I have an 04 2500 Dodge Hemi pickup that I pull my 23 Fountain center console fishing boat with. It does fine around town but is horrible on the highway.
With the tow mode engaged, the trans is locked out of overdrive and I am fine to about 60mph max. I cannot maintain 70mph in 4th gear pulling my boat even if the tank is empty and load is light. The trans will stay in 3rd gear until I back off to get it to shift into 4th then lose speed until I push down enough that it downshifts into 3rd and starts gaining again. This kills my fuel mileage and I end up getting about 7mpg which is ridiculous. If I pull behind semi it will stay in 4th and the mileage jumps to 12mpg which I could live with.
This is not a big boat and I just don't see why I should nt be able to pull it down the road at 70mph.
I am thinking of looking into a programmer that has a tow mode. I think this will help lock the trans into 4th and hold it better.
If anyone else has experience with this truck/engine combo and towing let me know how your hauls.

 

i am not quite sure what the problem would be, with the exact same truck as yours, we pulled a 88' donzi 33'cc for 2yrs and never had a problem (-8.5mpg), 12k lbs dry...

 

A couple of questions..

Do you have 16 rims, or 17?
373 LTD slip or 41.0 rer diff?
Quad cab, short box ??? Ect ???
Tune up ??

Swapping to a true dual ex. is going to give you a lot more power, its not the whieght of your boat or trailer, but the air ressiatance, consider a cab high topper to cut down on drag.

I own a 06 2500 reg cab 4x4 with the hemi and 6sp, I have a cab high topper and true dual ex,+ a Voalant CAI and I can tell you I would have no problems towing your boat with my truck, I have pulled arround 7000 Lbs of cribbibg fourms on the high way at 60 mph, on hills I do have to downshift from 6th down to fourth, and my speed dose drop.

I have towed a 1978 chevy subburbon on a car trailer with out effort, not setting any speed recoards, but 60 mph on the high way was not hard to do.

When towing, you should not be worried abought maintaining 70 MPH, 60 to 65 is just fine with me,

The big questions to adress is swapping out the 373 to a 410 or 456 gear set, I have the 3.73 in my truck, its not a drag racer, with the 6sp its verry torquey..

 

Gears will help out allot. But the very best solution is a CTD...

 

Truck is stock with the original tires. Not sure on the gear but its probably an expensive option to change at this point.
In case there are and Dodge fans here the white car in front is a 1992 Dodge Stealth R/T twin turbo. Extremely clean.

 

Pic from the Stealth's dash:

 

So my question is, has anyone had good results towing with a programmer in tow mode? I am really just looking to hold 4th gear better. I am really not into the whole "sport truck" thing and actually am kind of sick of hearing loud exhuasts on every pickup that passes by my house. I need to make more torque at a lower rpm, not more HP at a higher rpm.

That boat weighs about 7,000 pounds. The guy above towing with the 6 speed manual, that manual is why your truck tows better. The speed limit here in the highway is 70mph. I hate running at 60 as you end up with a bunch of cars getting backed uyp behind you and cutting in and out. I know you guys are going to hate me but I used to pull a heavier boat with a 1998 F150 with a 4.6 and the engine/trans combo towed better. The chassis/suspension sucked. I see these advertisments for new 1/2 ton trucks with 10k pound towing capacities and I laugh. Good for towing down the street maybe but I just can't see it on the highway.

 

what gear ratio is in the rear end?

 

A Superchips tuner is well worth it. The Hemi makes its torque higher than other engines so it'll need some assistance on the low end. My truck is an 03 so I can't comment on any shifting logic improvements.

Your gear ratio should be listed inside your glovebox door.

Now the obligatory post of my former 94 Stealth TT:



Ran 12.5 @ 109 on the stock twins, stock cat-back. I had a white 91 TT and totaled it and wanted to replace it with the same car. I've been a member of 3si.org since the beginning.

Click here for more pics, info, pics of the 91, etc.

 

superchip that biatch and be done with it.