Bumper vs. receiver hitch

Masonrules · Post by **Masonrules** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 12:10 pm

Hey all! I'm new to the site and this is my 1st post. I'll officially join the site when that is an option again.

I bought an '01 S-10 crew a couple months ago and REALLY like it!

I will occasionally tow a fish/ski boat, maybe 3 times/year, so was planning to get a receiver hitch for the truck. I noticed there are actually safety chain hooks on the truck's bumper so I did some looking in the owner's manual. The book says that loads of up to 3,500 lbs. and 350 lbs. tongue weight can be towed with the bumper.

I was just curious if anybody out there is towing loads like this with their stock bumper? Thanks!

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 12:34 pm

Mason, on behalf of everyone here, let me be the first to welcome you to the site!!!! feel free to post any questions, anytime.

so congrats on your new truck. i want a 02 or newer cuz of the egr and cuz of the cd and cassestte in the dash. anywho,

about your ?

tow with your bumper and spend the 150 that you will save to buy a good wake board

no really, to tow and average boat, like up 25', your bumper is fine. what you cant see is the steel that runs thru the bottom of your bumper. its a tough one. i personally seen an s-10 bumper pull a 22' 4000 lbs sail boat out of the water and all around town with no problems.

i only have a hitch cuz i was towing another car on a trailer. before that i used the bumper to tow boats or what not. the boat i was towing was a 23' deep v bottom with the 454 in board out board. i had no problems.

hope that helps

quickbiker · Post by **quickbiker** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 3:41 pm

Yea, the rear bumber is very strong on our trucks.

Hobbie, what da deal with the egr??? And mine is an 01 and I got cassette and CD. I only ordered it with CD, but when I picked it up, it had the cassette also, I didn't pay for the option. I think I've used it once or twice so far, so it's a waste of space for me. LOL

I just need an 8 track player.

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 4:15 pm

quickbiker wrote:I just need an 8 track player.

Why not throw a turntable in there too just to be on the safe side.

anvil · Post by **anvil** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 5:47 pm

I'd rather get the reciever, so I won't scratch my painted bumper

Conman · Post by **Conman** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 7:23 pm

anvil wrote:I'd rather get the reciever, so I won't scratch my painted bumper

Plus if you pull a short/tall trailer, you can get a receiver that's the correct height, unlike the bumper ball which is only at one height. If you tow alot, I would recommend a hitch and get a receiver that matches the trailer you tow.

Cheers,

Con

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 7:42 pm

get the rollpan, the hidden hitch and flip up license plate to make it look sporty

no full size spare though

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 9:00 pm

well, if you pull all the time,eventually you will damage that roll pan when you back into it. just be careful if you go that route

the s-10 doesnt sit high at all, so i dont think height is a problem. the receiver hitch is lower than the bumper, and most trailers i tow need more tongue height so i dont drag it on the ground when going up a hill or something.

and 02's dont have an egr. plain and simple. so they have more power and better gas mileage.

and in the 02's the cassete is in the dash, not the floor like the 01's

Black03ZR5 · Post by **Black03ZR5** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 4:19 am

So you guys are saying are trucks can handle the bigger boats. I know my boat is within the tow rating but can the truck handle it is my question? Will it have enough power to get it out of the water.

Here is my boat: http://larsonboats.com/escape/0050234io.htm

With trailer and gas I am pushing close to 5,000Lbs. The only problem is coming out of the water almost all landings are on a decent incline will the truck have enough power?

Thanks,

Dave

SlickDaddy · Post by **SlickDaddy** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 9:18 am

If you are really that worried about pulling your boat out of the water, why dont you just drop it in 4LO. As long as you go slow and dont turn too much you should be fine, and I really doubt youll get any wheel spin in 4LO just keep it slow and straight.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 10:36 am

yeah, well mabey a hitch then. that is a pretty big boat.

and about coming out of the water. power isnt the problem, you could use the 2.2 4cylnder. gears and traction is the problem.

either put it in 1st in 2wd. or if its wet or whatever, after you back in, drop down into 4-lo and 1st, then slowly come out straight, DO NOT TURN, and after you are out, then go back into 2wd.

you do know how to go to 4-lo right?

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 1:38 pm

AZS10Crew wrote:
quickbiker wrote:I just need an 8 track player.

Why not throw a turntable in there too just to be on the safe side.

Hey, I have an old Victrola you can throw in there if you want.

Conman · Post by **Conman** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 2:59 pm

a2b wrote:well, if you pull all the time,eventually you will damage that roll pan when you back into it. just be careful if you go that route

the s-10 doesnt sit high at all, so i dont think height is a problem. the receiver hitch is lower than the bumper, and most trailers i tow need more tongue height so i dont drag it on the ground when going up a hill or something.

and 02's dont have an egr. plain and simple. so they have more power and better gas mileage.

and in the 02's the cassete is in the dash, not the floor like the 01's

I think the 02 still have the cassete in the floor, the 03s have it in the dash. I don't have a cassete as I got the indash changer instead.

Con

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 5:46 pm

well i am sure its just one of those things. john has an 02 and he has the different head unit. its black with cd and cassette right in the dash. but i bet some 02's have it on the floor as well

anvil · Post by **anvil** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 5:48 pm

I have a late 2002 Crew, and I have a cassette, and CD player all in the same radio, in the dash.

From what I read, at the end of the 2002 truck season, the General started putting in upgraded radios.

I also have two lighted vanity mirrors ( I don't know if that was not available prior though)

I know my color, Flame Yellow, was not available until late in the 02 model year.

24digger · Post by **24digger** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 7:28 pm

I ordered my yellow in early april and got it around end of may, mine has the cd and cassette in one unit. I could have ordered around march, so they were available fairly early.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 8:51 pm

I towed a 2500 lb camper and all the things a small family needs and had to get weight equalizer bars to tow level. Therefore I required a 2 inch reciever. I would recomend the reciever because of the many options in height and types of ball mounts.

Brad

P.S 02 crew and jayco pop-up(2500), firewood,drinking water,coolers, two montainbikes,etc,etc. Raced tractor trailers up hills an eastern Kentucky. 4.3 kicks ass(K&N and Tornado)

quickbiker · Post by **quickbiker** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 9:53 pm

a2b wrote:and 02's dont have an egr. plain and simple. so they have more power and better gas mileage.

Is there an easy mod that can be done to the 01's? Is it that much difference?

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 10:37 pm

quickbiker wrote:a2b wrote:

and 02's dont have an egr. plain and simple. so they have more power and better gas mileage.

Is there an easy mod that can be done to the 01's? Is it that much difference?

Yes, the EGR limiter & CFM throttle blade. As for how much difference..well a little...mostly in throttle response. I did it for the life of the engine and cleaner intake manifold.

And as I have heard , the 2002's do still have the EGR system . It has been relocated in the manifold, some thing similar to the old 2.8L system using a passage in the head.