Chevy Tahoe / GMC Yukon / Silverado 4.8 Question

[Abc123]

A friend has an 04 GMC Yukon with the 4.8 that he want's out of his garage. It's a very clean truck and he will practically give it to me. Seriously.

He's the original owner and I know he's taken very good care of it. So I'm thinking about picking it up and getting rid of my Super-duty (I'll make money selling it) and using the Tahoe as my river vehicle. I only tow my boat from it's storage to the gas station then to the ramp and back. Has anyone used a Chevy with a 4.8 as a light duty tow vehicle? How'd you like it?

 

[Bobby V]

I have a 03 Tahoe. It tows fine for me from my house in Havasu to the ramp. My house is about half way up the hill. 125k miles. :thumbsupEdit I have the 5.3

 

[rivrrts429]

A friend has an 04 GMC Yukon with the 4.8 that he want's out of his garage. It's a very clean truck and he will practically give it to me. Seriously.

He's the original owner and I know he's taken very good care of it. So I'm thinking about picking it up and getting rid of my Super-duty (I'll make money selling it) and using the Tahoe as my river vehicle. I only tow my boat from it's storage to the gas station then to the ramp and back. Has anyone used a Chevy with a 4.8 as a light duty tow vehicle? How'd you like it?

I had an 03 chevy. Used it the same way you're intending. Used it to launch/retrieve a jet boat and a deck boat and it did fine to launch and retrieve, no issues.

I had to tow the deck home once and it was gutless as hell, never did that again.

Not related to your question but I had a lifter go south on me at 15k miles, dropped it off at the dealer for repair, to make a long story short I never went back to pick it up lol. Bought a diesel instead.

That's my limited experience with the 4.8 motor.

 

[Cole Trickle]

I had an 03 chevy. Used it the same way you're intending. Used it to launch/retrieve a jet boat and a deck boat and it did fine to launch and retrieve, no issues.

I had to tow the deck home once and it was gutless as hell, never did that again.

Not related to your question but I had a lifter go south on me at 15k miles, dropped it off at the dealer for repair, to make a long story short I never went back to pick it up lol. Bought a diesel instead.

That's my limited experience with the 4.8 motor.

4.8 is a good little motor.

Make about 20 HP less than the 5.3. The biggest difference is tq. It will be underpowered but fine around town and for your towing needs if the price is right.

 

[E4L]

A friend has an 04 GMC Yukon with the 4.8 that he want's out of his garage. It's a very clean truck and he will practically give it to me. Seriously.

He's the original owner and I know he's taken very good care of it. So I'm thinking about picking it up and getting rid of my Super-duty (I'll make money selling it) and using the Tahoe as my river vehicle. I only tow my boat from it's storage to the gas station then to the ramp and back. Has anyone used a Chevy with a 4.8 as a light duty tow vehicle? How'd you like it?

I towed my 260 eagle with my 03 Tahoe not far but it did okay.

 

[TCHB]

I had the small 4.8 327 cu inch engine in my old 2008 half ton truck. The truck did a good job of towing the boat around Havasu and at the launch ramp.

I put 80,000 miles on it with zero problems.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Dude....you got a lil jet boat...it should be fine. :thumbsup

 

[VoodooMedMan]

Totally fine. I have an 02 Silverado lifted on 35's that I tow a 24 foot Ultra with. Usually just around Havasu but it has been back to California a couple times. Has a little struggle doing speed runs up the likes of Cajon but it's fine. And I'm assuming your boat is less than the 5,000 pounds mine is on the trailer. It's a fine little motor. Do I wish I had the 5.3? Well yeah but if you saw my truck you'd understand that the color it is we took the 4.8.
I think you'd be totally fine on stock wheels.

 

[Abc123]

Cool. Yea I think I'm gonna go grab it and sell the truck. Think I'm gonna sell my CTS and get a CTS-V too.

 

[Abc123]

Totally fine. I have an 02 Silverado lifted on 35's that I tow a 24 foot Ultra with. Usually just around Havasu but it has been back to California a couple times. Has a little struggle doing speed runs up the likes of Cajon but it's fine. And I'm assuming your boat is less than the 5,000 pounds mine is on the trailer. It's a fine little motor. Do I wish I had the 5.3? Well yeah but if you saw my truck you'd understand that the color it is we took the 4.8.
I think you'd be totally fine on stock wheels.

Cool! .If anything I'd lower it on some 20s because I can't leave anything alone and I'd still be money ahead compared to buying one off the used market. I'd probably drive it once a week if that.

 

[OCMerrill]

I had the small 4.8 327 cu inch engine in my old 2008 half ton truck. The truck did a good job of towing the boat around Havasu and at the launch ramp.

I put 80,000 miles on it with zero problems.

The 4.8 is a 293 CU inch engine. It's very fuel efficient and that rig will break...like never.

We have an 02 Yukon with the 5.3 and it's still trucking. In 10 years we lost a fuel pump and a fuel pressure regulator which melted the cats. That's it. Not bad at all.

 

[TCHB]

The 4.8 is a 293 CU inch engine. It's very fuel efficient and that rig will break...like never.

We have an 02 Yukon with the 5.3 and it's still trucking. In 10 years we lost a fuel pump and a fuel pressure regulator which melted the cats. That's it. Not bad at all.

I was thinking 283 cu inches or the 327. It did get good gas mileage when not towing. Again I drove the hell out of that truck and never had one issue from day one. I towed our Howard around town and my Playcraft with no issues.

