cjp26

Hi, my first time posting. I am recently retired and purchased a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 to haul my 8000# 5th wheel. The truck is 5.9 diesel with AT and 3:55 rearend. We took it out on a little shake down trip, and I am trying to figure out how to best use my AT for towing. I got that I take it out of overdrive unless I am going about 55 - 60 with a tail wind. However, I am not sure about how tight to wrap the RPMs going up hill and do I stay in drive and let the truck shift down itself, or do I slow up (already going slow) and manually shift into 2nd. Also, on a steep 6%+ do I shift down and use the lower gears to help slow it down? I am unsure about how much to wrap up the RPMs on the transmission. Previously I hauled the 5th wheel with a F250 with AT and 460. Of course that is why I got the Dodge. My gas mileage was 7 mpg! and no power. Also what mods if any to AT, engine, brakes?
Thanks for any advice.

Fiftygrit

When Im towing my 5th wheel on steep hills I try not to take her over 2500, I like to keep it below 2000 as you get better mileage, mine has tow/haul though and it works pretty good, hope some of the gen 2 guys can answer you.

KATOOM

The 2nd gen auto's are the weakest link in the drivetrain. They can barely handle stock HP. So becareful towing heavy without a tranny temp gauge. Guys with auto's can better help but since you titled your thread about a 5th wheel, you aren't going to get auto guys specifically to look.

But let me try and throw in what I know. I understand that you can get a new valve body to up the tranny oil pressure and make sure the bands are tight. A better torque convertor will help keep temps down too. Other than that, monitoring the temps are all you can do unless you want to get serious and upgrade to a built tranny. Good news is that built autos aren't terribly expensive and run in the range of $3k-$5k depending on how "built" you want.

Autos are usually fine towing but there's a few things that are important to follow. NEVER let a tranny hunt for gears. They get seriously hot fast when they hunt and thats when you need to take over manually shifting down a gear. Rule of thumb is, if it comes out of overdrive or drops down a gear, manually keep it in that gear until you crest the hill. Second thing to do is prepare for hills. If you know you're coming up to a grade then determine what gear you'll need to be in and allow the tranny enough time to lock the convertor and do what you can to keep the convertor locked. But, when or if the TC unlocks then you may want to drop a gear because the tranny temps will start to climb fast.

Thats really all I know about towing with auto's.

67HotRod

How many miles on the truck? Under 100K id get a good transmission valve body and torque converter from someone like Goerends. Low speed, like under 30mpg. drop it in 2nd and let the rpms work or you will heat up the trans with the 3.54 gears.

SIXSLUG

Don't forget to throw in an EGT gauge....it won't matter what trans you have if you cook the pistons.

gorms

When I had the auto I towed a few times with over 10k on a trailer, lot less wind resistance then with a camper though. Now I have a 7k camper that feels as heavy as a 14k flatbed load.

Anyways, I was never afraid of getting to redline (or close to) especially when getting down a grade I would manually downshift to get the RPMs up. Going up hill of course keeping that torque converter locked in really helps keeping heat out of the trans, as stated above. So if it means anticipating going up hill, locking out o/d before the grade will help. You might use a little more fuel at the higher rpm, but it's not worth wrecking a functioning auto by running uphill unlocked in o/d. Happy trailering!

Beatle

I have a 2001 and tow 10,000 lbs fifth wheel. I have a quad xzt box and what I have found is that the truck likes to run 65mph best around 1800 rpm in overdrive with 265 tires even better at 70mph 2000rpm. One word of advice is never use the overdrive lock out when you’re in OD driving at 60 to 65mph. I find if you let the truck slow down to 58 mph or so and push the throttle pedal down it will shift to 3rd and keep the converter locked. Now you can push your overdrive button to keep it locked in 3rd push the rpms up to 2500rpm and turn the overdrive button again and go into overdrive. If you use the OD button going up hills it will unlock the converter rev up then down and lock again in 3rd a pain in the butt. I found the truck not very good unless I use the Quad box. I try only to switch it to 65hp when locked in 3rd and up. When in town running under 50 mph switch it to timing mode only and lock out OD. Note stock exhaust and a replacement air filter. I have been doing this for 4 years now 205,000kMs on truck. Yes I need a torque and valve body to get more hp to the ground.

tom25

For towing I find my truck will pull most all grades up to about 8% at what ever speed I hit them. I down shift only to keep the EGTs in a safe range. The best advice I can give is drive by the pyro guage. Have a great time with retirement and the RV.

Don T

I run my truck starting off towing with the OD button in , when I get to 60 mph i hit the switch again and let the TC lock. this is the time I use my TC lock switch to keep the TC locked.I like that for the down hill runs so the TC does not unlock and the 5.9 helps slow the truck down. When I hit a steep long hill I let overdrive pull till the truck slows to 55 mph . I never let the trans shift locked so I hit both switches for OD off and my TC lock switch . As soon as the truck takes the load I hit my TC lock switch again. My fiver has a gvw of 10.5 and I never see the pyro pre turbo over 1050 temps.My boost will hit 38 lb most times when pulling. I have given some thought to add 50 hp sticks but this auto trans has never been rebuilt and does shift nice.I did have to install a single disk billet low stall TC from passing a Ford on a hill with my fiver . I jumped the gun on the 3rd gear lock and the TC started to slip.That cost me over $1100.00 lol. I know this TC won`t slip . Trans tem on the line out of my 47rh show me mostly 150 temps and on some long hills it might go to 160 but hardly ever higher travelling. My posi lock does help a buch in the camp grounds backing around , Now it will idle the trailer around . We do have some steep hills around here .

cjp26

Thank you all for the help and advice. I am getting an exhaust brake installed, a tranny cooler, edge, and new torque converter. I feel safer already!