Suburban Vs Tundra

The wife and I are kicking around the idea of trading in the Tundra and getting a Suburban. Anyone have any experience with tower the 20+ foot bass boats with a Suburban? Thank you.

As long as you get a 5.3 or 6.2 v8, whatever the max tow package and bigger gear ratio in the rear end is, you’ll be fine. More than enough juice with a 5.3 v8 and a max tow package to tow a bass boat.

What he said. I had a Chevy 1/2 ton with the 5.3 but it had the smaller gear ratio (3.42) and it struggled with my 19' Champion. Just daily driving, it would downshift on anything more than a slight up hill grade change. The max tow package has a 3.73 ratio one.

For towing the higher numerically gear ratios will do better.

In todays era of 8-10 speed transmissions the gears in the axle mean less and less by the minute.

I pull a 20ft with a 5.3 and 8 speed transmission with a 3.23 gear in the rearend . Pulls Great .

I had heard the newer transmissions make a big difference. I wasn't thinking about the final ratios.
On the old 3 speed with overdrive, the rear end ratio made a big difference. I need to forget some of my Old's way of thinking and get with the new and improved.

I traded a 2013 Tundra with the 5.7 for a 2016 Suburban with a 5.3 and 6 speed. While the Sub pulled just fine, it will not have the same power you have with your Tundra, provided you have a 5.7. I was quite spoiled with the Tundra and never got used to how the Sub accelerated. It did, however, get a LOT better mileage, especially when running empty. My tundra (SR5, Extended Cab, 4x4) never got better than 16 MPG empty and the Sub would get 21 MPG running 75 not pulling.
I recently traded the Sub for a 2021 Silverado Crew Cab, RST/Z71 with the 6.2 and 10 speed. It's as close as I've been able to come to the Tundra's power and I get 23 MPG on the highway.

Are you suggesting the 6.2 has only come close to matching the 5.7 and has not handily surpassed it? If so, your memories of the 5.7 may be a little embellished over time.

I think the new 10 speed has a direct 1-1? I used to pull a 20' Cat with a Silverado 5.3 3.08 gears and a 6 speed. It did it, but you had to drive the dang thing like you stole it. I've since owned two Tundras. You drive a 5.7L Tundra like you stole it and you'll pay for a lot of gas plus go through back tires. I'd personally look at a Sequoia.

My FIL has a Tahoe thats been a reliable ride. I drive it frequently. I tease him about it being a gutless wonder LOL. It however does get mid 20's on the road without a load. No way is my Tundra with a 4.30 rear end getting that! He reminds me there is a drop top Vette GS in the garage when we want real go power.

The 6 speed Chevy does NOT have a direct 1-1 gear for pulling. 5th and 6th are both over drives. The 5.3 doesn't make much torque at lower RPM's. The 6.2 is a great motor. GM 8 speed transmissions have a LOT of complaints. GM 10 speed transmissions seem to keep folks happy. Make sure and Google GM valve issues before you trade that Tundra off!

My answer on the Tundra was a good topper.

I'm going by seat-of-the-pants feel. The 6.2's numbers exceed the Tundra 5.7's. The 4.30 gears in the Tundra definitely helped with acceleration feel. I haven't compared the torque and HP curves of the two or looked to see what the final drives are once both are in OD-top gear but the cruising RPMs seem close. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the 6.2 and would be hard pressed to go back to a 5.3, but the 5.7 Tundra was a beast! But a thirsty beast!

4.30 gears have that Tundra screaming bloody murder making you think its going fast.

Compare the over all ratio between the rear end and the transmission gearing, they are not that dissimilar from the ratios of the other auto makers.

I do not know if it has a 1:1 or not, but I do know that with a 3.42 rear end and a 5.3 and GM's 6 speed I was usually less than 2000 rpm on the hwy in 5th gear. The truck towed like a completely different animal if I put it in 4th gear and it was less than 2500 rpms.

Forget what gear it is in, the motor needs to be in a rpm range it makes power at. Most want to choke them down to keep them quiet and save fuel, but in general you need RPMS to get the job done... with gusto anyhow. If you had the 3.08's towing in 4th or even 3rd gear would be a better option. If you use tow haul it should keep it where it should be.

The GM is programmed for fuel economy, it naturally tries to upshift and lug which kills performance and in general is harder on the engine. Keep them in a similar RPM range and they should behave similarly they are similar displacement v-8's that make close to the same peak power pending the years you are comparing.

