Upgrades for 7500ish# travel trailer

[blackhawk17]

Ok, so I know that this question has been answered many times over, because I have come across others that have asked the same question. BUT, I want what I want and don't want to drudge through a million posts gleaning info if I can get it easier. So here goes:

92 Z71 extended cab.,5.7, F44, 3.73 gears, 14 SF, 245,000 miles. Good mechanical condition. Daily driver.

2016 Grand Design 2800BH TT. 32', GVW 7700#. Loaded tongue weight is around 1000#. Currently towed with '05 Tahoe 5.3 and is relatively sufficient with a couple of simple mods, intake and exhaust- for now. Haven't gone to the mountains yet. Pretty sure it wouldn't work out so well.

Goal: Use the '92 for towing across country & still as my daily driver.

Economy is not so much of a concern. I currently get 12-13 mpg with 33" tires so that already sucks. Obviously I'll need to go back to stock tires first before anything else. 4.10 gears may be most bang for buck, but that's why I'm here. It is 4wd of course.

Having towed with the Tahoe and knowing how that pulls, and knowing that it has around 330 lb ft. of torque, and stock the 92 has 300. Achieving 400 lb ft. is my ideal goal. It will never be a turbo diesel and I know that, and the economy will always suck towing, but I'll still have the truck I want and I still won't have a truck payment.

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[brutpwr]

I've towed around that weight and more many times many moons ago with a very similar truck. I'd recommend 265/75-16 tires or similar height teamed up with a set of 4:56 gears. Don't plan on towing in overdrive and go slow on long 6% downgrades or risk warp warping your rotors. Also get the most the best shocks you can afford. Exhaust mods would be a good idea too.

 

[Biggershaft96]

Itll do it but i would start saving for a built tranny if you plan on doing it often. 700r4/4l60/4l60e transmissions have a pretty bad wrap when it comes to towing. Aux trans cooler and a trans temp gauge to keep an eye on temps will help but theyre still gonna be the weak link especially if you plan on pushing 400ft lb.

 

[blackhawk17]

I'm wondering if I should look for a 6.0 with 4L80e to swap in. Not sure if I could get what I'm looking for with the TBI 350, not to mention the 4L60.

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[Biggershaft96]

Itll do it. Ive hauled heavier with my half ton but not across country and where i live its pretty flat. The tbi 350 is a good motor and will do what you want stock but the 4l60e wont. In the long run it would be cheaper to ls swap because you can get the engine and tranny together for cheaper than a built 4l60e.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Trailer brakes, exhaust, trans cooler, stock sized tires, go towing.

Is it optimal? no, it's near the limit of the truck, but as long as you keep it out of OD in the hills, and are patient, you won't have any trouble I don't think.

Now, if you want to be swerving lanes and running 80 mph up a 8% grade, you'll want a diesel.

 

[Blazer Eagle]

I would recommend a transmission temp gauge and external cooler - as well as some of these
http://timbren.com/timbren-ses/

Not necessarily that brand, but the rubber springs make a huge difference when towing and don't change your ride when unloaded

 

[flenniken7]

With the 1000 lbs tongue weight 1st thing I would start with is an add a leaf / overload spring of some sort and some good shocks. That and a good tune up to make sure everything else is tip top. towing will find the weak points for you, you just have to keep you eyes open, and constantly check for sings of potential failure, and adjust accordingly.

When I towing long distance, I make it a habit to take an extra few minutes to do a good walk around looking for any new leaks / problems at every stop.

Before I traded it I had a Vortecmax with the 6.0 so if and when my 350 goes out, I plan on trying to swap in a 6.0 and a 6l80

 

[90halfton]

Tune up and run it. Gears would be as far as I would go. Spend too much on swapping stuff and you could have bought a bigger truck that would pull it in stock form without breaking stuff.

 

[beardeddummy]

I would do long tubes, full exhaust, tune and first time out adjust the distributor as advanced as I could without pinging with the load. If your pinging with 87 octane run 91-93. Good shock and or add a leaf. Good tires make a huge difference in handling I won't run anything less than E. You'd be surprised the extra up that old Tbi will actually probably fell better than a lot of vortecs under a load