i have a 2005 2500 with 80,000 miles that has never towed anything heavy. i want to buy a 5th wheel that weighs 13,000 lbs. loaded. the truck had 70,000 miles when i bought it ( i know previous owner). i installed a deep trans pan. after reading the forums i wonder if the trans will stand up. truck is stock. i hope someone with a similiar setup will share their experiance. thanks,randy.

 

If your trans is fine now and you do regular fluid/filter changes on it, it will be fine towing the trailer. That is what this truck was built to do! Alot of guys on here, me included, upgrade our truck and particularly the transmissions. But if you keep the power stock....it should be fine.

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You will probably be pushing over the GCVWR which in itself is not bad, but, the trans will be the weak link. If you do everything right it will probably give you good service but there are some gotcha points that can bite.

IMO, you need to seriously consider some trans work before doing a lot of towing. There are some relatively inexpensive mods that will considerably enahnce the transmission operation, a shift kit or custom VB is the top of the list. The line pressures are extremely weak to haul that kind of weight consistently and it will slip both the direct clutches and TC if you are not careful.

The TC is going to be extremely sloppy at those weights and it will want to spend a lot of time unlocked which will drive trans temps up faster. While you can use the stock TC, you need more line pressure to keep slipping to a minimum. A trans temp gauge in the hot cooler line is a must, as is using manual 2nd on long slow grades. The downside to raising line pressures is the stock TC has a tenedency to warp and twist especially under heavy loads. Clutch life is impacted as is the coupling to the flex plate.

Without OD lockout you will find grades and slower speeds challenging. You can work around a lot of the problems by learning how manual use of the TH on and off effects the shifting so experiment. If you want more flexibility there are products that will enhance the experience.

Your truck can and will do what you want. Just be aware of the situational problems that are possible and minimize them as much as possible.