Hi All,

I have some general questions regarding towing.. the do's and donts and what I can expect.

I was towing my Jeep around yesterday on a 1500lbs 2 axle trailer and I am disappointed in my trucks performance. I haven't done anything (yet) to enhance the performance but I expected more from my CTD.

On the highways of VA, we don't have to may big hills, but as I got closer to W. VA I was really struggling to get up the hills.

Here's how I drive it.

On the flat parts of the highway, trying to maintain 70mph, I'm almost to the floor with the skinny petal. As I come to a grade, I speed up then lay into it as I got up the grade. If I decrease speed to say 60 mph, I hit the OD off button so I can maintain 60. When it gets flat again, I turn the OD back on and get back up to speed.

When I got into a really hilly part, I take it out of OD completely (so it's I'm not shifting a lot). I was going up a steeper climb yesterday and I was slowed down by traffic, and as I tried to get back up to speed, I couldn't get her past 40. I watched the Engine Temp raise to about "halfway" but then I reach the summit and the engine temp went back down.

I have the gauges for the Tranny, EGT's and Boost, but not installed yet so I don't know what was happening in the engine compartment other that what Dodge wanted me to know.

my first question: Am I driving it correctly?
second question: Is this normal for a stock CTD w/ 109,000 miles?
third question: I have a very long trip coming up. I'm towing all my junk and my jeep across country (VA to AZ); Should I have an addional tranny cooler installed (I don' t know much, but I saw a radiator underneath the bed of the truck. Is that an additional tranny cooler? Is there another one in the engine compartment?)

Thanks for you time all

 

1. yes, it does sound like you are driving it correctly.

2. normal? this is my first 1st gen so i cannot answer that one. mine seems to be the same as yours.

3. sounds like you have the auxillary tranny cooler under the bed. should also be one in the engine compartment.

make sure throttle linkage is tight, when foot is to the floor you want all available power there. also, look at the cable that attaches to the top of the accelerator inside the cab, there is a little cable crimp there. i adjusted mine with another crimp so at full throttle the pedal wasnt hitting the floor. i like the driveability after i did this, doesnt feel like you floor it every time.

governor spring will broaden your power range.

16cm exhaust housing should help, but i do not have experience with this...yet.

simple pumps mods, but you need to install your gauges first and get good baseline measurements.


Pat

 

I'm with Pat, I think you may need to adjust the throttle linkage. All that stuff gets sloppy over time, I worked on a truck that was giving just over half throttle with the accelerator floored.

 

I did have my girlfriend step on the skinny petal to the floor and checked to see if it would go any further with the truck off. It couldn't so it seems the throttle is getting full extension.

Is that what I should be doing?

 

Big Perm - With the Power Pack you shouldn't be struggling with just the Jeep on a trailer. Mine will maintain 70 MPH in overdrive on flat ground with little effort, and that is with mild pump tweaks, BHAF, 16cm housing, and 4" exhaust. My Jeep and trailer weigh in around 6000 pounds combined.

You really need to get the gauges installed and post the numbers to see if anything appears out of the normal range. Also, what gears do you have in the rear?

One of the best things I did that improved towing was swap in a tighter torque converter. Short of turning the pump up, the converter made the biggest difference and also keeps the transmission temps down compared to the stocker. The under bed cooler is a necessity when towing, so you're already set there.

 

The throttle lever should be hitting the high speed limiter screw - AKA high idle screw (the screw towards the fender) when the accelerator pedal is on the floor. You can also back the screw out some for a little more travel. Just make sure that the screw is what's stopping the lever.