I have a 2009 1500 CC with the Hemi and 3.92's and 20" wheels.

I was towing my camper this weekend, the trip to the lake i was battling a crosswind, and it was a somewhat uphill trip.

Anyhow at the end of the day according to my evic the trans. temp went all the way up to 210*, and i'm sure if the trip were longer it would have went higher.

This is the hottest i've seen it go. Towing the boat i've seen it hit 183* but didn't think much of it.

What is the max range i want my trans temp to run?

Also, i'm now considering an electric fan or larger cooler for the transmission, does mopar offer anything like this and is it effective, or do you have any recommendations of what i can purchase?

Lastly, i'm going to look into an airbag system to control some of the droop, does anyone have any experience with the bags as far as how well they work?

 

Keep it in Tow/Haul mode and don't worry about it. