Hi all, looking to help settle a debate between a friend and I. I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 with 5.9 Cummins Turbo. I'm pulling a 5th wheel (7,500lbs dry) with a gooseneck converter. At what point would I want to use the "Tow/Haul" option? Does it really reduce stress on the transmission? I pull around North Texas.

Thx,
Glen

 

Hello, Well that is a good question. Having just replaced the transmission in our truck we asked the mechanic and he said to put it in tow haul the minute you are hauling until you drop your trailer. Don't flip back and forth. Who knew? ps. we didn't put the Dodge transmission back in - we opted for a different one. Works well now. But I have a question too. We are looking to buy a horse trailer with living quarters that's dry weight is 10,890 pounds and gross is 17,900 - its a gooseneck. We will probably never have 4 horses in it and won't go to capacity - but it is hard to get a good answer off the Dodge website for gooseneck trailers. Towing capacity it says on the website is 13,500 and on another website it says 14,500 for bumper pull. Is there anywhere that can give the gooseneck max? or are they both the same type of towing? Pin weight is 3893 pounds.

 

On the 6-speed autos, the Tow/Haul changes shift points, downshifts through the gears with the exhaust brake, and might do more transparent things. On the 4-speeds does it lock out overdrive like it did on my 46re in my Dakota?

At 7500 pounds, I'd consider running it 24/7 whenever the trailer is hooked up. In my Dakota I did run with tow/haul off on the highway while towing a 5k pound trailer, but flipped it on whenever I hit any hills at all.


As far as the gooseneck is concerned, according to dodge.com, the trailer you're looking at empty is about the max your truck can carry.

It's stupid, we both know your truck can haul a 30k pound trailer without struggling, however the door sticker has your legal limits.

Do you have 4.10 or 3.73 gears?

3.73 = 9900 gross, 3005 payload, 9950 max trailer weight.
4.10 = 9900 gross, 3005 payload, 11950 max trailer.

Those are generic weights though, your options will affect that. Pin weight is going to count towards your payload, as will you, your wife, and anything else you put in your truck.

Max combined weight of your truck + trailer is either 17,000 pounds or 19,000 pounds, depending on gearing.

You need more truck.

 

On the 48re, which is what you have, it adjusts the shift points and locks the torque converter in 3rd gear instead of 4th. When the TC is locked, there is much less heat created. The heat in the TC is what kills them. I run in Tow/haul mode all the time, even when I'm not pulling a trailer.

Oh yea...your transmission will still shift into 4th when in T/H mode

 

It just takes longer. Once you reach a hanging consistant RPM in 3rd it will shift down into 4th. Hit a hilly area again where your tranny is shifting lots it will lock out of 4th again until you reach that consistant RPM again.

 

48re? Is that the Transmission? I was told it has something that starts with a "G". How many different Tranny's did Dodge run with in '04?

-Glen

 

Disregard this question, Wikipedia answered it. Shoulda looked there first, my bad. DUH!

-Glen