You put 4.3 gears in anything it will wake it up. However, tundras are way behind the competition in performance, fuel efficiency, and really just about everything. Just look at the specs of a comparable Ford ecoboost or 5.0, or a chevy 5.3. If you have a comparable max tow package, these vehicles beat the tundra in nearly every single category.

http://www.dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Toyota_Tundra.html

Tundra buyers are not looking for the latest and greatest. We buy for reliability. I've owned a couple of Fords and more GM's than I can count. My son traded his Tundra for a brand new Ram Rebel. The Tundra was seven years old with 95,000 miles and had never seen warranty work. His Ram didn't make it home from the dealership before the giant screen went out. That screen controls everything. He was sick. Thankfully after a few trips to the dealer it seems to have all the bugs worked out.

Red Chevy the GM 6 speed doesn't have a 1-1. They are all over or under drive. I had the 4 speed with 3.73 rear end before the 6 speed. That one was 1-1 in 3rd and pulled ok. You have to keep a Tundra right at 70 to see RPM's about 2,000. Both of mine would get about 18 mpg as long as you were interstate driving at 70 or less. Jump it up to 85 and it drops to 15 mpg. I've pulled all sorts of boats on the interstate, 11 or 12 mpg no matter what half ton gasser I've been in.

+1, I switched to Toyota in 2009 after 30 years of owning Fords. 2 Tacomas and now a Tundra. None have seen a wrench except for regular maintenance. That and the resale on the Tacomas was much better then any Ford I owned. I will say that Toyota batteries suck but I have had Ford batteries fail too. A lot of people complain about MPGs on a Tundra have lifts and run 35" tires.

I always hear the reliability argument. I still have yet to own a ford chevy or dodge/ram that hasnt been reliable for a whole bunch of miles.

I don't know from gear ratios etc but I had a 2001 suburban z71 and it pulled my 20 foot bass boat all over texas, oklahoma, and louisana with no problems. It would fit a queen sized air mattress in the back for sleeping at the boat ramp and you still had room for your stuff. I loved that truck and when I finally traded her in she had just over 300,000 miles on her.

Very glad you have had good experiences with the Big 3 trucks. I have had two Chevy trucks since 1990 and they were both very reliable. The only thing besides normal wear and tear items, I had an alternator fail on the 90 model around 10 years of age. As for the 2001, is was geared so wrong that it couldn't maintain overdrive on an overpass over a highway. It down shifted at almost everyone of them. That said, the guy that bought it 6 years ago is still driving the heck out of it. He did however have the rear end gears changed to a higher ratio when he had an Air Locker installed.
As for Ford, my last one was a 1986 Ranger STX. It was at the dealership constantly for just about everything on it falling off, rotting, leaking or breaking. This truck is where I found out that a 7 year unlimited millage dealer warranty isn't worth the paper it was printed on. They called most everything a wear item and wouldn't even cover their shoddy workmanship. At 3 years and 32K miles and 3 years, I traded it in on the 2001 Chevy. The salesman at the Chevy place was driving it when the dash caught fire, yep the Ford dealership had torn the dash apart several times, oops.
As for Dodge/Ram trucks, I have never owned one, but they sure do look good.
We own two Toyota 4Runners, one is 18 years old, the other 10 and so far I have had to replace 1 alternator and regular stuff like tires and batteries. Sometime next year I will get rid of the 2003 and own either a Tacoma or a Tundra.

Red Chevy I prefer a Silverado, but I’ve never owned a GM that made it 50,000 miles before some major something or another breaking. I’ve owned two Fords and one of those was bought back under the lemon law. My son traded a Tundra on a Ram Rebel this year. He didn’t make it home from the dealership three hours away before the big screen that controls everything went blank. He traded a Tundra with 90,000 trouble free miles and is sick. They all make lemons once and a while. All the data shows Toyota is behind the tech and most reliable.

Chevy6.2 23 miles a gallon ? Your dreaming or you can’t figure fuel mileage

I totally agree, 23 mpg is incredible mileage for any gasser

Easy to do when you drive in the left lane 10mph under the speed limit

That or downhill and down wind. Heck I can get almost 20 in my Tundra at 55 on a flat highway.

Tundra is much much more reliable than any GM vehicle. Not as fancy, but longevity, 100%. My family has mostly GM in it. I have had GM for almost my whole adult life......Had I bought a Toyota when I got my 2003 Chevy Z71 back in 2005, I'd still have it. Thing was a rust bucket that was insanely meticulously cared for.

I bought a used F150 with the 2.7 ecoboost a couple months ago. Plan was to repair my AC in my old Dodge Cummins and sell it because its a standard transmission and I'm getting older.
I drove the Dodge the other day and decided that I liked it better than the new one so I'm now going to eat it and sell the Ford and keep my diesel.
The F150 got just under 22.6 mpg on my one long trip to the coast a month ago driving 75. That is just about what my Dodge would have gotten but since diesel is so much more than 85 octane gas the Ford would have been cheaper to drive. Problem is being retired most of my driving is with my wife and whichever truck I keep only gets token use.