Towing ?...steep grades

PhoenixCRD · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:18 am

What's the steepest grade anyone has pulled their 4000#+ travel trailers on? I live in Phoenix and just about any trip to the woods requires a long steep (6%+) grade to go up and elevation gains of 4-7000 feet. I haven't' taken the plunge to use my Libby to pull my trailer yet as I have a Chevy truck with a 454 but at 7.5 mpg I'm thinking of changing tow vehicles. I just don't want to be that guy going 40 mph in a 65 or 75 mph zone.......

Gary

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:34 am

One of the things you will find in the response that you get from this post is that everyones experinces will be different and everyones CRD will be different. Joe pulls a pretty big trailer and after his F37 he thinks it is gutless. Others with the F37 have seen virtually no differences. I believe that most that had the F31 got the same programming as the F37 but they didn't get the new TC. I have had the F-31 and can't complain about power. As far as my towing I have pulled a 2500 trailer over from Spokane to Missoula and back over two mountain passes and the only real issues I noticed was pushing in the corners on the downhill and slightly less responsive on the uphill. Pretty standard for towing, especially with oly surge brakes.

My advice is hook it up and take a test drive. Afterall you do have choices with your other tow rig.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:07 pm

From what I'm reading (I don't tow) you probably need to add an extra Transmission cooler - the stock CRD has one but it's not that great - and if the tranny gets hot, the computers lock out overdrive, which will have you in 3rd gear at 55 max.

(once the transmission locks up - there's no real difference before/after F37 - it's the slip before lockup and the downshifts to minimize torque through the transmission that hurt)

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:11 pm

Yep. Dave's right. If i were to pull your 4000# on a 6% grade it would be at about 30 mph (just a guess) Since the F31 that the tech said I got the F-37 as Dave said mine shifts down to 3rd with the TC locked and that's about 50 mph on a slight grade pulling 3000# with rpm's around 3500 :cry:

MrMopar explaines that on another thread. As Dave says, since the beginning it's been clear on this group that different CRD's are all over the place on power and mpg's. I didn't see 20 MPG till around 9k miles while others see over 30. Oil consumption is another thing, mine shines in that department and does not use any measurable amount. Just a few ounces in the Provent. Others get tone in the intercooler.

tugdrivinj · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:35 pm

yeah, i'd say to hook it up and tow it... i don't know about 4000 but i haul 3 and the only problem i've seen is the temp rising. and as it turns out it never got all that hot ( there is a thread in here somewhere that tells what the little dashes on the temp guage relate to. ) but yeah it's got lots of pull and handles weight fairly well. adding the break controller helped me out alot too.

drharv · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:29 pm

I towed my 4000 lb trailer in the Rockies all summer long. From Alberta to BC there are some really steep grades and the lil beast never had a problem keeping up with traffic, heck even from a dead stop on a 8% grade we reached 90 km/h. We also averaged 12.7L/100KM (18.5 US MPG) pretty good all mountain driving.

chrispitude · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:06 pm

We just bought a 26' travel trailer. The weight is around 5000lbs, and the front end is not very raked (lots of drag). It did not handle a 6% grade well. By the top of the grade we were doing 40mph and still slowing down, about to fall out of lockup in third. Once we would have fallen out of lockup in third gear, it would have been game over.

I am looking into an Inmotion tune and an Aero 2525 muffler upgrade as a patch, but this combination of tow vehicle, trailer weight and trailer size just doesn't like the hills. On flat ground it pulls with no problems at all, even stays locked up in 5th at 65mph.

- Chris

ColoradoCRD · **Joined:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:25 am **Posts:** 60

I have a boat I trailer. Total weight about 3,000. I live in the foothills West of Denver, so I have quit a bit of experience towing in the mountains. As a point of reference, I tow on I-70. The first segment Westbound West of Denver has about a 2,000 elevation gain in about 7 miles. Grade ranges about 5 to 7%. I cannot maintain lockup in overdrive. I push the overdrive lockout button and stay in 4th, and effortlessly cruise uphill. I try to maintain max 2000 rpm which yields about 45mph, but do let it rise to 50 mph with plenty to spare.

If I experience any sign of temp over normal, I drop to 2000rpm or below and temp goes to normal.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:52 am

Anyone with the factory towing package, does it include a auxilery transmission cooler :?:

Has onyone added one and does it make a difference?

tugdrivinj · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:55 am

Joe Romas wrote:

Anyone with the factory towing package, does it include a auxilery transmission cooler :?:

Has onyone added one and does it make a difference?

the diesels (asit was expalined to me anyway) all have the factory towingpackage and all have the trans cooler. but they could definately use some more.. some people here have added a second auxilluary but i'm not sure what's been used or wehre they're stickin' them...

