Mattdrew

Just got back from a family vacation out west (Badlands, Custer State Park, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, Grand Canyon (north rim) and the arm pit of america new orleans) round trip from Miami Fla. 8500 miles.

The truck did great on the flats but just give it a one degree uphill and the beverly hill billies would pass me by in their truck. The truck has no power(Standard Cummins) and on top of that the trans (47r) started to grind every now and then when it went into over drive. Moved it out of over drive and long slow up hill it gasped to stay at 50mph. My trailer R-vision Thumper weight is 4500 dry. I estimate it weighed about 5500 to 6000 pounds with all our gear we travel light.

Most folks i spoke with told me to get a chip and a exhaust (others said get a cheby and ferd V8 ha ha).

Any suggestions?

J BODY

Personally I would want the truck brought to me with the trailer and a reciept from a scale with the total weight of the rig. First thing is to check for codes and see what updates are available. I would also want to make sure the boost is up where it should be. Pulling even an 8k trailer should be a cakewalk for that truck.

Haulin_in_Dixie

Fix the truck before adding power items. My trailer is 7000 empty the truck barely knows it is there. Worst hills with the stock truck meant dropping to direct and then it would run at full rpm all day. That is about 70.

DaNuGuy

I was under the impression that one shouldn't tow in OD. I was towing an empty aluminum trailer w/my Cheby in Od and overheated the trans. You could possibly have trans issues that are creating a drag and not allowing your power to get to the rear wheels.

Mopar1973man

Well I hate to say it but I would start at the transmission first. You happen to say something about a GRIND going into OD. I would fix that first before you do real damage!

Second, check your air boot coming from your turbo. If they are leaking your not going to build a boost PSI for the engine. Usually smoky exhuast and lacking in power!

Change your air & fuel filters...

Check for codes in the computer... ON/OFF/ON/OFF/ON trick...

BigBlue

I'd take it to the dealer and let them look at the trans. You can tow in OD as long as it's above 55-60 mph.

Mattdrew

Thanks for the replies guys. I will be dropping the truck off this weekend at the dealer and have them check the trans.

I did have them change the trans fluids and filter before i went on the trip. I also had the fuel filter and oil change done. I have an amsoil filter thats clean on it (probably go back to original) . The trailer really is a lite weight, their is no sign of smoke, i have not had the grinding noise from the trans around town, I drove with OD only when the road was basically flat and some long uphill which i couldn't notice until the truck started to slow down and then shifted it out of OD.

The good news is I got around 15.5 mpg going to missouri, then it went down slightly on the hills of S. Dakota, then around the more mountain areas it dropped to about 12 mpg. On the way back I again started seeing the 15 mpg. Not bad at all.

Again as soon as i get the truck back I'll let you know what's up.