MAXING OUT: 3.0 Duramax Diesel Towing 3000 pound Trailer

This is a clip from a much larger towing video where I have a 3000ish pound V nose Cargo Trailer behind a 2024 Silverado 1500 ZR2. The trip is from Salt Lake City Utah to Anaheim California which includes a lot of hills. We don't talk about the Def Consumption in this video but it is in the longer video. The GAUGE USED IS THE BANKS iDASH:

Banks iDash Data Monster - 66760
Banks iDash Super Gauge - 66562 (piggyback kit to datamonster)
Banks Pedal Monster Kit - 64311 (piggyback kit to datamonster)
Banks Stealth Pod Single - 63369
Banks Stealth Pod Dual - 63370

[colemccrary]

I gave up on my 2023 AT4 Duramax. Put 30, 000 miles on it in the first year of having it and in the last couple months It’s been in the shop five times with exhaust issues and I recently found an oil leak out of the rear main seal. Traded it in for a 2024 AT4 back in the 6.2 again now. My first 6.2 went 90, 000 miles was zero issues before I traded it off.

[Snakes]

I just went from a 2019 6.2 at4 to a 2024 3.0 denali and did a 7000km trip from Edmonton - San Diego - Laguna Seca - Edmonton towing a 7x14 trailer with 2 motorbikes + gear (about 4000lbs total) and while it did have an issue with the def system (fluid level sensor wasnt calibrated correctly) it still did better then my 6.2. 6.2 did 29.4L/100km (8mpg) at 110km (68mph) and the 30 did the entire trip 18.2L/100km (12.9mpg). I did the math, had i kept the 6.2, would have cost me $3200cad for premium fuel and i only paid $2000 for diesel and def.

[StephenPaul]

I don't tow at high speeds like you - max I'll do is 65mph and most of the time it's more like 60mph while towing our 5K travel trailer. The one time I saw EOT at 260F was pulling a grade and then I saw ECT plummet all the way down to 185F - I'm assuming the ECM commanded the CCV to move the coolant faster and get it to cool down so it could then bring EOT down via the stacked plate cooler on the side of the block. It's interesting to see your ECT never seemed to drop much off of ~220F. For the record I have the LM2 in a '22 Yukon XL.

[roffus]

I have a 2023 RST Silverado 3.0 and I tow a 7000 pound travel trailer all over Appalachia, and my oil temp never goes over normal, and my trans temp only gets a little over 200 with steep grades of 9% or more. General rule of towing is to stay under 65 for safety and reduce mechanical strain. so far at 30, 000 miles of hard towing, I am more than peased with the overall performance of the 3.0.

[RobVarley]

Wow, those are some high temps. I pulled my 30 foot travel trailer through the BC mountains and the coquihalla and my oil temp never on my gauge. I wonder if it could’ve been something else if I had the Derringer like you. I never really went above 100 km an hour when pulling a hill.

[ethanlegler]

The one thing I've noticed with my '21 LM2 is that while it will get really hot when climbing grades, loaded or unloaded (loaded definitely moreso ofc), once you start going down the grade on the other side the oil temp drops like a rock. So while yes it does get alot hotter than I would personally like, I'm not as worried as I would be knowing how quickly it can/does drop.

I think as it gets out of warranty though, I might replace my oil pab with the PPE deep pan to get an extra couple quarts in the pan to handle heat better. Especially if I do decide to tow more frequently then I currently do, it'd be nice to have the peace of mind of a few more quarts in the pan.

[DirtE]

Not so much a tow weight issue here as a wind resistance issue on that barn door of a trailer… the smart thing here is slow down. But good on ya on the video!

[ourback]

While not super comforting that they didn't put a bigger oil cooler on these, I'm hoping the full synthetic DexosD oils won't be overly bothered by sub 300F temps, but would love to hear what @themotoroilgeek has to say on the matter!

[davidthompson]

Have you ever look into insane diesel external extreme bypass filter along with their oil cooler? I would be interested in a review and test of their product. I'm sure others would be too considering I believe they are the only one currently with one on the market for an external oil cooler.

[Therealjmhinkle]

This dexos D 0w-20 is entirely too thin for towing. It's strictly for MPG non loaded. With a trailer, you should be running dexos 2 30wt oil at a minimum. Plenty of info out there on BITOG.

[hoosierbuddyadventures]

Did you take off the tow mirrors? I found a LT Trailboss Duramax I get later this week. Excited.

[TimothyHuntC]

Towed 10k plus a number of times at highway speed and never had any issues or out of range temps

[karlschauff]

Have you added the PPE oil pan to this truck? I can't keep up with your builds lol. I think I would be tempted to find a 30-weight if there isn't a good way to cool the oil more.

[colinharfman]

That is hot for oil but synthetic is good up to 300f. I just wonder if you kept climbing if it would pass the 300f mark. Obviously if you turned your air conditioning off and backed out of the throttle it probably wouldn’t get that hot.

[.dmax]

"...that's not what we do on this channel.." And we thank you. Guessing it'll be in your longer vid, but I'm curious what your EGTs were and if it was defueling.
Too many folks like to poop on the 3.0 with idiotic stuff like:
"It's not a REAL Duramax!" - Yeah, we know it's not a 6.6. We want fuel economy, and we're not pulling 20k.
"Wet belt!? It's gonna fail, because I'm from the internet and I said so, and I've been an engineer for 105 years, so trust me". - 😒

[abiker]

It sounds like the next mod should be 3.73 gears.

[kennethbohrer]

Do you have any catch can install while monitoring your EOT? I uninstalled mine for some maintenance issues and I’ve noticed lower temperatures. Curious to see if anyone else noticed that

[bpl]

Great to see how your truck is handling the task. Oil temp has really been my only concern when towing my 30ft 6000lb travel trailer with my 2022.5 LM2. I pull at around 60-65mph and set the transmission in L6 or L7 only. I usually see oil temps between 240-260F depending on the grade I'm climbing, which isn't horrible but not what I like to see. I've seen other 3.0L owners craft their own external oil coolers and I'm considering doing the same. I'm thinking of purchasing a sandwich plate style oil filter adapter, have you considered this or another idea?

[RagingRudy]

The 3.0 is a light duty diesel period. You want to tow get an HD that’s the way it’s always been.

[Steve-kxhd]

Greg, my question is what can be done e to keep them in check when towing?