GMC towing is deceptive

[coachmendave]

I bought a 2013 Tahoe 1500, 5.3 liter engine 6 speed automatic 4x4. GMC rates Occasional towing across town, no hills moderate speed, no stop and go aerodynamic load 8200 pounds. Frequent towing 6500 pounds. The 8200 pound rating is what I call emergency DRAGGING. Shame on you GMC.

[archer75]

Even 6500 is a lot for that SUV. You also have to look at other ratings beyond the tow rating they publish such as payload and tongue weight. That applies to any tow vehicle. You'll find that most half ton trucks can't actually tow the rated limit because they will max out in other areas first.

I bet even at 6500lbs your Tahoe is overloaded in one or more of those other categories. So I wouldn't say it's deceptive. There's just more to look at.
Your trailer is about the same length as mine. And mine dry is 6200lbs. I tow it with a 3/4 ton diesel if that tells you anything. I'd never want to tow that with an SUV.

[cbramsey]

First off, what rear end gearing do you have, 3.08 or 3.42??? If you have the 3.08 gearing, according to http://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam...0eBrochure.pdf (page 13), the trailer weight rating is 5,200 lbs for a 5.3 L equipped Tahoe 4x4.

[tuffr2]

GM, GMC is not the only manufacturer that has bogus tow ratings. They all do it.

Even the RV manufaturer list bogus weights in the other direction.

Combine the two and it is easy to be fooled.

Comfortable camper tow limits for a SUV is around 3,000 - 4,000 lbs. That is how the manufacturer should advertise their how ratings. With a 'Comfotable' level.

2,500 lbs - Very Comfortable
3,000 lbs - Comfortable
5,000 lbs - Not Comfortable
6,000 lbs - White knuckled
6,500 lbs - Really white knuckled

[coachmendave]

It has a miserable 342. The salesman told me it was the best all around gear and 8200 lb towing and EPA of 15 - 22. I can't even get to the 15 downhill. Towing 5700 lb I get 8 MPG, not 12. I wish I had my 2003 back. It was 10 times this one is.

[southernlady]

Our F 150 had an EPA combined 17, city 15, highway 21. BUT when towing our trailer (before moving to a class A), we did great to get 10 downhill while towing.

The EPA mileage does not factor in towing mileage.

[smurfsofwar]

GM is not the only one with deceptive tow ratings. All of them do it. It's all a marketing game to one up each other and sell vehicles.

[Yabbut]

Originally Posted by coachmendave

I bought a 2013 Tahoe 1500, 5.3 liter engine 6 speed automatic 4x4. GMC rates Occasional towing across town, no hills moderate speed, no stop and go aerodynamic load 8200 pounds. Frequent towing 6500 pounds. The 8200 pound rating is what I call emergency DRAGGING. Shame on you GMC.

The 2013 full-size GM SUVs were available with an optional cooling package (HD Cooling Package, RPO K5L). As far as I know, that package includes coolers for the engine and transmission, and is the only difference between the 5,700 lb tow rating and the 8,200 lb tow rating.

The K5L option is not a secret. It's been around for a while, and it's called out right in the owner's manual. If the salesman told you that could normally tow 8,200 lb without the coolers, it was either his ignorance or an outright lie. Either way, it has nothing to do with GMC... it was the salesman who misinformed you.

For my own vehicle purchases, I assume that salesmen know almost nothing about the product, so I do my own research before I set foot in the dealership. For example, when I was buying my most recent truck a couple of years ago, the salesman had never heard of Diesel Exhaust Fluid! Please don't buy a vehicle based on what a salesman tells you.

Luckily, you have the option of adding aftermarket engine and transmission oil coolers, and you should be good to go (for towing 8,200 lb). The rest of the truck is perfectly capable of towing the heavier weight.

[coachmendave]

The actual mileage is 13 to 13.6. Far cry from 22. I find the rating to be Very misleading bordering on a whole lot of smoke and mirrors. This dealership has lost a 15 year customer. Service is bad. Unless the problem has a computer code, forget about it!
Maybe a wind vale on the roof to deflect the wind when pulling the trailer. And like the asst service mngr recommended, a flex dryer hose to get 1 MPG. �� But that would most likely void any warranty. Sorry just extremely frustrated.

[coachmendave]

342 heavy duty everything. I'm tired of the hunting for a gear while losing 15 + mph only to shift 3 times and scream 3500 RPMs Ito get back to the speed limit. And that's without a trailer.

[archer75]

First rule of buying vehicles/trailers: never listen to the salesmen. They don't know much about their products and if they did they'd still lie to get a sale.
You have to do your own research.

[JBurg]

Originally Posted by archer75

First rule of buying vehicles/trailers: never listen to the salesmen. They don't know much about their products and if they did they'd still lie to get a sale.
You have to do your own research.

That's no joke. When I was looking for my truck the salesman was convinced that any of his Cummins powered trucks on the lot could pull 30k. I tried to tell him several times he didn't have a single truck on that lot that was rated for 30,000 and break it down, but he wasn't having it. Started showing me the ram literature (sales brochure in front office) that said "best in class 30K towing." I literally had to walk him through the towing calculator on the website before a fairly weak light bulb started to appear above his head.

[Route 66]

It's been my experience that for decades, all manufacturer's tow ratings have been optimistic.

[cbramsey]

Hopefully, with the formal adoption of SAE J2807 - "Performance Requirements for Determining Tow-Vehicle Gross Combination Weight Rating and Trailer Weight Rating.", it will be possible to make a fairer comparison.

It will be less likely to have "Magic Towing Dust" being applied to every truck on the lot!!!