towing advise?

[duckcarvr]

this will be my first tow with my dodge, not far about 300 miles. i will be going over several passes, the highest 3100 feet. questions would be ; use of overdrive- how and when. can i tow with pacbrake on in o/d. suggested speed towing 27' 5er about 8000 lbs. or any advise you wish to give. i have monitors for temps and boost but not fuel pressure. that will be put on when i get back. one of three short trips to learn truck and then AZ. in jan. and alaska in june o7. thanks robert

 

[DavidC]

I usually take it out of overdrive when climbing steep grades just to keep the rpm's up and egt down. I also take it out on steep downgrades as the exhaust brake slows better. As for the brake I leave it on at all times as it is tied to the TC lockup and is fully automatic. Just watch your gauges, they will let you know what needs to be done if anything.



Dave

 

[GaryCarter]

Just get in and drive. With your mods you can drive however you are comfortable, just watch the EGT's on a hard pull. Downshift if they get too high ~1300 or so.



Gary

 

[duckcarvr]

thank you very much for your input it helps a lot. i had a ford diesel nonturbo. you could not tow in o/d unless you were over 65 mph and on a flat road. this dodge has a lot more power looking forward to it. thanks again robert

 

[champspa]

I'll take it out of Overdrive and throw the lock up switch in drive , keeps it locked in 3rd.

 

[jelag]

The key rpm for best exhaust brake function is between 2200 and 2800 rpm... . We have all stick transmissions... and we down shift to keep the rpm in that range... . we tow heavy loads and even with the PXBR PacBrake... . we find the need sometimes to use the brake..... This past week our 04 was pulling 22,500 lbs on the trailer...



Hope this helps... .

 

[NIsaacs]

Just some general downhill advice. It makes a difference if the downhill is a crooked two lane with 25-30 mph corners or a nice long freeway grade with gentle curves. This will work with auto or stick transmissions. On two lane roads with bad curves, use lower gears to try and hold speed with the E-brake. On the freeway, some times you can run up to the speed limit and use less brakes then if you keep the speed down. This practice works the best with high profile loads, the faster you go the more wind resistance, or natural breaking force.





"NICK"

 

[duckcarvr]

i just got back from my trip, about 6oo miles. the information you guys gave me worked out very well and i had no problems. the pacbrake and my truck performed very well. i only got 10 mph going and 11 coming home. i hope to improve that! my buddy was towing 12,500 with an 05 and got 14 mph? anyway thanks again it helped. robert