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Trailer Towing

I have a 97 Sport 4 wheel dr 4.0 SOHC which is in exelent condition with 87,00 miles on it. There has never been any major repairs except AC work
($950).

I have a 16' travel trailer that I have always towed with my 88 Silverado. I am going to sell the pickup and am thinking about putting a receiver hitch with equalizer and sway bars on Ex and towing with it. The trailer empty weight is a little less than 1000 pounds so with everything it takes to go camping I would guess weight would be around 1300 pounds.

I think I would have plenty of power and don't think the Ex would have any problems towing the trailer. What I am concerned with is the extra strain and wear on Tranny. I realize an Auto Tranny does not last forever and am wondering how much actual extra strain and wear I will be creating and how much sooner I will be needing Tranny overhaul. Towing miles would be about 2000 per year with a total of maybe 15,000. Also what is the average milage life of this Tranny? Have I already past it?

Thanks Art
 



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My 2000 XLT is rated to safely pull around 4000 lbs. with a hitch installed. I believe 1300 would be no problem pulling a travel trailor. But be safe check your manual.

David
 






1300 should be no problem. Follow the instructions in the manual on keeping the overdrive off, and since it gets hot in NV, maybe think about adding another tranny cooler.
 






Think of the trans cooler (aftermarket one in addition to the factory) and a trans temp gauge as: (Must have) INSURANCE

I don't KNOW............but, check if your breaks are up to the job. The factory manual may give you a clue.

Aloha, Mark
 






u should be fine with sucha small load compared to what u can pull acording to your manual.
 












Wow you live in Nevada the a/c unit on top of your rig has got to be 1300lbs alone, or the thing has nothing on the inside.
 






I thought the same thing........about a travel trailer being only 1300# fully loaded. I think those "tear drop trailers" go to about that weight.

Maybe it's a pop-up.....like the Coleman types?? Then again a 16' Coleman?? I don't think so.

Aloha, Mark
 












Yup....maybe a travel tent trailer??? But, not 16 foot???

Aloha, Mark
 






No it is not a tent trailer,not a pop up, and not tear drop. It is a standard trailer design with four walls and roof. It is a low profile design. The overall highth is about 7'6". Dropped center section inside has about 6'3" head clearance. Has bench seats with tables that make down into beds on each end. Floor to ground is about a 12" step down. Has no roof A/C. No refer or toilet or holding tank. Had ice box that did not keep ice very good so I removed it and installed a slide out with a Portapotty and made a cabinet door for it. Three burner cook top no oven. Certainly none of the comforts of home. Have learned how to take a fairly decent spit bath. It is perfect for me as most my camping/fishing is in very primative areas at Lake Mead and I can get into pretty tight places with it

I have the NVDMV registration right here in front of me and it says make is 1971 Aristocrat 16' single axle unladen weight 900 pounds so with a full propane bottles and rest of camping gear would guess to be about 1300 pounds or less total weight.

My camping season runs from mid September to first of June. Summer is just to hot.

Have thought about extra Tranny cooler but did not know about add on Tranny temp guage. Have to look into that.

Am fairly sure there would be no problems with towing and handleing with the Ex. What I was concerned about is extra wear and strain on this automatic o/d tranny with 87,000 miles on it. And wonder what the average mileage life of this Tranny is before rebuild.

Dang it looks like I wrote a book. Sorry about that.

Thanks---Art
 


















You'll be fine, my boat is a little over 4,000 LBS and my Ex. does just fine now that I have a tranny cooler. :)
 






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