Tow/Haul, Slow down shift?

[RFraser]

I have a 2006,3500sw, 4x4 quad cab,8' box,5. 9 bone stock. I haul a 5th wheel and gross 21000lbs. The truck will haul the trailer between 60-75 mph with no problem, but I find when I come into a good size hill on the highway and I start loosing speed,I kick the throttle down but I go from 75 down to 60 before it will down shift at about 1900rpm which seems about 200 rpm to late. If it would shift that 200rpm sooner I would be able to maintain my speed a little easier without getting that lugging feeling. It really seems to be lugging hard just before it shifts. I have it in tow/haul all the time when towing. Is my truck any different, or is this the way they all pull(stock). I dynoed it yesterday,274hp/514tq.

Appreceiate any comments. Thanks,Rob.

 

[jelag]

We tow with a trailer weight of 20 - 22K lbs... . we have manual transmissions(6 speeds) in all our trucks..... but we down shift and keep the engine in the peak torque rating when pulling hills... . often that take us down to 4th and sometimes 3rd on a hard hill... When we get to one of these hills... . we try and find a gear that will allow us to crawl up the hill... . at 2200 - 2500 rpm... . and just let it climb the hill... .



Often instead of down shifting several times..... we know the hill... and will just slow down... put it in the right gear and let it climb the hill...



BTW - we've found that if someone gets within 75 ft of the front of the truck... there can be enough wind distrupted from the airflow to cause it to over heat... . especially with a cross wind or tail wind.....



Hope this helps...

 

[DBabbitt]

Rob, I tow a 3 car wedge usually grossing just under 26k. Towing with a 2006 Quad cab dually with 48re and 3. 73's. I am constantly hitting the tow/haul button to get the truck to downshift before it wants to to keep the speed up. What I do is hit the button three times and it will make it downshift (come out of OD) but put you right back into tow/haul and then go back into OD at the top of the hill. I have just installed an edge juice and made some exhaust mods. I'm hoping the extra torque will help it keep speed of 70-75 mph pulling the hills. I'll keep you posted.

 

[CPG]

DBabbitt, Only one word to describe those pictures, WOW !.....



These 48RE transmissions ARE good.



Chuck