Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Towing advice

[cap-n-cray]

I have a friend who owns a 1999 2500 auto with 3. 54 gears. He wants to tow a fifth wheel trailer about 10,000# plus. Here are his questions:



What are the best recommendations to modify the auto transmission?



A deep sump?



Torque converter?



Synthetic oil?



Change the axle to a disc brake set up with 4. 11 gears?



Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.



Cary

 

[Snow man]

A 10K 5er on a 2500 will likely push him over the 8800 GVWR the truck is rated for,due to kingpin weight,so first thing id do is make sure he has his E rated tires on there still,and bump them to 80psi before hooking up. If the truck is stock ,and he's towing on the flats only,put in trans temp,and fuel pressure guages first,these are the most important. A double deep trans pan is a good investment if he has the money. If he's towing in mountains,the truck wil need some work before it can tow comfortably,and reliably,the trans will overheat,when its out of lockup for an extended time on hills. A full trans upgrade,torque convertor,valve body,and upgrade kit are in order,then id get boost/pyro,and an Edge EZ at the minimum. The 4. 10's are much better towing 10K+ lbs,he wont like the 3. 54 if the ground isnt flat,with a stock engine. keep it out of OD below 65mph with 3. 54's and a 10. K trailer,He's pushing the envelope with his truck,its beyond what its rated for. Good luck

 

[pwr2tow]

snow man about summed it up, the only thing I would say is your friend will be much happier pulling heavy weights with the 4:10 or a cheaper fix is the 3:90 gears with an automatic transmission. Throwing money at power upgrades only costs you more for the upgrade and then you will be spending more on fuel because you will have more HP and to get more HP you have to burn more fuel. vicious cycle.



Ron

 

[SOLER]

Originally posted by ronsram1999

Throwing money at power upgrades only costs you more for the upgrade and then you will be spending more on fuel because you will have more HP and to get more HP you have to burn more fuel. vicious cycle.



Ron

Not true with my truck. I now get better mileage with my EZ and DD II injectors than without. That's mileage towing, empty, and checked at the pump, not the worthless thing on my ceiling.



It is true that making more hp means burning more fuel, but only when you are using the extra. With the right upgrades, when you aren't using all that extra hp, you will actually get better mileage. A Diesel is peculiar that way. When I drove trucks, we had 425 horse, 3406 CAT's. Those are HUGE motors. Loaded, we weighed anywhere from 50K-80K #'s. We'd get 6-10 mpg. The trucks, empty, weighed about 20K-25K. When driving around empty (we did that at least 50% of the time on the way back to get another load), we'd get about 15+mpg. Try that with your Dodge. Fully loaded you won't (usually) be heavier than that. So how does a bigger engine get better mileage? Without going into all the details, let's just say "It's a Diesel. "



Additionally, I had a 2000 2500 auto. I hated it in the mountains. It got 8 mpg, and there were some hills in WV that I could only go 35 mph. Suckorama!! Plus, it would hunt around the gears all day long on the flats and slight inclines. Miserable ride.



I wish I had seen this sight before I got rid of it. I would have seen others with same problems & would have installed the upgrades mentioned above and would probably still have the truck.



Plus, the EZ and injectors, of course. I would have spent less on all these upgrades than what I lost in selling my truck and buying a new one.



Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 2001 ETH 6-speed, but with a few upgrades, your friend's will be fine.



My RV is about 12,500 loaded.



One more thing. I had a bad lift pump on my 2000 model, which attributed to some of the power loss. I didn't know this before I sold the truck. The dealer found it when the new owner took it in ump-teen million times for poor power and mileage.



SOLER

 

[gsbrockman]

One more question--how often or what percent of the time will he be towing this trailer ? My auto does well in my RAM 2500--but I'm lucky to tow 10 % of the time, then it's probably no more than 5500 to 6000 lbs. I like the top end on the interstate better with the auto trans personally. My truck has LT285/75R16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T's, and my effective axle ratio is 3. 42 {3. 54} . At 82-83 mph, I'm only turning 2125 rpm's or so.