2017 Sierra

[burider]

I’m considering a Sierra 1500 with the 6.2 max trailering package. Any thoughts on this rig? I tow the 247LSV and a travel trailer coming in around 7,000 lbs.

[carguy79ta]

You are prolly not interested in a dmax..the gasser will get it done. But you will know you have a half ton pulling up a steep ramp. an HD diesel will do it effortlessly.

[JeffK]

I would be more concerned with the 247 pulling YOU down the ramp with a 1500.  It is a scary feeling.  I had a 23 almost pull me off the side of a small community ramp with a yukon denali.  Very frightening. 

[MLBurns]

I use my 6.2 most of the time, it does just fine pulling the 247. On long trips we have always pulled it with the Duramax because it feels so much more stable behind it, plus having 2x the torque is hard to beat. I have never had it drag me down the ramp with the 1500 or the Yukon Denali, but I ALWAYS put it in 4wd before starting down the ramp. 

[RyanB]

Add me to the list of people who have had a 23LSV pull a Yukon XL Denali down the ramp.

The 6.2 in mine did OK towing my boat.  But both my tranny temps and my oil temp were around 250*.  Maybe its the elevation because I don't hear of others with the same issues, even through three local mechanics told me that was what to expect pulling that much weight with a 1500 platform.  Does the truck have better cooling?

Sold my Yukon, and bought a Expedition Max.  Hopefully it does better (I use a DRW diesel as my primary tow vehicle).

[UWSkier]

That truck will do fine with that load for most towing, though if you plan a lot of long haul trips, a 2500 is a better choice.  Remember to always put the truck in 4wd and ensure it's locked in before backing down the ramp.  In 2wd, my 2016 Sierra 1500 will spin both rear tires (Eaton diff) pulling my empty boat trailer up the ramp if I forget 4wd.

[MLBurns]

40 minutes ago, RyanB said:

Add me to the list of people who have had a 23LSV pull a Yukon XL Denali down the ramp.

The 6.2 in mine did OK towing my boat.  But both my tranny temps and my oil temp were around 250*.  Maybe its the elevation because I don't hear of others with the same issues, even through three local mechanics told me that was what to expect pulling that much weight with a 1500 platform.  Does the truck have better cooling?

Sold my Yukon, and bought a Expedition Max.  Hopefully it does better (I use a DRW diesel as my primary tow vehicle).

My 1500 has the 10 speed, it does just fine on temps. Had same problems with Yukon and trans temps on it. They really need stand alone trans cooler on them to haul heavy loads. If you trans fluid goes through the radiator to cool it, your engine coolant suffers for it and trans fluid will never get cooler than radiator temps. Same reason the diesel trucks that run air to water intercoolers will overheat pulling heavy loads in hot temps, it takes longer to cool the water than air takes. So when you get the water hot the air charge never gets cooled down until you remove the heat enough for coolant temps to come down.

[Nitrousbird]

18 hours ago, burider said:

I’m considering a Sierra 1500 with the 6.2 max trailering package. Any thoughts on this rig? I tow the 247LSV and a travel trailer coming in around 7,000 lbs.

Plenty of truck for what you need.  I have a '18 SLT Premium Plus that's about as close to an Denali Ultimate as you can get without being a Denali.  I couldn't find one with the max trailer package (I bought new in late '18), so that will tow even better than my 6.2L.  

No issues with towing a 247.  If I was towing a travel trailer, I would add airbags to mine for certain - the max trailer package has stiffer rear springs so that may be less of a factor.  It also has different (but crappy) shocks, so you may consider replacing those.  The radiator is "upgraded" but really not any different and doesn't perform any better.  It does get 3.42 rear gears instead of the 3.23 gears with the 6.2L, which is a big plus, along with the tow mirrors.

Depending on the price, will make a good tow rig for your needs.  

[JeffK]

You can solve the ramp issues by going with an electric over hydraulic brake conversion.  I planned to do that to mine before I went with the 2500HD truck.

[jjackkrash]

Right around 7K is where I start thinking an HD truck makes more sense than a 1/2 ton, especially with travel trailers that push a lot of air.  Boats tow a lot easier than TT's because they are more aero dynamic.   Its tough to tell what you would be comfortable with, however, as everyone has different levels of white-knuckle tolerance.  I personally know lots of folks who tow 7K TTs with 1/2 tons who don't feel the need to get a bigger truck.  

