thepartydoc
New member
I have a 2011 Sierra 4X4 SLE with the Off Road suspension pkg and Power Tech Package which includes the 5.3L Vortec V8 with heavy duty cooling but has a 3.08 rear end. My problem is towing a 3000# Wells Cargo with 750# of cargo. No trailer and I get 15mpg. With trailer and it's 7mpg. What can I do to increase the mpg of the truck? Trading the truck is not an option, BUT trading the trailer is. This is a custom trailer, 6 wide, 10 long and 7 high because I'm a big guy and I wanted the no bump the head height of the trailer. Could the height of the trailer be dragging the performance of my Sierra down? I had a 5 x 10 pulled by a Jeep Liberty 3.7 and I don't remember having this problem with it. I've also considered adding a wind deflector on top of the Sierra cab, thinking the tall trailer is causing my problem (though it is a V-nose trailer) and the deflector would push that air drag over the trailer. Or would removing the tail gate offer me any relief? Finally I've read that changing the rear end ratio to 3.42 is an option, maybe even 3.73. Anyone with any real experience that did that, and how would that affect the average 15mpg?
I was expecting some reduction in MPG. 10 I could be happy with. But 7 cuts into my profit margin. Livable but not happily.
I have the original sticker and it lists the GVWR as 7,000.
From what I can read in the owners manual, my 2011 Sierra 1500 series 4WD SLE has a maximum trailer weight of 6000# GCWR so I don't understand why I'm getting such poor results pulling this trailer.
WHAT SOLUTIONS DO YOU HAVE not including selling the truck?
I was expecting some reduction in MPG. 10 I could be happy with. But 7 cuts into my profit margin. Livable but not happily.
I have the original sticker and it lists the GVWR as 7,000.
From what I can read in the owners manual, my 2011 Sierra 1500 series 4WD SLE has a maximum trailer weight of 6000# GCWR so I don't understand why I'm getting such poor results pulling this trailer.
WHAT SOLUTIONS DO YOU HAVE not including selling the truck?