I think it had something to do with both the gearing, and how the air flowed over the truck and trailer. The quads sit pretty high up on the trailer and probably caught the wind like a sail, because even my buddy's 2004 silverado with the 5.3 was working harder than normal to keep it going up the hills. Not nearly as bad as my truck, but he said it felt like he was on that motor oil commercial where the cars are dragging boat anchors down the road. My truck is geared a little high, but even when I had it out of overdrive it was working much harder than it should have been. Oh well, it's over now.

 

I just noticed the post, but was wondering, did you take it out of overdrive when you was towing?

 

I was switching between drive and overdrive. I'd put in overdrive for most of the downhill slopes and level areas, and then drop it into drive for the hills. It was revving too high to keep it in drive the whole time, these engines weren't designed to rev over 3,000 rpm for 2-1/2 hours straight. At one point while it was in drive the trans overheated and boiled over.

 

Its 13 years old. Sounds like you need to take the radiator out and have it checked for blockages. You could also get a cooller thermostat. I dont know how much improvement you would get from a K&N filter and intake and a new exhaust. If you could find a tuner chip for that truck might help too. Lower your gear ratio and shift points a little.

 

Your trans probably overheated from running in OD, even going downhill. If your truck was struggling like that then OD is going to kill it as your torque converter probably isn't staying locked causing excess heat buildup. Oh, and replace that tranny fluid asap if you haven't already. I have put a lot of miles on those 4.3 vortecs, and they are generally pretty stout motors for pulling when set up right. If yours is a 2wd, then it is your gearing and possibly some mechanical issues.

 

If you read up a few lines, I already bought a van that's better equipped for hauling the quads and towing. I actually have enough room inside the van for a quad, plus 5 people, plus all the riding gear we could possibly need, and that thing will never even know it's pulling a trailer.

The truck is a 2wd, is not a vortec, and is getting a "For Sale" sign within a few weeks so I can buy a daily driver that's better on gas, more reliable, and more fun to drive.

 

From the sound of it, that truck is way out of tune if it's spitting clouds of smoke everywhere.

I don't care how big the motor is. If it's not in proper tune, it will run/tow like dog poop. I'd definitely deal it.

 

LOL, I saw where you had bought the Dodge van. Did it come with the 318? Anyway, From the sound of all the problems your truck has, getting 4K may be tough. Good luck with that.

 

The truck only smokes during start-up, it's blue smoke because the valve seals are worn out, like many other 4.3s that I see. I don't think it's out of tune at all, it idles smooth, runs smooth, never misfires, gets good gas mileage under normal conditions, etc. I've kind of came to the conclusion though that the trailer seems heavier than it really is, because the quads sit so high up over the bed of the truck, and catch wind like a sail on a boat. With the explorer's higher roof that extended all the way back, the air mostly flowed over the top of the quads instead of catching it like a sail.



None of the problems on the truck are really that bad, it's just a bunch of little stuff that hit me all at once, and a few things that I didn't notice when I bought the truck. All cheap fixes for the most part, except for the rear end leak, and i'm just going to let that go, it stopped leaking, and doesn't seem to be getting hot or anything like that.

Trucks seem to get really abused and neglected in this area, so in comparison to what's on the market here, my truck is still a gem for that price. 4 cylinder and crappy 2.8 s10s with high miles, paint and body problems, and other miscellaneous issues sell for 2 grand, so I should be able to get at least $3,500 for mine, with the low miles on it, the 4.3, and the fact that it still looks brand new aside from a couple nickel dents and a couple cracks in the grille. Even at $3,500 I will still be coming out ahead of the game because that still leaves me over 2k for another car, which should be enough to get something decent.

Yeah, the van still has the original 318 in it. I made a list of all the new and recently replaced stuff on the van, and it totals out over $1500 not even including the transmission that was rebuilt a few years ago. I just got the body work done, and weather permitting, it'll be getting a fresh coat of white paint this weekend.

 

I have this bad feeling that you will be painting your van?