2002 Yukon - Need to pull heavy boat. Power added options please.

[Jeff U.]

Hi all,
My first time posting here. I have a totally stock 2002 5.3L with tow pkg. I believe this thing is rated at 265hp. I'm looking at buying a 26ft daycruiser and will be pulling it with the Yukon. I'm not worried about the level driving, it's the hills and grades that give me heartburn. So I'm wondering what my options are. Please remember that midrange torque are more important for this application than top end hp.

Please educate me to the performance enhancements and cost for chips, exh, K&N, etc. Or do I just go big and put a blower on it? Motor has 75K miles as this is my wife's primary veh, and she drives very mellow.

Thanks,
Jeff

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by Jeff U.

Hi all,
My first time posting here. I have a totally stock 2002 5.3L with tow pkg. I believe this thing is rated at 265hp. I'm looking at buying a 26ft daycruiser and will be pulling it with the Yukon. I'm not worried about the level driving, it's the hills and grades that give me heartburn. So I'm wondering what my options are. Please remember that midrange torque are more important for this application than top end hp.

Please educate me to the performance enhancements and cost for chips, exh, K&N, etc. Or do I just go big and put a blower on it? Motor has 75K miles as this is my wife's primary veh, and she drives very mellow.

Thanks,
Jeff

First thing is to find out the towing capacity of your vehicle along with the weight of the load you are going to pull.
I wouldn't worry about pulling as much as I would about control and stopping.

[Jeff U.]

Towing capacity of the 2002 Yukon (according to GM specs) is a whopping 8200lbs! Yikes. That's a lot of weight. The boat I'm looking at will most likely tip the scales at 5000 lbs. The boat trailer is a double axle w/ surge brakes, so that part should be fine.

Like I said, it's not the around town or on the flat fwy... it's those brutal grades. I've owned a 19 and 21 ft boat before, so I'm no stranger to pulling boats with my Yukon, but they were much lighter than this. I'm just wondering if anyone else is pulling something that's around 5000 lbs (up hills), and what each of the performance upgrades is worth it.

Thanks
Jeff

[herb.keller]

I pull a 25 foot boat with my Yukon XL 5.3L but my boat and trailer weight 6000 lbs. with tow haul mode on i tow in 3rd gear otherwise i get continual shifting. It does pull with good low and mid range tourque. Oh and i'm running 3.73 gears. key items to me was running synthetic oil in the transmission, front and rear end. you cannot run it in your transfer case.

[jxchrist]

I have a 2001 Yukon that I pull a 29' JayCo RV that has a 16' slide out. It weights about 7,400lb. It pulls it well but I would not recommend it. I have a "class A" drivers license and drive a bucket truck for work, so I drive some heavy equipment on daily basis. I'm looking into getting a 3/4 or 1 ton just because of the weight of my RV. The Yukon is rated to pull it but I will never again assume the specs that GM gives will work.