I have a 2000 Suburban that we bought to pull the boat for the summer. It is a 1/2 ton 4x4 with the 5.3 liter motor. When we are pulling the boat and have a few people in the truck (usually 4 adults and 1 three year old) and approach a hill it struggles a bit to climb it. There is one in particular on the way to marina that gives it trouble. Last weekend we approached it and I had the pedal to the floor and it never went into passing gear. The truck lost about 5 miles per hour from the bottom to the top. The boat isn't huge (22 foot Bennington Pontoon). I thought that it would pull it with no problem. Any suggestions????

 

tow haul mode might help. maybe dropping the transmission in the gear you want manually. also get a custom tune, it will help some.

 

what grade of hill are we talking about?.....sometimes takeing your foot off the pedal and then going back into it will kick it into passing gear

 

Yeah I am using the tow haul mode and it is working on flat ground (it holds the shift a little longer). The incline isn't that steep really, it's on a major interstate I-85 in South Carolina where it goes over the start of lake Hartwell. I am going to try the "foot off and then back in it" thing to see. I should have gotten at least a 6.0, I think, to pull like I want to. I have a 6.0 in my work truck and I have pulled the boat to get serviced with it and it pulls it without a problem (it also has a 4.10 gear versus the 3.42 in the Burban). I may be looking for a 2500 Suburban - hopefully with an 8.1.

 

My dad had an 8.1 and he loved it! He said he could pull his 30' travel trailer (6500lbs) at 80 and not even feel it. Thats probably what you want.

 

Yeah they are just hard to find for some reason. If anyone knows where I can find a decent one let me know. I do not want any northern trucks that have rust. It seems like all the ones I find that I like are in California...they must have sold more there or something. I don't want to travel that far though.

 

Just change ethe gears in the rear end to atleast a 373. That is what I have and it tows fine. And a tune!
My buddy's 01 Chevy Silverado has the 342s and complains about towing all teh time. He has a 373 complete rear end to instal, but time is the big problem at this point.