Towing in 6th gear

[Tim1]

One more thing, Can this gerabox tow 8000 lbs in 6th gear with no ill effects? the gears are 373 and stock tires.

 

[HookMeUp]

Been towing my 9500 lbs setup for 2 years. 6th gear all the way. Haven't notice any ill effects yet.

 

[DE Jeeper]

One more thing, Can this gerabox tow 8000 lbs in 6th gear with no ill effects? the gears are 373 and stock tires.

The trans can hold the power, but depending on the milage on the clutch it may have issues in the hills. I haul 14k on a goose in 6th all the time on the highway.



Aaron

 

[JCasper]

I do it all the time, but have been told that it tends to be hard on the transmission.



I'm at 91K and my transmission is a bit loud, but still works good.

 

[SRadke]

Put a trans temp gauge in it and watch it closely, you'll spend more time in 5th.

 

[Grizzly]

Towing in 6th gear is fine with a 3. 73 as long as you keep your RPM up to 1500 or more and your trans temp normal.

 

[CDonaldson]

I tow 18K quite often, use 6th gear on the flat, downshift to 5th on steep hills. Since 5th is considered our 'towing' gear, using it under greater stresses seemed to me to be a no-brainer for taking care of the transmission/clutch. Like Grizzly said, RPM's and transmission temp are something to consider in your gear choice.



CD

 

[JMetzger]

Tow my 10,000 RV all across US of A in 6th gear all the time. Only down shift when RPM is below 1500, no problems yet at 80,000 miles.

 

[Bob Cochran]

I use 6th a lot to tow my 5er and it and truck gross a little over 21,000 #'s. I down shift when pulling a grade and cannot maintain RPM or to get EGT in check. I have over 140,000 miles on the truck now

 

[RNewberry]

I can't imagine that you would have ANY difficulties towing in 6th gear. I have towed 14K-18K on a gooseneck all over the Midwest. No issues so far.

 

[icman95]

GVW around 21k or so and no problem. I have changed the clutch, but that's not related to this issue. Rather, it wouldn't really hold well on a hill when first starting out in low gear. Despite what the factory says the truck can haul, the clutch really wasn't up the the job of max capacity. You shouldn't have much to worry about. If you're really worried, you can put in synthetic fluid to help out. If you get into that, do the front and rear axles, too.

 

[EDankievitch]

Keep your RPM up and watch your exaust temp drive to kep the exaust temp as ow as possable and you don't have to worry, the exaust temp will let you know when to down shift. .

 

[Buffalo]

Do many of you guys overfill the NV-5600?



Joe F.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

I did not overfill my transmission on the last change.
I tow a 15k 5th. whl. (gcvw=24,400) in 6th gear until rpm's get below 1600, then go to 5th.
My Smarty Jr. keeps the egt's at a good range.