Planning a 500 mile trip in N. Ca. to the Oregon coast.
Wondering if anybody has installed a tranny temp gauge?
And what is a good temp range? How tough to install?
I have an 03 4.7 3.92 4x4 quad cab slt with tow package 33k miles
Towing 5500# Travel Trailer.
It pulls fine but this will be one of my longer trips.

Thanks

Gary

 

Hello, You can check out my post send yesterday. It shows my new Mega cab and the camper. The avatar shows my 05 Thunder Road ... actually a nicer truck then the Mega but needed the passenger room.

Anyway ... I added a tru cool secondary tranny cooler rated at 40GCW to the 05 and will probably do the 06 also eventually. You can get a gauge that is mounted on the pillar (plastic pillar replacement) from mopar (or your dealer). My researched showed that the major complaint was leaks. Many folks that I spoke to on the camping / towing boards recommended the 2nd tranny cooler.

My thinking was that if I installed a tranny gauge that showed me that I would need to add a secondary cooler, why not just go for the cooler ~$250 parts and labor rather then risk the pain in butt a leak creates.

Also you dont mention whether your 5500 is dry or wet. My 03 4.7 QC was a little weak pulling my camper thats about 5k dry but I had 3.55's. In the one shown in the avatar, the 05 , I had 3.92 and the 5.7 but was very close to the limits. The 06 has 3.73's which arent as good for towing as 3.92's but because of the beefed up "stuff" I gain an additional 600 lbs payload.

In my opinion, I wouldnt mess around with the gauge. Just install a second tranny cooler an be done with it. In the meantime, if you do get an idiot light, pull off the side of the road and let the engine idle for a while to allow the tranny to cool down. I would also recommend hitting www.trailerlife.com to obtain specific towing capacities and use that forum ... lotsa old timers that are very knowledgable and willing to help ... they havent steered me wrong yet ...


Have a great trip ...

 

below 180 is a good goal but don't be upset if it climbs a bit over that for short periods on the steepest hills

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...issionTips.htm