Just got back from fishing vaction the 4.3 sucks @ towing!

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 8:41 pm

I just returned from a fishing vaction . I was towing a 1100lbs. trailer behind me . And I could not get that thing above 45mph on a average hill in the mountains . The tranny was downshifting if I put my foot to the floor but it would take for ever to go any faster . I even tried driving in "3" instead of "D" . I have 3.73 gears too .
I did manage 17MPG for the trip . 90% highway 10%city .
But after it is all said and done , towing power/ convenience is nothing compared to a Fullsize . Maybe its just my blazer , But I am seriously considering buying a 2000 Ram V8 1500 4x4 . I thought I just had to share my first towing experience with the 4.3l and would like your thoughts. Should I expect this kind of performance ?

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:49 am

Cummins Turbo Diesel

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 2:48 am

Towing in "D" or overdrive is strongly discouraged

There could be a lot of things creating your problems. Loss of power can be attributed to things like partially clogged exhaust, fuel filter, in need of a tune up, the weight inside your blazer, the altitude. I guess you get the idea

I have towed over 2,000 lbs in the hills here is SE KY and had no problem maintaining 65 mph but, they may not be as steep as the hills you were on.

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 3:19 am

it's pretty flat here in jersey but I have no trouble at all pulling my 4000 lbs boat at highway speeds.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 4:06 am

Time to wake up that 4.3L?

Tune-up first is a good idea, followed by Airbox mod and exhaust. Then HPPIII for the transmission enhancements.

17 mpg pulling is not so bad. Few fullsize will do the same or better. Every vehicle has it's problems. The Dodges are not the best choice for towing. Their transmissions REALLY need the transmission cooler. Did you know that the Chrysler transmissions do not circulate transmission fluid to the cooler while in park. People put them in park to cool down or idle them and just cook the transmissions. When checking the transmission fluid on a Dodge you must have the trans in neutral so that the fluid circulates to the cooler. If you check it in park , the fluid from the cooler drains back to the pan giving a falsely high reading. Many are checking in park and running them dangerously low on fluid. There are lots of Chrysler transmission problems.
I wouldn't go there on a bet

So I guess the moral of the story here is ... if you think things are bad now they can always be worse

If you think yours pulls bad now, don't ever find that way to go to 33's without a regear.

04revx · Post by **04revx** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:09 am

I towe my 2 place enclosed snowmobile trailer with two sleds in it no problem, and I have 3.43 gears. Ya its kind of a dog in the hills but why would you want to go fast through hills while towing?

coffeedrnkr · Post by **coffeedrnkr** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:24 am

ahahahhahaha,

I towed my friends 17 foot steel floor lawnmower trailer loaded with 3 big lawnmowers. We had to put a hi-lift jack under the tounge of the trailer and jack it up in order for it to even reach the ball. It was hillarious looking, the back of the trailer was only like 6 inches off the ground.

Mine seemed to be having a problem with hills too, I kept it out of D but at low speeds up some pretty good hills in neighborhoods and stuff it was working pretty hard.

jeggers · Post by **jeggers** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:30 am

i wrote:Ok i bought a travle trailer last week and loaded its about 4500 to 5000 lbs. took it to wisconsin on friday and got about 7mpg. would a blower help much. the truck could realy use some more power. oh, and a silerado is not in the budget.

jeff024 wrote:gears gears and more gears

rusty wrote:Supercharger = $4400.
Turbo = $6000.
V8 swap = somewhere between the two, depending on what you do.

Any large boost in horsepower is almost sure to require a lot of other mods to support the increased power if you want everything to last (HJ, help me out here!). Seems to me you will quickly outspend what upgrading to a reasonably equipped Silverado is going to cost, considering the current "employee discount" prices I've seen.

Personally though, I'd hate to see another CC owner leave us! We've lost too many as it is.

you wrote: really don't know much about this subject . But i believe that you would have to use High oct. pump gas with those FI units , and they don't really help milliage , just power .
I think gearing maybe a solution , and possibly a programer , and free up the flow of air ( exhaust/ induction etc .)
Try and make the engine more efficient .

bwenny247 wrote:$3000 with free shipping
it says it's only applicable up to '02 but i don't know why it wouldn't work on your truck.
i've thought about this option too, the only question i have is how much extra boost will a supercharger deliver at low RPM range while travelling freeway or highway?????? i know at high RPM's you'll make 35-50% more power.......
anyone have any thoughts, another thing to consider is you are towing a 4000-5000 pound object and the 4.3's aren't known to make good gas millage anyways......might just be the nature of the beast under heavy load.
do you have the 3.73 gears or 3.42?

hey, i'm in the "elite" club now yeah!

and so on ans so forth. modds away

fixed?-HJ

top_sgt · Post by **top_sgt** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:46 am

would not consider a dodge for much of anything other than target practice!!!! drove them in the guard,,,,, they sucked.... we had old jeep pickups that out pulled the dodges all the time!!!!

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:00 am

Oooh! Oooh! This topic reminds me of a GREAT story! I was doing some work with my father in law and we drove his Ford Ranger with my trailer in tow. My trailer is 1500 pounds, empty. On the way home, we ran into construction so we decided to take a back road. The road was VERY steep! It took EVERYTHING that the Ranger had to pull the trailer up the hill! Next day, I hooked my CC up to the trailer & went up that same road just for kicks. I had NO PROBLEM at all!!

Poor widdle Ford!!!

