For those of you that tow regularly...
#1
For those of you that tow regularly...
...how do you do it? I have a '99 5.9l 4x4 with 3:55 gears, stock size tires, and 127,000 miles. Nothing is wrong with my truck as far as I know. No plenum leak, no clogged cat, no death flash, and she got a complete tune up a year ago, I have a superchips 3815 set to tow mode, and my truck is an absolute DOG when towing.
Last night I had to make a 150 mile round trip to pick up a snowmobile. I used my uncles 10' single axle trailer which weighs a little over 800lbs unloaded. It is a very free rolling trailer.
I know that it is not good to tow with overdrive turned on, but I figured with a tiny unloaded trailer like this I'd be ok. WRONG. On perfectly level highway I couldn't maintain 70mph at all. I had to run with OD off just to maintain a legal highway speed which means I was pulling 2900 rpms for over 150 miles. I got 8.5 mpg as a result. What gives? For those of you who tow with your dodge regularly, how do you deal with this? I know 4:10 or 4:56 gears would help a lot, but c'mon! I have the friggen towing package for crying out loud! You'd think I'd be able to tow at least 1000lbs without too much trouble!
End rant.
Last night I had to make a 150 mile round trip to pick up a snowmobile. I used my uncles 10' single axle trailer which weighs a little over 800lbs unloaded. It is a very free rolling trailer.
I know that it is not good to tow with overdrive turned on, but I figured with a tiny unloaded trailer like this I'd be ok. WRONG. On perfectly level highway I couldn't maintain 70mph at all. I had to run with OD off just to maintain a legal highway speed which means I was pulling 2900 rpms for over 150 miles. I got 8.5 mpg as a result. What gives? For those of you who tow with your dodge regularly, how do you deal with this? I know 4:10 or 4:56 gears would help a lot, but c'mon! I have the friggen towing package for crying out loud! You'd think I'd be able to tow at least 1000lbs without too much trouble!
End rant.
#4
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Buckeye State... OHIO
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+1 on the plenum... I have the Same tuner.. and had a tune up 1.5 years ago and I can pull my 6x12 tandem that weights over 1,500 empty at 70mph in OD on a flat highway... I always pull with OD turned off when loaded.. city driving.. or hilly area... also when merging onto a freeway... I would seriously check your plenum. You shouldn't even notice a trailer like that.. also.. the SC tuner will make your throttle pedal respond differently.. (i.e. it will make the truck downshift sooner) I'm sure you found that speacial spot right between downshifting and giving it as much pedal as you can before it downshifts.. if that makes cense
my new homebuilt trailer
10,500# mini excavator and 1,800# trailer
my new homebuilt trailer
10,500# mini excavator and 1,800# trailer
Last edited by iwhitne; 12-03-2009 at 12:16 PM.
#5
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: South Georgia/East Florida
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yep, you losing power someplace. I regularly fished bass tourney's all over the southeast from the early '90s till about 2001. Used a Furd diesel and a POS '97 Furd F150 4x4 (most of you have read about my engine going bye-bye with 14k on it whilst trailering back from Lake Sinclair), up until late fall of '97 when I bought a new '98 Dodge RCSB 5.9 4x4.
Even with a lift and over-size tires it towed my 19' bass boat, trailer, heavy a$$ 175 HP motor and a slew of gear with no issue whatsoever. Only performance mods on the 5.9 was a true duel exhaust and headers. My gears were even the crappy 3.55 factory ones...
Towed this 17' with a 140 HP on it from the time I bought the Dodge till '99:
and this much heavier boat from spring of '99 :
Even with a lift and over-size tires it towed my 19' bass boat, trailer, heavy a$$ 175 HP motor and a slew of gear with no issue whatsoever. Only performance mods on the 5.9 was a true duel exhaust and headers. My gears were even the crappy 3.55 factory ones...
Towed this 17' with a 140 HP on it from the time I bought the Dodge till '99:
and this much heavier boat from spring of '99 :
Last edited by HammerZ71; 12-03-2009 at 11:57 AM.
#6
Mine tows my 3000lb double axle horse trailer with a full grown horse just fine. Way I see it, 3k trailer and 1500 lbs quarter horse = 4500lbs every weekend and it pulls it with ease and i've got 3.55 gears on 32" tires. Dont know what to say to you man.
Last edited by notanexit7; 12-03-2009 at 11:58 AM.
#7
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#10
Thanks for the replies. I guess there might be something wrong with my truck. I replaced the plenum with a hughes kit. Last time I looked down the TB I didn't see any oil, and I'm getting no spark knock. But I'll do a vacuum test whenever I get around to it just to be sure.
The mods I have so far include 14x3 air hat, 180* tstat (soon to be changed back to stock), 3815 tuner, autolite 3923 spark plugs, magnaflow high flow cat, and a flowmaster muffler.
I haven't checked the spark plugs since I changed them last November, but I'm getting decent mileage (when not towing) and she runs/idles like a top.
Do you think the 14x3 air hat could have something to do with it? I think I'm gonna change it back to stock just for kicks.
Any other ideas? The truck runs great, she just sucks at towing.
The mods I have so far include 14x3 air hat, 180* tstat (soon to be changed back to stock), 3815 tuner, autolite 3923 spark plugs, magnaflow high flow cat, and a flowmaster muffler.
I haven't checked the spark plugs since I changed them last November, but I'm getting decent mileage (when not towing) and she runs/idles like a top.
Do you think the 14x3 air hat could have something to do with it? I think I'm gonna change it back to stock just for kicks.
Any other ideas? The truck runs great, she just sucks at towing.