Chevy Uplander Tow Vehicle

B

Bob Roth

New member
For those looking for alternatives for a tow vehicle for a trailer in the 3500 pound range, I think the 07 or 08 3.9 liter uplander is worth a look. I've put about 5000 miles towing my Del Sol and Type R with excellent success. Its quiet, pulls well, handles and stops pretty good, Because the '07 is an extended chassis, it will hold 2 rows of totes stacked 2 wide and 2 tall against the middle row of seats. In the flatlands of the midwest, it gets about 17 mpg at 72 mph for the typical tow. You ought to be able to find an ex rental for about 10k.

Best of all it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb when parked on the street and is actually useful for the 9 months that you are not towing.

I guess all '07' 3.9 come with a trans cooler, (something for you to confirm) Here's what I used for converting it for towing.

- Draw tite hitch kit + Light Kit (bought on EBAY)
- KYB Gasajust shocks KG54325 from shock warehouse http://www.shockwarehouse.com/index.cfm?mode=results&selected_model=223652&selected_year=2005
- Firestone Airsprings from truckspring.com (make sure you put the spacers on the bottom, the instructions were wrong on my kit, ask truckspring if questions) http://www.truckspring.com/VSearchResults2.aspx?cID=741&pt=179&fv=584


I've been towing for 10 years and have put about 70,000 tow miles on minivans, this is the best yet. Hope this helps.

bob
 
...uplander.... your kidding, right? i've had 2 of these as company supplied work vans. they do everything but brake, handle and ride well. i have fought vibration's in both of them. you get 17 mpg's at 72? all of mine have averaged 18 mpg's. yes, they have decent torque. but i have put 70,000 miles on mine in 22 months... my legs are always numb from the drivers seat. i does handle decent and it does have a decent amount of storage.

i personally would not recomend one for a tow vehicle. in fact, they would have made a great clunker turn in!

hoop
 
I don't know if your's had an earlier 3.4 vs the 3.9 in my '07. The 3.9 is a all new engine with variable valve timing. I think the only other pushrod engine with variable valve timing is the vette. Unloaded, mine gets about 22 cruising at 70+ while barely breaking 2000 rpm,. I can't explain your experience, perhaps the work vans have nasty shocks, tires, springs or something. Ours has been a very comfortable tow vehicle. Much better than any other I have had.

bob
 
I've had 2. One when they first came out ('05?) and the last year they made them ('08)... my work vans are the mid package van (LS?)... it has everything but the DVD player, powered rear vents, and actual rims.... although I think they are learning to not give me a van with hubcaps, as I tend to lose them :D

These vans are a lot of junk, a good example of why Government Motor's went the route they have. However, if you have a good one.. more power too you... I can put you in touch with 10 sales reps (that I know, probably 200 more) that hate them.

hoop
 
We rented an Uplander two different times for road trips that we already had planned, trying to decide if we should buy one of them OR look for another Safari/Astro. First one I got for a trip to Texas only had 47 miles on it when I rented it. Averaged ~70 mph with cruise, and only got 20 mpg. Second one was for a family trip to Nebraska. I did about half the driving, and usually drove about 70-75, almost always with the cruise, and we got ~18 mpg over all.

Since I was already getting about 20 with my old Safari, it was a no-brainer. We found an Astro and I like it much better than the Uplander, even though it had significant miles on it when we bought it.

And I can't imagine pulling a race car and stuff with either the Safari/Astro or an Uplander. We hauled a stripped race car to get painted one time with my Safari, and even Chris had to admit that it was scary.
 
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I don't think their pulling 30000lbs Lesley ......They have no CDL either.....JK!!!:lol:!
I have been using a 93 vw Eurovan with a 2.5L 5 cyll, I love it, on flat ground it will do 85mph with a 3500lb trailer&rabbit.....12mpg@ 75-80, 18-19 @ 60mph.... 150K on the clock,30 A/C vents, Cruise, Automatic(wish it was a 5speed!),
 
Using a minivan may not be for everybody, but it has its place. Here's what I've seen for MPG with my first year having the '07 3.9 Uplander LS but about 500 pounds gear. All average traveling speed 72 to 75 mph
499 miles, VIR to oh w/o trailer 23 gal 21.69 mpg
446 miles, OH to Wis w/o trailer , 19.2 gal 23.2 mpg
660 miles, wis to OH w/o trailer , 32.75 gal 20.15 mpg

I don't log mpg on my race weekends in wisconsin when I am towing (Cause its less than a full tank) but its 16.5 to 17 mpg pretty consistently, running about 72. I have never seen less than 16 mpg and have seen nearly 18 mpg (note - headwinds will make a +/- 1.5 ppg difference). A nice thing is the 25 gallon tank makes really great range

For a 3500 pound open trailer including car, the uplander handling is fine assuming you add the air springs, kyb rear shocks and have 400 to 500 pounds tongue weight. Its pretty nimble, no drama, my wife enjoys the ride. Its an option to anybody who has an 2500 pound IT car and open trailer but doesn't want to put a $$ into a dedicated pickup truck or V8 van, and also wants to get utilty out of it for the rest of the year. Understand, I am speaking of the 3.9 '07 - '08 Uplander, I don't think the earlier 3.4 engines are good for towing, or even got as good as gas mileage.

Also, I am speaking of the Uplander with the beam rear axle, 3.9 engine, and 6 bolt heavy duty brakes. I would avoid the earlier models with 5 bolt brakes, the 3.4 engine, or any Montana, Terraza or Saturn with independent rear suspension minivans unless you have tested it towing. For one thing, the shocks and air springs I found won't work on a independent rear and I think they are really needed to keep things buttened down.

Along those lines, I did look at a '05 Honda Oddysey with factory towing package and found it scary. If you twitched the wheel on a fast lane change, the rear suspension just wouldn't take a set. Another disadvantage with the Odysey is that with a 5 speed transmission, I couldn't prevent it from shifting out of 5th at over 70 when towing. It seems the GM 4 speed and 3.9 motor makes a better towing package.

Anyway, for those who don't live in mountains and who have a 3500 pound trailer. I think the '07 - '08 Uplander is worth a look because it tows well and serves as a dual duty vehicle. I already have 4,000 miles towing on it and can recommend it.
 
By the way, my setup is a 4 wheel trailer thats about 1000 pounds that has surge brakes. (Ps, its a home built with cavilier rear hub/brake assemblies bolted to square tube steel frame.) For towing, what I have always done is leave it in drive (4th gear) as long as it would lock up. I will shift it to 3rd if either its a long hill or in the rare case that there is a 20 mph headwind and at 70 mph it will not stay locked up in 4th.

If you keep it locked up in 4th, its pulling about 2000 rpm in 4th, and that helps the economy plus wear and tear vs lockup in 3rd which pulls nearly 3000 rpm. I assume the reason they caution people to tow in 3rd is that if the transmission unlocks in 4th for long periods, there is lots of hydraulic inefficiency and there is not enough heat rejection in the transmission to keep it cool. I figure that as long as the torque converter is locked, thats not an issue. My previous '93 3.8 transport went from 110,000 to 180,000 miles mostly towing and never had a transmission issue using this strategy.
 
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