Edited December 20, 2019 by jjackkrash

[Nitrousbird]

16 minutes ago, MLBurns said:

My 1500 has the 10 speed, it does just fine on temps. Had same problems with Yukon and trans temps on it. They really need stand alone trans cooler on them to haul heavy loads. If you trans fluid goes through the radiator to cool it, your engine coolant suffers for it and trans fluid will never get cooler than radiator temps. Same reason the diesel trucks that run air to water intercoolers will overheat pulling heavy loads in hot temps, it takes longer to cool the water than air takes. So when you get the water hot the air charge never gets cooled down until you remove the heat enough for coolant temps to come down.

Not needed.  Just need to do two things to drastically reduce trans temps on the GEN-V motor setups:

- LT4 thermostat
- Reprogram fans

There have been a number of people that have done extensive hill testing and logging that found ramping the fans early makes a huge difference in temps and keep the temps down, even at uphill freeway speeds.  The lower thermostat is less about keeping the tranny cool and more about allowing the fans to kick in when they really need to and not for them to overdo it.  

[burider]

I’ve been towing both with a Nissan Armada and have never had the white Knuckle feeling. I always use 4wd at the ramp to retrieve. We do have some thoughts on upgrading the TT at some point and the Sierra is good up to about 12k so I was thinking there’s plenty of room for growth.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by burider

[UWSkier]

15 minutes ago, burider said:

I’ve been towing both with a Nissan Armada and have never had the white Knuckle feeling. I always use 4wd at the ramp. We do have some thoughts on upgrading the TT at some point and the Sierra is good up to about 12k so I was thinking there’s plenty of room for growth.

 

 

Unless you run airbags on your Armada, the Sierra will feel better towing thanks to the rear suspension alone.  7k is a lot to tow with a multi-link rear end tuned for passenger comfort as first priority.

[RyanB]

25 minutes ago, burider said:

I’ve been towing both with a Nissan Armada and have never had the white Knuckle feeling. I always use 4wd at the ramp. We do have some thoughts on upgrading the TT at some point and the Sierra is good up to about 12k so I was thinking there’s plenty of room for growth.

 

 

You should really check what your cargo capacity is on the 1500 if you are thinking of upgrading the TT.  The tongue weight on a decent size TT can easily be higher than the cargo capacity of a half ton.

[burider]

2 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Plenty of truck for what you need.  I have a '18 SLT Premium Plus that's about as close to an Denali Ultimate as you can get without being a Denali.  I couldn't find one with the max trailer package (I bought new in late '18), so that will tow even better than my 6.2L.  

No issues with towing a 247.  If I was towing a travel trailer, I would add airbags to mine for certain - the max trailer package has stiffer rear springs so that may be less of a factor.  It also has different (but crappy) shocks, so you may consider replacing those.  The radiator is "upgraded" but really not any different and doesn't perform any better.  It does get 3.42 rear gears instead of the 3.23 gears with the 6.2L, which is a big plus, along with the tow mirrors.

Depending on the price, will make a good tow rig for your needs.  

It seems like the right price, pretty much right in the middle of KBB and pretty well optioned. The big tow mirrors, 3.42 and 6.2 put me right where I want to be. Extra capacity without overkill. It’s an SLT and I really can find an option other than cooled seats I would that it’s missing. Any must have options?

[jjackkrash]

I will say the 2019 and newer GM 1/2 tons are creeping into what used to be 3/4 ton towing capability.  The frames are longer and the steel is stonger than before and they look pretty stout on paper.  

Edited December 21, 2019 by jjackkrash

[Nitrousbird]

3 hours ago, burider said:

It seems like the right price, pretty much right in the middle of KBB and pretty well optioned. The big tow mirrors, 3.42 and 6.2 put me right where I want to be. Extra capacity without overkill. It’s an SLT and I really can find an option other than cooled seats I would that it’s missing. Any must have options?

If you are missing cooled seats, it is missing several options.  Split bench or buckets?  Lane keep assist.  Front and rear parking distance control.  Sunroof (freaking $1000 option), navigation (useless), Bose, sliding rear window, wireless charger.  LED lights is missing for certain, which are a big improvement.  

I don't have my build spreadsheet and am on vacation, so I can recall exactly what gets mixed with what.  Some can be had as individual options (I saw a lot of dealers order Premium trucks with the bucket option to get buckets without paying for Premium Plus).

As for price, what are they asking?  Mine is a SLT Crew Cab, short bed, 4WD, Premium Plus (about a 6k option), sunroof, paint option (quicksilver metallic), Z71, 6.2, all weather floor liners and was $44,055 out the is a door plus tax when I bought it new 14 months ago.

I then added a Denali gauge cluster (must have upgrade, really classes up the interior) and "Denali" 22" wheels (mine were take-off's from a High Country).

