GMC 5.3 w/6 speed and 4 sleds

[boondocker1]

Just got back from Island Park, 2170 miles round trip (minnesota to idaho). pulled a 3 place open trailer with sled in the box. 4 people in the cab, gear bags crammed everywhere in the box and on the trailer. Was a little worried before the trip as this is the first 1/2 on i have ever taken out west.

Anyway, i Averaged 10.1 mpg for the whole trip....truck pulled great, surpassed my expectations.

 

[boondocker1]

the sleds being hauled are 2-2012 800 155 rmks and 2-2012 600 rmks for reference

 

[maddog21]

what year is your truck

 

[boondocker1]

2009 GMC sierra crew z71

 

[revrider07]

Pull those covers off the sleds and gain 1 to 2 mpgs. Thats good mpgs I used to pull with a dodge diesel went to a gas and not looking back not much differnce in mpgs on gas to diesel anymore.

 

[diggler]

curious if a similar pickup would pull a 7x23 enclosed? looking at selling my duramax and 27x8.5

 

[AndrettiDog]

I had a 2005 5.3 and loved that truck. My only complaint was the tranny. I was always looking for a gear. The difference maker is that 6 spd tranny. I wouldn't want to haul a four place enclosed all winter with it but I'm sure it could. Just a lot of tongue load. Glad your truck tugged good for you.

 

[clarson80]

I hear a lot of "you need a 3/4 ton diesel etc." on here. but that is decent mileage no matter what you're pulling with.

how did that 1/2 ton do with any cross winds?

We just go back from Cooke last week (from ND)and we pulled a 7x29 enclosed (4 proclimb 162's) with my '07 6.7 cummins (full deletes)....granted we drove 80 mph up and down every hill in OD....we still only averaged roughly 12 mpg.

A lot of a guys fail to mention that no matter how many HP/TQ you have, gas or diesel, as soon as pull a trailer, mpg goes down.

double digit mpg pulling any number of sleds with any pickup is darn good IMO.

 

[Mafesto]

Just got back from WY and there was a 1/2 Ton supercrew with a 7x27 alum trailer in the group.
They did fine on the way there....nice conditions.
They were hating life coming home in the wind & slick roads, down to 25 mph at times.
We were pulling a steel 7x29 with a srw 1 ton & were down to 40 mph a few times.

Point is anything works under ideal conditions, but it's nice to have some truck under you when weather turns to crap.

 

[midwestmountain1]

3 place trailers are bad IMO. We were able to get 12-13mpg with a 4 place w/ 4 sleds and only around 10 w/ 3place. The one sled turned backwards is a killer.
This was on a gas 1500 Chevy

 

[boondocker1]

Only had mild cross winds in eastern North dakota but had a straight head on wind most of the rest of the way out there. Actually when we got to our cabin my AVG MPG was down to 8.6. The trip home is what brought the AVG WAY up!.

For Reference I pulled a 4 place open with 3 sleds on it last year with my old GMC 6.0 1500hd....whole trip i avereaged 8.2MPG. Sleds were covered like this...box full of gear under a toneau cover and even gear crammed on the trailer. I thought the 4 place pulled mnuch harder than the setup i ran this year.

Oh, In the summer I pull a 30' travel trailer around. My new 1/2 ton and old 1500hd with a 6.0 both get about 8mpg pulling that thing around.

Point being is that so far this 1/2 ton has Exceeded my expectations.

 

[silver 002]

Boondocker,

I appreciate the post as I am considering to switch to a gas half-ton. I may have missed it, but do you have any air bags installed or just stock springs/ shocks?

 

[thackdaddy]

I have the same 09 5.3L with the 6 speed. It is the only way to go if you want a 5.3. The new 6 speed makes a world of difference. I pull an enclosed 4place (about 6K) all the time. I live in SLC and have to go over 3 canyons to get to the riding, have no problems. I had an 02 dmax before that pulled like a beast. I am a little slower up the hills now, 60-65 mpg instead of 70-75, but I couldn't justify the extra 15K and more expensive gas to get to the parking lot 5 min earlier. Love my truck and have never looked back!

 

[GoBigParts]

I towed this 27' inside inline back from wyoming with our 2009 Suburban 1/2 ton 5.4L we got about 12mpg on the way back. Power wise no problem. Very impressed. With four sleds, all of our gear and 4 guys you could fee the trailer on the back of the truck. When passing semi rigs you got some sway. One thing I did was added air bags to the back of the truck. That helped out a lot. The suburban has coils in the rear so the air bags go in the coils. LIke I said helped a lot but still feel the trailer more behind the suburban than my 06 Chevy Crew 2500 Duramax LBZ. That truck doesn't even know the trailers there.