 

[Bigbore500r]

The 5.3 version is actually 323". The 4.8 is 293", has the same bore but less stroke. It is a good little motor. If u really got it for a steal, you can always dump a used 6.0 in there for $1500 and have a nice tow rig. I have 5-6 motors right now if your interested :thumbup:

 

[Ryphraph]

I have a 4.8 in an 03 Sierra and it gets 20 MPG on the highway no issue. Maybe not the most powerful thing out there but not noticeably underpowered. Have not towed with it yet but is rated to 9k I think.

Ryph

 

[Custom Truck Shop]

Cool. Yea I think I'm gonna go grab it and sell the truck. Think I'm gonna sell my CTS and get a CTS-V too.

That new Corvette Stingray though......

 

[Brian]

You should be fine. The rear gear makes a huge difference in them with the 4.8 because of the lack of torque. Had a friend that had a 4.8 in his extra cab 1/2 ton with 3.42's and it was kind of a pig towing a 20 ft boat. He put 3.73's in it and it helped out a ton. Short trips towing around town will be fine, but if you ever wanted to tow home, just don't expect to be leading the pack over the long grades.

 

[VoodooMedMan]

You should be fine. The rear gear makes a huge difference in them with the 4.8 because of the lack of torque. Had a friend that had a 4.8 in his extra cab 1/2 ton with 3.42's and it was kind of a pig towing a 20 ft boat. He put 3.73's in it and it helped out a ton. Short trips towing around town will be fine, but if you ever wanted to tow home, just don't expect to be leading the pack over the long grades.

This is true. I've got a 4.10 with my big tires. Tows fine but as I said I'm not breaking any land speed records up grades.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Not sure if they have the same transmission as the ones with the 5.3L engine or not but a co-worker had one and it went through a few transmissions towing his boat to Laughlin

 

[Bigbore500r]

Not sure if they have the same transmission as the ones with the 5.3L engine or not but a co-worker had one and it went through a few transmissions towing his boat to Laughlin

The 99-2009 1/2 ton trucks pretty much all use a variation of the 4l60e. Some have a 4l65e if awd in SUV applications, and the latest and greatest offered was a 4l70e in the 07 and newer trucks with the vortec "MAX" 6.0. All pretty much the same trans. They bolt right up to a 6.0, same as a 5.3 or 4.8. They arent a bad tranny, if you dont beat on them. 3/4 clutch pack is the weakest link, followed by the sun shell. If towing, keep it out of overdrive. A trans cooler helps worlds if you dont have one. Like anything else, if you are hard on them, lots of full throttle downshifts, etc they will die! My old silverado 1500 had 170k on it when i sold it, and I towed a 24' toy hauler all over with that thing. Trans never skipped a beat, but i did treat it nice and keep the fluid clean. But, some peoples go out @ 70k with no towing, so ya never know.........

 

[RitcheyRch]

Like everything else, take care of it and it will last.

The 99-2009 1/2 ton trucks pretty much all use a variation of the 4l60e. Some have a 4l65e if awd in SUV applications, and the latest and greatest offered was a 4l70e in the 07 and newer trucks with the vortec "MAX" 6.0. All pretty much the same trans. They bolt right up to a 6.0, same as a 5.3 or 4.8. They arent a bad tranny, if you dont beat on them. 3/4 clutch pack is the weakest link, followed by the sun shell. If towing, keep it out of overdrive. A trans cooler helps worlds if you dont have one. Like anything else, if you are hard on them, lots of full throttle downshifts, etc they will die! My old silverado 1500 had 170k on it when i sold it, and I towed a 24' toy hauler all over with that thing. Trans never skipped a beat, but i did treat it nice and keep the fluid clean. But, some peoples go out @ 70k with no towing, so ya never know.........

 

[Runs2rch]

4.8 is a great little motor for sure. A little maintenance and they will last. Same with the 4l60. They need love. 30k trans service intervals, don't bake them, and they will last.

 

[72Hondo]

Sold my 1 ton for a 07 Tahoe. I miss the dually.

 

[240Hallett]

I tow our 240 with my 03 with no issues. 150K, 2wd.

 

[Abc123]

Well I decided to pass on that Yukon with the 4.8 and get a Tahoe with the 5.3.

 

[Brian]

Nice! You will love it. Did you dump that POS Ford?

 

[SHEP]

Nice new ride.

What are the details on the Yukon? I might be interested in taking it off your friends hands.


Thanks,

SHEP

 

[Abc123]

Nice! You will love it. Did you dump that POS Ford?

Thanks. Yea I sold that pile of shit. I'm going to sell my Cadillac CTS (great car) and just make this my daily driver.

 

[Abc123]

Nice new ride.

What are the details on the Yukon? I might be interested in taking it off your friends hands.


Thanks,

SHEP

Thanks! Pm'd ya back.

 

[Bigbore500r]

Nice! If the tahoe has AFM (active fuel managment) do yourself a favor and have the debris screen under the oil pressure sender pulled and cleaned / replaced. Easy to do. The screen has a fine mesh that traps sludge and small particles before they enter the AFM lifter manifold assembly, but it is so fine that it clogs up over time and ends up starving the lifters for oil. This usually starts anywhere between 50k-75k miles. After that, keep the oil changed on the regular.

 

[Abc123]

Nice! If the tahoe has AFM (active fuel managment) do yourself a favor and have the debris screen under the oil pressure sender pulled and cleaned / replaced. Easy to do. The screen has a fine mesh that traps sludge and small particles before they enter the AFM lifter manifold assembly, but it is so fine that it clogs up over time and ends up starving the lifters for oil. This usually starts anywhere between 50k-75k miles. After that, keep the oil changed on the regular.

Thank you. I will defiantly look into that.