i pulled my travel trailer to estes park and it did great in the canyon. i put it in tow/haul mode and the tranny never was hunting. now that i've been in the park for several days, i have a couple of questions:

1. when we leave and are going down the canyon, i'm wondering if tow/haul will be enough to keep from riding the brakes? is it OK to put in 2nd and let the RPMs rev up? what is the max RPMs i would want going downhill?

2. while in RMNP, i have found my 48RE likes to hunt going up hill, and i'm using a lot of brakes going down hill. putting the tranny in tow/haul fixes both of these. are there any problems using tow/haul without my trailer behind it?

 

Answers to your questions based on my experiences:

-With Tow/Haul activated, it will help you maintain speed but only to a certain point depending on how heavy the trailer is and how steep of a hill. I like to keep the engine under 2500 rpm going down hill.

-Yes, you can use the Tow/haul mode empty or loaded. Basically the tranny may shift a little firmer and at higher rpm. The converter clutch will lock-up in 2nd,3rd,and 4th. It may actually increase your mileage as the tranny is more efficient locked up than with the torque converter free.

-If you tow heavy loads a lot, you may want to equip your truck with an exaust brake. I know the 2006-2007 48re tranny works really well with a Jacobs brake (that's what i have) but there's also other brands that are good too.

8bm,

2007 quad cab 3500, 48re, 3.73 gears, jacobs brake.

 

Make sure and use you trailer brakes to the there fullest potential. Nothing wrong with the trailer brakes being worked too....depending how heavy it is.....then ya wont burn up your truck brakes.....especially going down the 70 into Denver!! Estes Park sure is beautiful.................

 

I'm sure you can let her rev more than 2500 rpm. I'll do that going uphill with my foot to the floor for several miles. Going downhill at idle I'm sure 3000 rpm is safe, maybe even more.

A trick that works pretty good is using your cruise control to help slow you down. Set it a few MPH lower than the max speed you want to go, and as the truck passes that, it will automatically downshift for you. It actually works pretty well. If you do a lot a mountain driving an exhaust brake is a great investment.

Good luck!

 

1) I think you'll find the '06 T/H will downshift and lock-up very aggressively to help keep you as slowed down as possible. I believe the manual says how high you can let the RPM's go when used for braking. Don't quote me, but I think it was around 3k.

2) No problem using T/H empty. It works great for going up and down canyon roads while empty.

 

I have a Prodigy BC and up the boost on it when going down hill. Between that, cruise control, T/H, and trailer brakes I've really never had an issue going down hill. The exhaust brake suggestion is excellent, you'll never regret getting one.

...and I use T/H towing or not.

 

All three east routes out of the park as you found going up are slow. I've been up and down all of them many times. Set my trailer brakes to do their job and don't rush. . . I have yet to find a day where I can go up or down to the park fast enough to scare me.

 

Exaust brake!!!

 

3000to3200 just dont go past red line and you will be fine

 

does tow/haul ever shift into overdrive? seems like my RPMs are way to high when crusing around 65-70 (i think i remember them being at 2500-2700 rpm) so i took it out of tow/haul and i shifted into overdrive and rpms where under 2000. i tow about 7000 lbs max.

 

In T/H mode in my truck it seems to aggressive while running around town unloaded, guess Ihave to get used to it. Just dont want to break it I just got it a few months ago lol

 

T/H mode is different in the pre-06 trucks. I think in the 04's it just locks out OD? In the '06+ it doesn't lock out OD. Instead it locks the TC in lower gears and and when going downhill and also changes the shift points a little.