Tori

I monitor the temps closely and constantly. How do you make sure the torque conv. is locked ? I thought it only went into lock up in O.D. ? I do tow in O.D. but only in the flats where the truck can maintain speed, and temps stay normal.

KATOOM

Torque converter lockup is kinda something you just need to feel. Obviously by watching the tach, the rpm's will stay solid no matter if the throttle is lightly applied when the TC is locked whereas when the TC isnt locked the rpm's will move up slightly.

And no, the TC doesn't only lock in OD. When towing, what people do with auto's is "plan ahead" to assure that the TC is locked prior to climbing a hill. They do this by determining whether or not the upcoming hill is going to be too steep for the tranny to maintain 4th gear (OD) so they shift to 3rd ahead of time and allow the TC to re-lock. Because if you noticed, the TC is usually the first to disengage when the load it too great essentially trying to give the engine more rpm's for the hill. But.....the TC will not re-lock until that load is considerably reduced which means the tranny temps are skyrocketing while you're trying to reach the crest towing a trailer with an un-locked TC. So by planning ahead you can climb in 3rd with a locked TC which keeps the engine temps happy and the tranny cooler.

I'm not saying you do but, too many people think that the transmission and tow setting electronics are good enough to regulate whats best for the truck and drivetrain. Unfortunately this results in auto's constantly "hunting" gears, pulling hills in the wrong gears, TC's unlocked, and everything gets hot. Thankfully the newer auto tranny trucks are more truck friendly and can actually point and play better.

Tori

KATOOM, thanks for that explanation. I will try the trick of getting out of 4th and settled into locked 3rd before the hill. I've been doing it different which was certainly hurting me.

I think i'm going to try the PSM airbox fresh air mod, and i'll try the above trick on tonites haul. My anxiety for the drive has turned to anticipation.

RobG

My truck has 3.73's but I really want to upgrade to either 4.10's or 4.44's. With the stick and a grabby clutch, starting off the line is a real PITA, and much worse if I have to start on any kind of uphill grade. The clutch doesn't slip well so the truck bucks, which can't be good for the driveline. My trailer weighs about 16k fully loaded so I'm right at my max-rated weight.

If I do that, I'd have to add a GV overdrive for unloaded use.. I really wish US Gear hadn't discontinued their overdrive. I had one on my 2001 and it was great.

Rob

Danderson

I've got the equivalent of 4.10's in an auto with my early G-56 and 0.79 final drive. I love the gearing. With 285-75-17's I'm turning 2500 @ 65 mph. Next shoes will be 35's.
My friend got the GV on his '07 and regrets it. Too weak for an exhaust brake and $4k installed.

RobG

Yeah, I've always known the GV wasn't compatible with the exhaust brake. It's the design of the unit, not it's strength. It'd be fine for an overdrive, but definitely not for an underdrive. Still, $4k is a lot of coin. :/

Tori

Back from the lake trip. Had an easier time towing, and i attribute it to a few things.
1. I maxed the air pressure on all tires. Rig and trailer. I came up 20# in the front, and 10# in the rear of the truck. Brought them all to 80. Trailer tires were down 3-5lbs and brought them to 65#
2. I spent more time in 3rd (tow/haul mode on)
3. Drove the truck harder. - by this i don't mean i beat on it, i just wasn't *****-footing it like i was before. Air temps were pretty much the same and trans temp got to 218* in a couple places, but only for 2-3 minutes. Last trip when the temps started to rise, i was backing off. This trip i held my ground, kept the boost up 26ish and pulled the grade. Things never seemed to escalate.

The drive home had 15* less air temps, and the truck had noticeable more power because of it.

I need to work on being able to identify lockup and non lock up, as it's not nearly as noticeable as it was in my GM.

Thanks for the tips guys.....

KATOOM

Sounds like you're getting the hang of it.

j_martin

When pulling the hill and most engines are whining, getting overheated, and thinking of pitching parts, the CTD is just getting comfortable. If all the temp gauges are reasonable, the only reason I can see to back off is to prevent smoking up the trailers.

welovethriving

I have no idea where to turn. I have spent hours reading about all the different weight capacities and diesel vs gas. I have a 40ft fifth wheel and I was told to get at least a 3/4 ton truck. Well, that was all I knew and went and bought a 1995 F250 5.8L 351 and was told that size engine won't pull my fifth wheel. I NEED to get it moved about 400 miles. My husband suggested that we take as many back roads as possible and keep it below 55mph. All that I have read suggests that it won't even pull it at all. The GVWR is 8600 lbs and the front GAWR is 3215 lbs and the rear GAWR is 6084 lbs.
Suggestions please.

saggonwaggon91

It'll pull it, it won't like it, but you can move it. That size of trailer should really be pulled with a 1-ton dually. Back in the day when all we had was gassers, most would run big blocks(ie, 454, 460, 440, etc...). I would trade it in on a 1-ton with a diesel, stay away from the non-turbo fords and the GM 6.5 as most of these couldn't pull themselves out of a wet paper bag.

RobG

Like saggonwaggon said, it'll pull it. Just very slowly. If you don't have any real hills you should be fine. If you do, depending on their grade and length, there might be an issue. But if you're just gonna use it for a 400-mile pull, that should be fine.

Years ago I used a half-ton Suburban with a 350 V8 and 3.42 gears to tow a small enclosed snowmobile trailer full of household crap AND a flatbed trailer with two ATVs, some bicycles and other crap on it (double-tow) from Montana to Nevada. It was SLOW going... uphill was 1st gear at 15-20 mph. But it made it and even got 8 mpg in the process, which I consider pretty good al things considered.

saggonwaggon91

I can remember using my 66 1/2 ton chevy w/283 and 4-speed that had a 350 gal fuel tank in the bed, steel fence post stacked up both sides of the bed above the wheel wells, and pulled a 10 ball round bale trailer loaded because my power wagon was tore down for a rear main seal and clutch...

john40

Obviously this post is about a year old, but this is my experience. On my last truck, a '98 12v 5spd, I installed a U.S. Gear Dual Range overdrive transmission. It was bolted to the rear of the 5 spd. This overdive had massive gears that appeared to be bullet proof. The feature that I liked best was the way it shifted. When the truck was accelerating I would switch the overdrive on and as soon as I "fanned" the clutch it would shift very rapidly. I would recommend this overdrive to anyone, but unfortunately it is no longer manufactured, which is too bad. Just my two cents.
John

KATOOM

Welcome to the forum. Future advice, dont post to old threads but rather start your own. WAY better responses that way.....

As for towing your trailer, I cant advise you to attempt this without seeing the truck and trailer. Because there's many things that play into this working out than just sheer power and going slow. For instance, tire ratings on the truck are huge variables. A 5th wheel has a pin weight of about 20% of the total trailer weight. So a 40 trailer weighing in around 15,000 pounds will have a minimum of 3000 pounds resting on the hitch. That means overloading your truck tires will become a big problem. Down the road is not that much of a deal but 400 miles and you're asking for trouble with the law if something happens.

My suggestion would be to find someone to help you move your trailer rather than hurt your current truck or anyone else on the road.