02' Chevy 2500 For Tow Rig

[Jerms]

I know this has been beat to death but i was jsut would like to know what you guys think of this deal.

I just recently bought (yesterday) a 02 chevy 2500 HD Ext Cab 4x2, for in the ball park of 19K it blue books at 23K

Here are some of the specs.

6.0 L Gas V8
4 spd auto trans with hevy duty package cooler and in dash temp gauge.
corp 14 bolt rear end 4.10 ratio.
all the accesories you can think of except 4 wheel steer and 4wd.

So my jeep is 4500 lbs and i figure 2000 lbs for a trailer and i'm and 6500lbs which is right at limit for a 1/2 ton which is why i bought 3/4.

Does anybody have expreience with the gm 6.0L and how well it does pull. so far i'm inpressed with the get up and go but i'm just wondering if somebody out there has one of these similar to mine. also how hot is overheating the trans i have always towed with a standard trans so i have never had to worry about it. any body give me some tips for heavy towing with an auto?

Again i know that this has been beaten to death but i was just wondering if some of you guys who do regualr heavy towing can give some of us noobs to the heavy part of it some tips.

TIA

Jerms

 

[Matthew Currie]

I've had a couple of 5.7's (350 to the old school), and if the 6 is similar to that one and if the gear ratios are right you won't have much to worry about except your brakes.

I don't know what the current recommendation is but for my 88 K2500 the rule is if you're towing don't use 4th gear. My transmission had three recalls, none very effective (1=a new dipstick so the fluid wouldn't boil out and catch fire, 2=a new overflow tube so when it boils out anyway it won't hit the muffler and catch fire, 3=a new page for the owners manual saying don't use fourth gear or the fluid will boil out and it will catch fire anyway), and the tranny still packed up at about 20 thousand miles and needed a total rebuild. I am under the impression that they've improved this somewhat - hope so anyway, but whatever they have for transmission cooling I'd consult with a tranny specialist and see if it would benefit from more.

 

[WayneXJ]

The truck shouldn't have any problems towing, but it sure is nice to have 4 wheel drive in Northern Utah.

 

[Jerms]

i know but it won't see much use during the winter months and it has a posi rearend so when it does that should help. Thanks for the input it does have a trans temp gauge does anyone know what would be considered hot. the scale is from 100-300 and gets into the red about 250-265 ish. to me that seems awful hot to be running a trans. i belive the trans that it has is a 4l80e but i'm not sure.

 

[orvpark]

get a real tranny cooler, keep it out of OD and drive it

 

[Lawn Cher']

You have the 4L80E behind the 6.0 liter... I think the older 350 had the 4L60E (not 100% sure on the 3/4 ton application though) and an '88 vintage might even have the 700R4, neither of which are as beefy. I have the 4L80E in my K2500 Suburban behind the 6.5 turbodiesel, 120K miles so far and no problems. You should be just fine, especially with the 4.10 gears. You can tow in OD unless it starts downshifting frequently. This is what heats up a tranny and you should then shift to 3rd. One other nicety that your generation of truck has is disc brakes on the 14 bolt. No (world's heaviest) drums to drop on your foot! Enjoy, just make sure your tires are properly inflated and are the proper load range. When I bought my Sub it had bald passenger car tires on it. I promptly put on LT235/85R16 load range E truck tires and it has been great!

 

[4x4forlife]

Heres my truck. 2001 6.0 2500HD only thing is mine is 4x4. Tows awesome. I have 67,000 miles so far with k&n intake, hypertech power programmer. 3" body lift 32" mud terrains. No major problems yet either. Its towed a lifted xj easy, a 28' enclosed trailer filled with a car and other crap, a 32' dual jeep trailer... all times i have had no problems.

and to let you know that is with 1 year of wheeling it and getting air with it. still runns like a champ.