Well I just purchased a 27ft travel trailer with an empty weight of 4900lbs, hitch weight is around 550lbs. I have a 2004 1500 4x4 QC with a 4.7
Other then wheels, canopy, and exhaust its pretty much stock, did come with the tow hitch and "tow/haul" function. (Not sure if that's was standard on all of them or not.)

Anyway my question(s) are: Is there anything I can do to improve my towing performance? My rig pulled it just fine for the 40mi drive home from the dealership but that trip was mostly flat. Unfortunately I live where mountains and hills are in an abundant and I will be hitting those quite a bit.

Unfortunately I'm not a mechanic but I am fairly mechanically inclined, this even though I can tell what gears I'm running without looking it up

Anyway; anything I should or could look into, be aware, or cautious of?

Any knowledgeable input would be great...
Thanks!

 

I just bought a truck with the same engine so I could pull a fifth wheel a friend gave me. Your truck is probably the same as mine which means you already have a tranny cooler and a power steering cooler which also can get very hot. The tranny cooler is mandatory for towing imo and also comes with the towing option. If your truck has the towing option you already have these coolers plus I'd suspect an engine oil cooler. (Truck is new to me so still don't know it that well.)
At any rate an engine oil cooler I believe should be mandatory for towing also. I think it's even a good idea even if the truck doesn't tow.
This engine has a couple of issues you really want to avoid like blowing head gaskets which can lead to a cracked head. The engine oil cooler will help this also I think. Changing oil regularly will help also.
I'm going to install an engine oil cooler before I tow the fifth wheel.
The 4.7 has good power, I'm very pleased with that and the tow rating is something like 7000 or 7500 don't remember. However if they say 7500 I'd make the maximum 6000lbs so you should be fine.
Make sure you change all the fluids and check the plugs in your truck to make sure everything is running as cool as possible. Besides everything lasts much longer maintained. Best wishes on your trailer.

 

check what gears you have...moving to 4.56's will greatly improve how much your engine and tranny has to work...will hunt less... also, check into a handheld programmer, a simple cai, and possibly a catback exhaust..

 

I had a Flowmaster catback installed right after I got it.
Its got the 3.55 gears, New gears for me are certain any idea what ballpark an upgrade to 4.56's may run?

Thanks

 

look into gettin different gears, towin with that low of gears would be painful. Lower gears in my opinion would be worth 10 times more than trying to get more power to pull. Also look into changin that flowmaster out, pretty sure everyone on here will tell you they are the more restrictive muffler and rust quick, I have dual magnaflow and they are quite amazing.

 

Not to be a pessimist, but... I'm running a 5.7 Hemi with 4.56 gears and my trailer is 26ft and right at 6k pounds loaded. Running up and down the steeper grades around my area, I spend a lot of time in 3rd gear to maintain highway speeds. With the 4.7 and 3.55 gears, I don't think you're going to be happy. Definitely recommend lower gears, and a programmer.

 

+1 I'm with chevyguy.
You must junk those 3:55's to get a decent tow at those weights from your 4.7.
Just my experience using my 03 Hemi, with unfortunately the 3:55's.
Al.

 

I have on 03 QC with 4.7 and manual tranny, 2wd. I have towed my horse trailer (steel 2-horse) which w/horses is around 5000-5500lbs. I have also towed an a +25ft car hauler through OK and TX.

My truck did ok with both but you definitely feel the load on the engine. I have the 3.55 gears and would never tow in 5th (overdrive). I find you have to keep the rpm's up above 1800-2000 for sure ... once above 2300rpm you have a nice powerband to work in. Going over hills in OK I would even drop down into 3rd gear to maintain speed.

Sure you can have more powerful engines but I have no problem doing what I want to with the 4.7 engine. In my opinion, you just have to understand that it will let you know that you have a load on the back end.

 

pulling a fifth wheel with a 1500 is a bad idea.

the 3.55s are gonna hurt a bit, but you'll still pull it. gears are an expensive mod, ~ $1600 (if you opt for an LSD too) with your 4wd. she'll still pull the weight with what you got, will just need to be kicked down a gear is all. the trans cooler is key. my first mod would be a trans temp gage, and after seeing how the trans does an aux cooler might be next. maybe a diff temp gage too.