advantages. Completely stock I got an average of 20 mpg, mixed mileage (freeway/in-town). To further increase this, I put on an Air Raid cold air intake and throttle body spacer to up my average to 24 mpg ? as long as I was easy on the accelerator. The throttle body spacer adds more to low end torque than to mileage, but still nice to have.

You might want to see if you can figure out a test run somehow. Maybe an unused diesel truck ramp and a couple buckets of water? Back it down a dry ramp, wet the pavement in front of the rear tires and see how you do. You might even want to try pulling it up on dry pavement first.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

The 4.3L will handle it. What transmission and rear end do you have?

A lot of people use the Silverado to tow their boats and few have problems at ramps, myself included.

I seriously doubt the claims of a cold air intake increasing mileage 4 MPG. There have been many tests of the CAIs and no tests done other than the manufacturer's have shown more of anything other than an increase in noise.

Actually, the main disadvantage of this engine is the fuel economy. The 4.3L V6 gets about the same mileage as the larger 5.3L engine and gets less than the 4.8L V8.

 

[lobk]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

thanks for the great response.

I'll get specs for the truck when I get home.

By the looks of things the 3700 should be ok.


As for lake, Ray Robert, lewisville, Grapvine, Whitney are the ones I plan on taking the boat to.

 

[bhammer]

Re: towing with a chevy silverado v6

thanks for the great response.

I'll get specs for the truck when I get home.

By the looks of things the 3700 should be ok.


As for lake, Ray Robert, lewisville, Grapvine, Whitney are the ones I plan on taking the boat to.

You should be fine but do a little research on Lewisville first on the ramps. Some of them are very steep and asphalt. Even the 1/4 ton trucks can have issues getting a 4000# boat up the hill without tire slide and some struggle.

I spend a great deal of time on both lakes. Grapevine is more for the family and Lewisville is for the wife and me when we sleep on frineds boats out in the cove. Hope to see you around.