Help – Towing / Transmission Question…

4Gas$

4Gas$

Club Member
Help – Towing / Transmission Question…

I have a 2013 police package Tahoe 2wd pursuit SUV (82,000
miles). These do not come from the factory with a trailer hitch,
they are not rated for towing and do not have the towing
package. There is no "Tow Haul Mode” button on the gear
shifter like every other Tahoe.

I’ve added a factory tow hitch / bumper. My question is, can this
truck safely tow a 1,300 pound trailer, and a 3,800 pound truck
700 miles?

Another question, if I replace the shifter arm with a “Tow
Haul Mode” button factory arm, would this engage tow haul
mode in this police package Tahoe?

I don’t want to kill my Tahoe’s trans. What say you transmission &
towing gurus?


Thank you!


2013 Police Tahoe .jpg
 
No, it won't magically have a tow/haul mode with just the new PRNDL lever with a button.

Does it have the always-active engine braking? IE: if you're going downhill from like 70 and tap the brakes, does it then start using engine braking?

Does it have the factory transmission cooler on it still? Should have a second one besides the radiator tank coil. Or at least all of the PPV I've seen have the same cooler package as the Z71 vehicles.

I would run it with that weight. I'd just leave it in manual mode set to 5th so it never shifts into 6th.

Heat kills the 6L80e pretty quick in these. So if you have an OBD reader (like a Scantool MX) and Torque Pro you can just watch the transmission temperature. Normal operating on these is 165 or less, I'd start thinking about running it in 4th gear if it got past 190.

May or may not have towed north of 10,000lbs behind one of these vehicles for 10+ hours (they are rated for 8200 I believe). Other than squishy suspension, even with bags inside the coils, it was fine.
 
Thank you, some good info. I have a OBD scanner, but it doesn't
show temps. Yes it has the factory oil coolers.

I'm just unsure of what to expect from this SUV in regards to towing.
The new (used) truck is in Tennessee & I would hate to have a problem
towing out of state.

I really need to find a shipper, my friend who use to ship vehicles
stopped a month or two ago!
 
Have to check the tune to see if that button/ cal is active. You can add any button and add the tow mode in the engine cal
 
It should be fine, you have plenty of trans cooling. I bet they just didn't want to validate the PPV suspension for towing as that is an entirely different test schedule. Make sure the trailer is loaded properly and rock and roll.
 
I'm going to work on the trailer project, but got a good deal
on transporting it and I'll report back how they do.




Motor City Transport.JPG
 
1BADAIR said:
I believe they don’t do trailer tow because of the lowered suspension and high speed tires
Click to expand...
This.

I wouldn't be surprised if the button worked out of the box without a BCM flash. But at the weight you're thinking of towing, I don't think you'll even need to/haul mode.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 
Couple things.... this should have a 6L80 trans. As for failures the most common are torque converter failures....clutch inside goes bad....turns the fluid to silver paint...takes out the pump. Also common to see the pressure regulator valve wear out. Many re-builders are now using HP tuners (after a rebuild to protect their work) turning up the line pressure a little, disabling the DoD and make the tcc only apply in 5th & 6th gear. Also avoid oil bath air filters and make sure your MAF sensor is clean. One other item your trans may have ... On the side of the trans is a aluminum block the cooler lines feed in/out of.... its a thermostat for very cold climates. You tube has videos on how to by pass the thermostatic door and allow full cooling all the time..... there is also a kit you can use to do the some thing (made by superior (stl010)... by-passing the thematic door lowers operating temp by 30 degrees. I suspect with frequent maintenance, lowering operating temps and a trans tune will give you some better longevity.... these units are starting to fail rapidly now.
 
Detroit Gearbox said:
Couple things.... this should have a 6L80 trans. As for failures the most common are torque converter failures....clutch inside goes bad....turns the fluid to silver paint...takes out the pump. Also common to see the pressure regulator valve wear out. Many re-builders are now using HP tuners (after a rebuild to protect their work) turning up the line pressure a little, disabling the DoD and make the tcc only apply in 5th & 6th gear. Also avoid oil bath air filters and make sure your MAF sensor is clean. One other item your trans may have ... On the side of the trans is a aluminum block the cooler lines feed in/out of.... its a thermostat for very cold climates. You tube has videos on how to by pass the thermostatic door and allow full cooling all the time..... there is also a kit you can use to do the some thing (made by superior (stl010)... by-passing the thematic door lowers operating temp by 30 degrees. I suspect with frequent maintenance, lowering operating temps and a trans tune will give you some better longevity.... these units are starting to fail rapidly now.
Click to expand...

Wow! Tons of great info, thank you Sir!

I did clean the MAF sensor, that took care of one
problem!
 
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