First tow with new 09 Auto

[EricBu12]

Just did my new 09 tow of 500 miles from Salt Lake City to Pahrump , NV, with several steep climbs and also strong head and cross winds. ... this is my impressions

I used to have a 01 with 5600 6 speed. had a couple chip, hybrid turbo, very strong... had good experience doing this. being manual.

This is my experience and impressions of the new 68RFE Auto on my long bed 09 for my first tow ... . truck has 8000 miles on it... have my 19. 5" rims and 12 ply tires on 3:73 rear.

Leaving Salt Lake City, the roads pretty flat with small rises. . . . I noticed how it shifts down. . It luggs down then when it shifts to 5th, it revs to 2500 then locks down at around 2000 then pulls good... if it is steep, it lugs down to around 1700 then when it shifts to 4th, it revs to 2500 again then locks to 2000 and then pulls good... Had to learn how to watch and listen and feather the throttle to get it to do the best power.

Was able to do about 50-60 mph on most steep hills with my 36' Raptor. lightly loaded with water and food. . no toys or quads. Truck still needs to break in but this is a learning experience for the Auto.

Started out at around 8-9 mpg (on the overhead but my display is pretty close). . with the low hills up to Beaver Ut... Had a headwinds from there and strong head and crosswinds in Nevada. . this had a big effect on mileage. it went down to 7 mpg and even a low of 6. 6 when climbing the steep grade west of vegas with a headwind was booger. . was down to 45 mph and revved up to 2500 pulling... . not bad though. .

One of the biggest and best suprises was that the water temp in all of the climbs and the headwinds where the truck was having to push at 2000 rpm and the steep hill at 2500 rpm . . had never went more than a needle width above 200 deg. . that was amazing. Also the oil was above 40 psi all the time.

One thing I had to learn about is the tow/haul mode. . it is good for climbing and it works well for decelerating for off-ramps with the use of the E-Brake... it actively shifts down to help slow down. I learned how to climb hills and then I have to turn off the T/H switch, then use the Jake to use the gear I want for decelerating down hills like wanting to stay in 5th or 6th.

The power of this new truck with all the emissions is pretty good. . had a learning curve to master the shifting of the Auto. both climbing and decelerating. . but all in all I am happy with the new truck.

Does anyone know if the adjusting bolt for the headlight on the inside edge of the headlight makes the adjustment up and down or side to side?. . need to lower the headlight a little for when I am towing.

 

[JBallou]

Headlight inside edge is up and down. Oil pressure gauge is a dummy gauge, meaning if the ECM sees oil pressure above say 10psi it uses a formula based on RPM and temp to give a reading. Totally inacurate and dumbed down for the mainstream person.

 

[EricBu12]

Asked a Chrysler rep here at the May Madness and he was thinking they was not adjustable or if they were, that it is for up and down. seems logical as you have a heavy load, you need to adjust the headlights. Thanks for clearing that up. .

On the gauges, is the coolant temp done the same way?

 

[RVTRKN]

Eric, I guess the big question is then, do you regret going with the Auto instead of the G56? I know there are a lot of critics of the G56, but mine has performed well so far. The selection of gears being my choice, was very important to me, especially when I planed to tow heavy a lot, which by the way, the economy ruined that plan for now. When I'm at 22K GCVW, she is a dream pulling steep grades and when I do get to pull my 5ver, I always reflect on my decision to order the G56 as a wise one. I'm not trying to discredit someones decision to go with the new 6 spd auto, I'm sure they are up to the task, but what is your opinion on this?

 

[EricBu12]

I am on the fence with that. . I am leaning that maybe i do regret it but I had only towed once so far and on this trip I had high headwinds and the engine is still very new so I am holding judgment. When there was no wind, the truck seemed to start to get better mileage. I like the way to shift this trans like a manual. It seems to be very strong.

My tires, the 19. 5" is a 245/70R-19. 5". . These are down to 9/32nds. . and these are a little bigger than stock diameter on the 17's... I am planning on going to 225/70R-19. 5" next year when I do a Ring-Tread replacement. This will raise the R's back to stock when towing.

 

[AClayton]

Sometimes I wish for the manual when towing and more gears! My auto has only 4 spds and with my tire size and gear ratio,I am constantly shifting up and down manually to keep the Cummins from lugging. I tow my Raptor at 65mph or less which keeps my R's low at about 1650rpm with convertor locked. The 24V has a broad power curve so I always have power but it seeems that I would benefit from more gears... ... in OD, the r's are too low at my highway speed and shifting down to 3rd will allow me to pull 4 large homes up any hill I did manage to avg 11. 2 mpg on my return home from North Carolina on mostly level Interstate and keeping speed at 65 or lower. I bet you miss your old trucks mileage..... I can't believe how well this thing does on fuel. I have LR E tires but still would benefit from those 19. 5 tires that you use.



Good luck with your truck and I'm sure power and mileage will improve as you get more miles in.



Alan