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:04 am

Well , yes my truck is in need of a tune up , and there is "blowback" coming outa the dipstick oil tube when i check the oil . I know that I may get better mpg with a 4.3l engine , but some of the hills in the rocky's around here are like 30-40mins drive up ! and when you have 3 summits to climb @ 40mph it gets to be a pain .
Dodges were not my first choice , but after looking at chevys and fords , it is the only fullsize that I can afford , that also has a SFA . and chevy doesn't even offer a SFA model . Any transmission that does pulling , heavy and often should have a tranny cooler . Us being Chevy guys will only notice the bad things about another rival brand and those bad things will stick in our minds . Over looking the fact that many other brands have there problems , including S10's ( weak front ends etc ) I am just trying to be open .
If you had to , what fullsize or other truck would you drive besides a Chevrolet/GMC ?

quickbiker · Post by **quickbiker** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:48 am

Gee, you got some'm wrong with your truck. I've hauled the bigest uhaul trailer with it loaded and I did fine, better than expected. And that was on the PA turnpike. If you've ever travelled that road, ya know that ain't bad. Was able to do any speed. That was with 31's and 3.73's. I got the HPPII, so maybe that helped.

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:51 am

a chevy with a cummins geared with an Allision tranny that would be the way to go but you wont ever find that combo

JimmyDiamond · Post by **JimmyDiamond** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:01 pm

I agree with the other posts that something is wrong with your truck. My Jimmy is the doggiest 4.3 I've ever owned. My 2001 Blazer and 2002 S-10 both with 4.3s run much better.

I've got a utility trailer I use all the time. It weighs 1100lbs empty according to the title. When towing it empty I can tell it's there but it doesn't slow me down much. I really, really wish I had 3.73s instead of the 3.42s.

Just a couple weeks ago I hauled 3.5 tons of rock (in 2 trips) on my trailer and the Jimmy did just fine even in 100+ heat with the A/C on. I'm sure my mileage was terrible but I could accelerate from a stop and stay up with traffic just fine.

Here's a picture of the trailer hauling more bushes this spring.

Steve

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:06 pm

well there is something wrong , but I just don't know what . yet . I just broke down on the side of the road 2 hours ago , The battery was dead . So I am goin to go and get it checked out , and see why it won't stay charged .
I figure it needs a tune up , but the blow back( steam/white smoke stuff ) coming back up through the Oil dipstick tube , does not make me happy .
I have spent about $5000 in repairs on this truck since i bought it with 85000kms on it 2.5yrs ago . And it seems that every 2-3mos. something else goes wrong with it . It is very frustrating to keep a truck that treats you so bad , but have put so much money into . I let you know how it goes .

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:41 pm

before you are for sure something is wrong. first, take it off D. tow in 3rd. by your post i am surprised you didnt burn out your OD gear. you were confusing the heck out ouf your computer as its trying to decide what gear to be in. if you would of towed that thing in 3, it would of made a big difference. also, going up hill, dont expect too much anyways. the crewcab is a heavy truck to boot. also, check to see if your tires are aired up all the way when towing.

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:17 pm

I tryed it in 3 , and did not notice any difference except the rpms were higher . And my tires were inflated to the max pressure . I don't expect much because my blazer is heavy . But the 4.3 can compare to some small v8's and I was just disapointed . I guess I just got a bad Chevy . one outa millions .

JimmyDiamond · Post by **JimmyDiamond** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:40 pm

It could be the 4.3 is just tired. You know a 350 drops in pretty easily!

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:14 pm

I think it is tired too , it was a lease return and was probably driven into the ground before i got it . Oh well you learn form your mistakes i guess . even though this one cost me a lot of $$$$$$ .

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:54 am

Have you tried Seafoaming the engine? Both the oil before your next change, and the intake/valves/pistons by drawing 8-10 ounces through the brake booster vacuum line.
I would do that and then give the fuel a good fuel treatment/cleaner , invest in a set of plugs, wires, a good cap and rotor, and replace the fuel filter.
You should be out somewhere around $150 total.

It is worth a shot.

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:58 pm

Thanks for all the advice everyone . I will be doing a full tune up , air box mod , and maybe a high flow muffler in the next couple months . My engine only has 86000 Miles on it so I don't think it is complete junk yet . If you don't mind I would like to post pics of the problems I find when doing this . Just because i have never done it before and would like your opions . Thanks for your help again . I almost traded it in for a 93 Silverado 5.7L with 140000miles on it today . But I am rethinking that idea . I really like my blazer it just costed me way to much in repairs and it is frustrating . I keep ya posted on my improvements.

JimmyDiamond · Post by **JimmyDiamond** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:36 am

I've learned with buying used S-series that you better be prepared to dump some money in up front. My 2001 Blazer and 2002 S-10 were both bought new but I bought my current 2000 Jimmy used. It had 65k on it and in the first 2 months I had already dumped over $2k in it. I've continued to put money into it here and there but it runs great and I can drive it hard and fast and it never hiccups.

I'd really love to do a V8 swap or maybe even rebuild the current motor and try to get some performance out of it but $$$$$ are holding me back right now.

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:44 am

Oh ! believe me . I understand what your sayin' . In 2.5yrs I have put about $5000 in repairs into this blazer . Tranny , 4wd computer ,4wd solenoid , Motor Mounts , Idler&Pitman arm , Water pump , Door Hinges , and a couple times for rattles and squeeks . All of it not covered by warranty .