So in a few days I am going to pick up a skid steer. I live in the mountains in southern CA. The skid steer is in San Diego so that means I have to haul it either thru the Cajon pass or thru Palm Springs either way I am going up to 6500 feet elevation. If any body is framilier with the elevation change/Cajon pass they will know my concern. Total weight with trailer is around 10k. My question is should I be trying this, the truck has 216k, auto, stock everything, runs strong. What do you guys think too much weight?

 

Rated towing capacity of these pigs is 16,000lbs. You should be fine pulling Cajon. Even if you went through Palm Springs, at least you wouldn't be going far enough to have to pull Chiriaco Summit. The Cajon pass might have cooler air temperature too. Just keep an eye on your gauges on your way up, if you have any. Luckily it's not that long of a grade but if EGTs start creeping up, downshift to keep the RPMs higher and that'll keep things under control. I'm wondering how the auto will perform being stock and having (assuming) the same amount of miles as everything else.

 

My truck, which isn't intercooled and had the pump tampered with, was getting really hot coolant-wise going through the mountains in Tennessee/that area. My huge aftermarket trans cooler barely registered a temperature on it though - what was suggested to me is that the torque converter was causing the coolant to get that hot, not the truck itself. I didn't have much of a problem keeping the pyro below 1200 since I could do that just by going slower, but the coolant soaked up a huge amount of heat. It never actually overheated but you'll be in higher temperatures with steeper grades and a slightly heavier load.

So, you might consider routing the trans lines through a cooler before they go into the heat exchanger, or just bypass the heat exchanger entirely.

 

The trans is going to get hot and that will dump a lot of heat into the coolant.

You can do it, just keep an eye on the trans temp and use good judgment.

Make sure the trailer has good brakes. Downshifting the automatic to slow down with a loaded trailer is about as effective as putting your arm out the window.

 

I don't think you'll have any issues pulling it as long as you're reasonable with the skinny pedal and watch your gauges.

I'd be more worried about stopping it, be sure you have good brakes on the trailer and that your controller (if electric brakes are all you have) is adjusted properly. Also be careful how the machine is loaded, I had one get waggy on me a couple weeks ago. Didn't happen until I was going about sixty and made a lane change, whew, sucked the upholstery right off the seat. My own fault as someone else loaded it and I didn't check the balance. Tongue weight is your friend.

Doh! Beat to the punch!

 

Ditto on the stopping it. A lot of trucks are able to pull heavy loads but the stopping is the hard part....GOOD BRAKES! LOL!

 

I may have missed it, but did you state whether the trailer is goose-neck or bumper-pull.

If a goose-neck, then tighten the binders and let the big dog eat.

If a bumper-pull, then stay at the house and hire someone else to fetch the skid-steer.

Sooner or later, a bumper-hitch trailer will teach an un-forgettable lesson, usually with devastating results.

Some will get away with it for a few years, but the lesson is sure to come.


Brakes are a necessity, electrics in excellent shape if that is all you have to work with.

Do your stopping a mile before you need to stop.

If you tend to crowd up against the traffic, then change your habits and learn to back off.


It matters not who caused the crash, so long as you are the one that had sense enough to stay back and let it happen to someone else.



Take plenty of spare tires/wheels and plenty of tools, extra belts, water-pump, alternator, fuses, bulbs, etc.

Lots of cash money will usually cure most predicaments one will find themself in.


Turn OFF the phone and lock it in the tool-box.



Like already said, the transmission will over-heat the coolant on the grades.


A BIG auxilliary cooler, preferably remote-mounted with it's own fans, will help a bunch.


You do have a pyrometer, right ??

Transmission temperature gauge, right ??

 

The Tranny has been rebuilt in the past as far as I can tell, fluid is perfect after 3k miles I've owned it.
The tranny has the optional remote cooling under the bed behind the driver.
As for brakes the trailer is a new Carson tandem axle 10k with all 4 wheels having brakes (electric).
Bearkiller. I'm not sure if you mean bumper pull, like the actual bumper or a hitch setup.
Mine is a hitch, I would never tow something that heavy with the bumper!
I do have a tranny temp guage, but I'm not sure what a tranny guage should start to register at, mine starts at 160 is this a propper tranny guage?
No pyro.

 

getting a pyro before the trip would be a good idea.

 

My 89 ran between Maine to California and Maine to Florida a few times before I owned it hauling a 5th wheel trailer. It was pretty much stock and had no gauges. It lived. A stock tuned factory intercooled truck should be able to run pretty much straight out all day. I agree with brakes, and tranny temp. As far as reciever hitch pulling, thats all I ever do. Be careful, load right and your good to go.

 

Now that I think about it, I did turn the star wheel and the fuel pin turn. Would this be a concern?

 

I'm not going to tell you for sure. As also said above an EGT gauge is a good idea. I have a stock 92 with a stick and I would , and do, hold it on the carpet if I am hauling heavy. In my case with the tamper cover still on the full power screw and stock sticks I have no concern about EGT's and run without a gauge. Is this the smartest thing??? NO. Do I worry,, NOPE. Now a turned up truck, then get every gauge you can afford. I like Tach, EGT, boost, and fuel pressure.

 

Hooked to the bumper or a receiver, the articulation is all the same.

By bumper-hitch, I was meaning any trailer that connects to the rear/bumper area, be it via receiver or otherwise.

 

Well I got the skid steer home. I see why these trucks have such a following...
Had no problems pulling 10k from sea level to over 8,000 foot elevation. Engine temp never got over half, tranny (auto) never got past 200. I was worried when the tranny temp started to rise past 170 so I looked in the manual, it said "if the temp gets to 263 it will down shift"
Brakes were not an issue, the trailer brakes worked well, downshifting actually slowed me down enough on long grades to where I didn't need brakes.
If I was happy with this truck before, now I am ecstatic!

 

cool!