Towing Questions

ness5575 · September 9, 2008

I just got back from a trip from Wisconsin out to Yellowstone. It was about 3,000 miles pulling a popup camper that weighs in about 3,000 pounds loaded up. The truck was pretty empty, just my wife and I and some misc. items we wanted in the truck for the trip - probably less than 600 pounds total in the truck.

This is the farthest and most changing terrain I have ever towed thru and I had a couple of questions - I know a lot of you tow way more than what I had for this trip and was hoping to get your opinions:

1. I have read here a lot that you should never tow in overdrive. I thought that as long as the truck isn't consistently shifting out of overdrive to go up small hills or what ever, it was ok to leave it in overdrive. Most of Wisconsin and Minnesota is fairly flat and I drove with the truck in OD for most of the way with very little downshifting, and the tranny temp was in the 180's. (once i got to south dakota and beyond it was a different story, then the truck was in "3").

Is there a reason that I am not aware of to not tow in OD?

2. As I got closer to the mountains (now driving in "3"), some of the bigger hills kicked the truck down to 2nd gear. After this happened a few times, I slowed down. It didnt happen as much, but it did still happen on the bigger hills. Is this bad? Should I have slowed down more? I assumed that the truck is doing what is was designed to do and it was ok - but I still had some doubts.

3. I went in the East entrance thru Cody on hwy 14/20/??. It is very scenic, but also very steep and curvy. I wouldnt reccondmend it with a trailer - especially after being on the road for 20 hours straight. Anyways, on this stretch the truck was working pretty hard and it was hot (upper 90's). I was in "3", but with the constant acceleration going up the mountain and the sharp turns the transmission temp approached 240 degrees. I was looking for a turnout to let the truck idle for a while when we started going donwhill and the tranny temp drastically dropped. Should I have done soemthing different? Shifted to "2"?

Thanks for the input!

Lincoln30 · September 9, 2008

I'm not an expert at towing but did you use the tow/haul mode??? I seems to change when the truck shifts and how long it will hold a gear. I think with tow/haul on and open highway that OD is OK but I wouldn't use OD if it was constantly shifting in and out of OD b/c of the terrain.

66nova · September 9, 2008

I'm not an expert at towing but did you use the tow/haul mode??? I seems to change when the truck shifts and how long it will hold a gear. I think with tow/haul on and open highway that OD is OK but I wouldn't use OD if it was constantly shifting in and out of OD b/c of the terrain.

I agree. I hope you are using Tow/Haul mode. With only 3000lbs you should be fine driving in overdrive with T/H mode most of the time. On your curvy/hilly areas then down shift. I would think 3rd would be adequate for most of your towing, but you may have to go to second if the tranny is really working in the slow areas. I would definitely add an external transmission cooler if you plan on doing a lot of towing in the mountains.

ness5575 · September 9, 2008

I did use the tow/haul mode - well not always at first because I ALWAYS forgot to turn it back on (why cant they make it so it doesnt turn off with the truck??).

I also thought that I would have a transmission cooler because my last 3 pickups came with one ('99,'00,'05). Went under to look and was surprised that I didnt see one. I guess I thought they were standard...

asilverblazer · September 9, 2008

1. You get the idea.

2. Take your foot out of it.

3. Take your foot out of it.

ness5575 · September 9, 2008

1. You get the idea.
2. Take your foot out of it.

3. Take your foot out of it.

take your foot out of it = slow down yes?

Daniel T · September 10, 2008

I tow in OD with tow/haul almost all the time as long as there is no constant 4-3 shift happening.

sounds like on that last part of your trip you should have slowed down just a bit and locked the tranny into 2nd.

I tow ~8,000#s with my Y2K Burb. 5.3 with 4:10 gears.

I tow from sea level to lake Tahoe, Yosemite, over the Grapevine etc and have never experienced any problems.

my burb has ~80K miles on it now, and ~1/2 of those miles have been towing my RV, an enclosed racecar trailer, an open racecar trailer, flat towing my racecar.

as long as you let the truck talk to you and you listen to what it needs, you should be fine. Especially towing only 3,000#s. When I tow my 1,500# waverunner it is like there is nothing back there.

asilverblazer · September 10, 2008

I'd bet if its your 'Burb it is geared pretty high as well, thats not helping anything. Perhaps a re-gear of the differential(s).

Above poster has 4.10's, yours is probably a 3.23. Good for economy bad for towing. Check you RPO codes in the glove box and cross reference them on the this site. Post back what you have, the GT_ codes are what you are looking for.

C & A s Dad · September 10, 2008

OD is fine in flat areas or as long as the trans is not constantly shifting back to 3. Once in hills, pull it back to 3.

You need an aux cooler. A good stacked plate cooler apprx 9" x 11" x 3/4". You have syn fluid in the 08 Burb so the 240 temps likely did not hurt it but you would not want it to remain there for long. I like to see mine under 200 no matter what. I typically run 150 - 160 towing a 6500 camper on a 95 degree day but this is in a pretty flat area.

The trick to keeping trans temps down on steep pulls is what some people call "soft pedaling" This means start the pull on the gas and back out as you climb.

I would agree with the above comment about your gears. I bet the truck has 3.42s which is not designed for any type of serious towing.

95Sierra2500 · September 10, 2008

I see no reason why you shouldn't tow in OD, especially pulling a pop-up camper. Question though, what was your average speed? I ask because WHENEVER you pull a trailer you should slow down, regardless of the weight. There's many reasons, such as you won't stop as quick, you can't manuever like you can without it, and as you get faster the trailer's tendency to sway increases drastically. With pop-ups especially, you have to watch out for the wheel bearings. You've got to think, your overall tire height is probably somewhere around 28-29 inches or more, but that little pop up camper has a tire height probably closer to 15 inches. That's HALF the height at most, but when you convert that to revolutions that poor tire is SCREAMING along. The bearings will heat up and can sieze up quickly in that situation.

As for your mountainous and hilly towing, if your trans temps start to climb it's a good idea to slow down and keep a slow and steady speed. you'll destroy the trans letting it get hot like that.

csheatz · September 10, 2008

Did you truck come with the tow package? If so you should have a trans cooler, but i would add one for sure if you dont have one. I tow close to 5k, in 3rd tow/haul on, no issues but i have a little higher gear then you, that should make up for the difference in weight. The only time i end up going into 2nd gear is when i leave the cruise on going over some bigger hills in norther MI. although with the popup you should not have the wind drag I have.

asilverblazer · September 10, 2008

We don't know the gearing in his truck. I think the 3.42 is a minimum for regular towing, 3.73 is better and 4.10 being best.

I want 4.10's.

ness5575 · September 10, 2008

i will have to check when I get home tonite, but I am pretty sure that I have the 3.73 gears.

I was going 75 (speed limit) thru the flat areas. that is faster than I usually go, but I would literally go hours without passing or being passed by another car so I pushed it a little. when I got to the hillier areas, I was probably 60-70 - getting slower as the hills got higher...

when I got to 239 on the tranny temp, it was slow curvy 2 lane mountian road. i probably never saw 30 mph.