I purchased a beautiful black 2007 H3 with tan leather seats with only 65,000 miles. I read the towing capacity in the Manuel at 4000. I towed a cargo trailer with 1100 lbs plus cargo where I never went over the 4000lbs moving items from my business. First the transmission went out and was stuck in 2nd and wouldn’t switch gears. I wasn’t towing at the time.I had it repaired. After driving it 3 days after repairs the engine blew up with major metal fragments strewed through out the engine. I now have to replace the engine with only 70,000. Can I not tow with this vehicle. This is my second H3. I previously owned a 2006 H3 where I towed trailers and a 18 jet boat into the mountains and all around California, Utah and Oregon. I had 198,000 miles with no problems until the recall on the small wire to the fan motor caught fire and totaled my truck. Sad day. I was the second owner and never received the recall. Has anyone had this type of bad luck on the transmission and engine or just me. Once I get the engine replaced can I never tow? Can I put a double hitch rack on the back to carry items? Camping equipment and coolers? Does this put strain on the transmission and engine. It won’t be pulling anything!!

 

hmm weird coincidence that both went with only 70k miles. the only thing that both share is the radiator and the cooling effect of the clutch fan. did they check it to see if that caused your failures because if it is the source of failure then you might have the same issue with the replaced engine and transmission.

 

Thank you for replying and I have forwarded to my mechanic. Do you think I’ll be able to tow or use the double rack on back.

 

on flat ground it should not be much of an issue towing the capacities you stated above. but on mountains terrain or high altitude it might struggle a bit with a heavy load. I don't think it would be any different then your old H3 unless your 06 was an alpha with the V8.

 

Towing that light of a load with your I5 Manual should be a non-issue.
Our H3T 3.7L, I5, 5 speed manual towed 3,500lbs about 600 miles twice a year. Never any issues.
There was something wrong with either the engine or trans or both before you towed.

 

Thats what I thought! I did a car fax on the Hummer and no past problems .

 

[QUOTE=mike mccormick;362156]Thats what I thought! I did a car fax on the Hummer and had no past problems . It’s an automatic with the 5 cylinder. No mountains yet but did haul a couch on the freeway from San Diego to Palm Springs about 120 miles. All local use.

 

I have a 2007 H3 with the 5 cyl and for the last 4 yrs I have twice a year hauled motorcycles from NJ to FL and back. About 2400 miles round trip. My trailer weight totals out right around 4000 lbs. Aside from the fact that I have to trailer in "3" instead of "D" to minimize all the shifting and keep my speed around 65mph it does the job. Probably not the best choice for a towing vehicle but it is what it is.

 

That is the exact trailer and Hummer. Not sure why this happened to me. Thank you for sharing.

 

Like I pointed out, run in 3rd gear, not drive. In drive the transmission frequently down shifts and up shifts depending on the grade of the road. I'm sure this isn't good for either the transmission or the engine. Also. at 65pmh you're running near 3000rpm. I wouldn't push it any harder than that.
Before I leave on my trip I do an oil change and every other trip I change my trans fluid, transfer case fluid and differential fluid. Seems a bit excessive but so far it's been a successful formula. With my H3 up around 130K miles I will be looking for something newer soon, probably a pick up truck.