klrmark

I have a 03, SO, Manual 5 speed Trans. Was wondering what the general opinion is as to how high to tach it up. Red Line is at 3200 rpm but thats pretty high.... What say you all?

Mark

Jonesey

You can run it at the red line all day long and not hurt it.

bulabula

I wouldn't worry about running her up to redline; there's guys here who have said they have run up there all day long - and they have lots of miles on their engines as well.

3200? I think thats approaching 100 in my truck in 6th, and I don't normally travel that fast in the truck. In 5th its a little over 70, still kinda fast I think if you're in a situation where it'll only pull 5th.

I normally shift around 2k unloaded, and around 2500'ish when pulling the boat. I've run mine all day at 2500+ on the slab, and getting 16+mpg to boot.

Drive it and have fun.

drafalske

What they said ;D

PADZZ

I pulled my trailer, about 10K lbs, up one of the larger canyons here in Utah and had to drop it in to 2nd (47re SO). So 3000 RPM at 40 MPH. Is that bad? She was sure screaming :'(. Had to slow to 40 because I got stuck behind a Furd. Just didn't have the inbetween gear it seemed to want and I didn't want to lug it in 3rd. 'Dat sound OK?

klrmark

So the second half of this question is...how low do you go when you're pullin hard up a hill before you downshift? btw, thanks for all the input, this site is invaluable.

Mark

PADZZ

AS I understand, it's when you can no longer accelerate in the gear you're in; if at a lower RPM.

mymaur

I don't give 2nd thought to tappin the red line on a shift. The motor easily gets there. Especially in 2nd and 3rd.

When to down shift when towing up a hill? My motor usually says, he dummy, I need some help here, how about a lower gear. Seriously, when it's bogging and can no longer maintain your speed, drop a gear. You don't want to get going so slow you have to drop down to 2nd or worse yet, 1st. Try and keep the speed and rpms up by using the stick. You may find yourself in a gear at redline and if you shift you start slowing again. As someone else said, you can run at redline all day. THough personally I wouldn't, If I was in that situation, going up a steep hill and towing. i think I'd keep her around 3000, if it was a long pull. Some of the roads on the east coast going up through Maryland and PA to get tothe PA turnpike have some REAL long pulls, miles and you can really get slowed down. Also the same out west. Going across the rockies. Man, you can go for miles in 3rd or 4th if you have areal load on the truck. But the motor won't mind a bit.

2 cents, maybe 5