I have a decision to make here. I have a 93 GMC Sonoma xcab, with the 4.3 TBI rated at 160 horse, and 230 torque, with an auto transmission. What I tow is a 400 lb aluminum trailer with 2 quads, which should add up to about 1,500 lbs at the most. Pic of the trailer.
Too bad we don't have that Durango anymore, I think made a mistake when passed up the deal when my dad was selling it.

The problem is that it seems like the truck just doesn't have enough power to maintain 70 mph on the highway without struggling, and being that the trip is 120 miles each way, I don't really want to drive 50 mph the whole way. I'm constantly on the gas pretty hard even on straight and level stretches (I averaged about 9 mpg highway on the last trip, normally this truck gets over 20 highway), and even in 3rd gear at over 3000 rpm it can barely make it up a hill that it normally wouldn't even downshift out of overdrive for. The last time, I was pulling the steeper hills at 60 mph in drive (not overdrive) and the trans overheated and dumped fluid all over the exhaust.

Now what I can't figure out, is why my truck is struggling so bad! I used to tow the same trailer and quads with our 92 ford explorer with the 4.0 v6 and auto trans, and the extra weight really wasn't that noticable, and never seemed to struggle even on steep hills. Is it the way it's geared? Or the high amount of wind drag because the trailer sits so much higher than the truck? Something with the way GM's transmissions work? Could something be worn out or broke? Or is it that my truck is just flat-out too underpowered for towing? What do you guys think I should do? Thanks.

As a side note, if the best thing to do is get a bigger, more powerful vehicle, I was thinking about getting an older (mid-late 80's) conversion van with a v8, because I hate setting up tents. If I did that, I would get a small cheap car for a daily driver so i don't have to deal with the gas prices, and set the van aside just for trips. I could probably sell my truck for about $4,000, which would be enough to buy both a vam and a car.

 

I would run a compression check on the truck....It doen't seem right to me?

 

Something isnt right, I used to have a S-10 4X4 with the 4.3l and for a small truck it would pull a pretty good load. I used to load down a car hauler flat bed and Im sure it was alot more weight than what you have and it pulled it great. Im sure mine had a lower geared rear end than yours but other than was the same set-up.

 

Something is definately wrong. That Chevy 4.3 should be able to walk all over the Ford. I used to have a 1992 Chevy X cab with a 4.3 V6 and 5 speed manual tranny, and pulled a 24' 5th wheel camper.

 

I pulled two quads on a heavy trailer with my Nissan Frontier 2.4 litre 5 speed. I'd have your transmission checked.

 

recon,

Don't have any suggestions about the truck, but if you look into getting a van, consider purchasing an old 15 passenger church van. Most are built on a 1 ton chassis and if you remove some of the seats, you will have tons of room. I personally prefer the GM version with the longer wheelbase. Usually, and I stress usually, the churches will maintain their vehicles very well. There are exceptions though. However, I hope it's just a small problem with your truck and it's a cheaper fix.

toe

 

I'm thinking about just selling it, and getting a van and car. My last car had problems right off the bat like this, and it turned into a money pit, I put over $3,000 into a car worth half that within 3 years. The truck already have me a handful of problems, and I don't like the idea that there seems to be something seriously wrong with it, if it should be towing my quads like it's nothing.

In 3 months I already replaced the motor and transmission mounts, and there's like 3 different water leaks in the cab that still haven't been fixed completely so it smells like dirty ****. The rear end leaks at the yoke which still hasn't been fixed, and I just lost my patience and stopped refilling it. It stopped dripping gear oil about a month ago and it still seems to be working ok, so i guess i'll see what happens there and hopefully it won't lock up while i'm doing 80 on the highway. Plus the valve seals leak, so it's almost embarrassing every time I start the truck and people have to step away from the blue cloud that blows out the broken exhaust (oh yeah, the friggin muffler broke off last week too). Yep, looks like a money pit to me. Maybe someday i'll get lucky and get a car that is as reliable as my first one before I went and f'ed it up.

Does anybody else think that is a reasonable plan, to sell the truck and get 2 vehicles, each for their own purpose? It makes sense to me, but i'm just pissed off at this truck so maybe I just have a biased opinion against this truck. Also, I really miss my cars, and want something that's fun to drive again. An automatic truck just doesn't do it for me. It can burn off the old, unmatched, dry rotted tires, but other than that, nothing fun or impressive. Yeah, I'm probably selling the truck. But it seems like all the cheaper conversion vans around here are chevys, and after this, i'm not real excited about buying another GM product.

 

Seems like the way to go.....may be time to unload

 

Well, I made my decision and just bought a van to tow the trailer. It's not a good looking van, but for it's age it runs great, and has a bunch of new parts from within the last year including dual flowmaster/magnaflow exhaust, rebuilt transmission, new radiator, new brakes, and new tires. It should be perfect for what I need it to do. I got it for $1000, which may seem like a lot for the way it looks, but there's probably over a grand invested just in new parts on it, and 109,000 miles is pretty low for a 23 year old vehicle.

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Back

 

Something doesn't sound right cause that should pull that load just fine. Might have pretty tall gears in the diff with big tires maybe???