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:05 pm

tugdrivinj wrote:

Joe Romas wrote:

Anyone with the factory towing package, does it include a auxilery transmission cooler :?:

Has onyone added one and does it make a difference?

the diesels (asit was expalined to me anyway) all have the factory towingpackage and all have the trans cooler. but they could definately use some more.. some people here have added a second auxilluary but i'm not sure what's been used or wehre they're stickin' them...

Thank you. I'm just trying to make sure my ducks are in a row :lol:

Joe

tugdrivinj · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:08 pm

Joe Romas wrote:

tugdrivinj wrote:

Joe Romas wrote:

Anyone with the factory towing package, does it include a auxilery transmission cooler :?:

Has onyone added one and does it make a difference?

the diesels (asit was expalined to me anyway) all have the factory towingpackage and all have the trans cooler. but they could definately use some more.. some people here have added a second auxilluary but i'm not sure what's been used or wehre they're stickin' them...

Thank you. I'm just trying to make sure my ducks are in a row :lol:

Joe

by the way if anyone has pictures of trans cooler installations i'd like to see them.

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:57 am

I recently towed my SVO to Summit Point, obviously no real grades, cool out in the AM (<70, and it didn't break 120 degrees. On the way back in the upper 70s it didn't break 140. Personally, I think the trans cooler on this little pig is all right....now if you are towing a huge brick up a very steep grade, then you aren't going to go very fast....I've towed through the Appalachians and I've slowed to about 50 going up hill.

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:49 am

I towed a 5600# 26' trailer through the Smokies (cruise set at 65). The only trouble was I-75 southbound out of Cincinati into Kentucky (don't know the % grade). Everyone stopped at the bottom and I couldn't hit it at speed. Had to wait until the trans hit overheat protection and locked in 2nd. Then it went right up. Pulled 13 mpg. The year before I pulled the same trailer same route with a Hemi Durango and got 10 mpg. A little less drama though...

tugdrivinj · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:42 pm

danoid wrote:

I towed a 5600# 26' trailer through the Smokies (cruise set at 65). The only trouble was I-75 southbound out of Cincinati into Kentucky (don't know the % grade). Everyone stopped at the bottom and I couldn't hit it at speed. Had to wait until the trans hit overheat protection and locked in 2nd. Then it went right up. Pulled 13 mpg. The year before I pulled the same trailer same route with a Hemi Durango and got 10 mpg. A little less drama though...

it's the drama i could do without....

yeah anything that i hit at speed i had no problem with at all maybe very minor temp rise... but trying to go up from slow speed that was another story
i didn't keep pullin till the overheat stuff kicked in though. i'm to used to drivin old junkers to have tried that one

Desert Dog · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2007 11:02 am

We've got a 23 foot Jayco that weighs about 3900 empty and right at 5000 loaded. It's been to over 9,000 feet in New Mexico and Colorado from 3000 feet here in Texas. We have to slow down and downshift on the steep grades. Have never gone slower than whatever the posted speed limit. We averaged about 16 mpg on the last trip.

the_dude · **Posted:** Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:29 am

Wow, great to hear about all the good towing.

I drove my CRD from Michigan to San Deigo, CA towing a 3500lb Pontiac(on a dolly) with the back fully loaded, pet dog and all. We pretty much took I-40 most the way through New Mexico, Arizona, ending up north of LA before heading south. The libby pulled it without much trouble, could hit 75-80 mph with ease, but felt better controlling her at 65-70mph.

This was in July, and averaged no less than 18mpg! I was very impressed. Although had to roll down the windows and put the heater when climbing some of those steep grades in the desert.

Never had any issues with the tranny getting hot and I'm bone stock, sans the tires.

D

scrambledKJ · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:45 pm

I pulled our 4000# travel trailer this last week through I81 and I75. There were some big hill climbs and the libby pulled fine. I could hold 60+MPH easy by standing on it. got 15MPG for the trip and back. I did notice a climb in temps though. Engine was at 3/4 of the guage. Scanguage said 233 degrees before it stopped updating. Intake air temp was 180 at that point. My IC is probably clogged with the missing quart and a half of motor oil that I can't seem to find...

Travis

chrispitude · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:31 pm

It sounds like engine temperature has been an issue for all of us. scrambledKJ, where was the needle at 233F? The hottest I got was one tick shy of 3/4, but I don't know what temperature that corresponds to.

- Chris

gmctd · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:37 pm

A free-flow muffler will help considerably - 22psi Boost is atmosphere + 1.5 atmospheres - all that extra air gotta go somewhere, needs a free path out - will help to reduce Engine Coolant Temps by reducing Exhaust Gas Temps - just make sure the thru-pipe is not necked-down at any point - straight-thru is good - bigger is better, here.

Towing ?...steep grades

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