Edited December 21, 2019 by Nitrousbird

[Nitrousbird]

2 hours ago, jjackkrash said:

I will say the 2019 and newer GM 1/2 tons are creeping into what used to be 3/4 ton towing capability.  The frames are longer and the steel is stonger than before and they look pretty stout on paper.  

By 2019 and newer (T1) 1500's, you really mean 2014 - 2018 (K2) trucks, since they have pretty much the same tow capacity.

[burider]

9 minutes ago, Nitrousbird said:

If you are missing cooled seats, it is missing several options.  Split bench or buckets?  Lane keep assist.  Front and rear parking distance control.  Sunroof (freaking $1000 option), navigation (useless), Bose, sliding rear window, wireless charger.  LED lights is missing for certain, which are a big improvement.  

I don't have my build spreadsheet and am on vacation, so I can recall exactly what gets mixed with what.  Some can be had as individual options (I saw a lot of dealers order Premium trucks with the bucket option to get buckets without paying for Premium Plus).

It has buckets, front and rear parking assist, Bose, power sliding rear window, wireless charger. Not sure on the LEDs will check that out tmrw.

 

[burider]

3 hours ago, RyanB said:

You should really check what your cargo capacity is on the 1500 if you are thinking of upgrading the TT.  The tongue weight on a decent size TT can easily be higher than the cargo capacity of a half ton

I’ve got a pretty good spreadsheet that I use to calc tongue weight, gvwr, etc. for loading my current rig. I’ll be sure to check what the upper limits are with this truck.

[Nitrousbird]

Just now, burider said:

It has buckets, front and rear parking assist, Bose, power sliding rear window, wireless charger. Not sure on the LEDs will check that out tmrw.

Can't have LED"s without cooled seats, as they were never offered as an individual option.  Had to have either a Denali, Premium Plus SLT or whatever the top Premium was for the All Terrain.  Same as it can't have lane keep assist.

[UWSkier]

12 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Can't have LED"s without cooled seats, as they were never offered as an individual option.  Had to have either a Denali, Premium Plus SLT or whatever the top Premium was for the All Terrain.  Same as it can't have lane keep assist.

That was true for the previous gen but not sure if that is the case with the new design. 

[Nitrousbird]

13 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

That was true for the previous gen but not sure if that is the case with the new design. 

Hence why this whole discussion is K2 trucks.

[MLBurns]

18 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Not needed.  Just need to do two things to drastically reduce trans temps on the GEN-V motor setups:

- LT4 thermostat
- Reprogram fans

There have been a number of people that have done extensive hill testing and logging that found ramping the fans early makes a huge difference in temps and keep the temps down, even at uphill freeway speeds.  The lower thermostat is less about keeping the tranny cool and more about allowing the fans to kick in when they really need to and not for them to overdo it.  

I guess I should have clarified better. I only had problems with the trans temps, not the engine coolant. I was seeing trans temps outrun the engine coolant so I would have to slow down to let the transmission cool back down before it started to raise coolant temps. This is why I don't agree on relying on one cooling system to cool another. If you have a transmission slipping and it caused engine coolant to heat up how can you know to downshift a gear or slow down to help the problem? Most people will just think their engine is working too hard or they have a coolant problem. When I was a mechanic we saw this all too often on the older motorhomes especially when they were towing something behind it. They would come in for overheating problems and when we checked the transmission fluid it was burned or starting to burn. Trans rebuild and external cooler and they were on their way down the road.

[jjackkrash]

14 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

By 2019 and newer (T1) 1500's, you really mean 2014 - 2018 (K2) trucks, since they have pretty much the same tow capacity.

I meant what I said, which should not be read as a knock against the 18s, other than to note the 19s do seem like an improved tow truck.   I don't generally keep up on the 1/2 tons, but my dad is looking at slightly used 18s versus new 19s on closeout right now and I have been looking at some of the differences in these model years and doing some 1/2 ton shopping with him.  From what I have read GM cut about 350-450 lbs. out of the 19s, while at the same time making the vehicle bigger and wider and longer with a longer wheel base.  The weight savings combined with frame improvements resulted in about a 15% increase in payload capacity.  Depending on the trailer and how it is loaded, most 1/2 tons run out of payload capacity well before they hit the rated tow capacity.  These seem like fairly substantial towing-related improvements over the 18s.  I don't have much seat time other than a few test drives, but these trucks seem more substantial than some of the previous 1/2 tons I have driven.  

Summary:  I was pretty impressed with the 19s I have looked at with my dad.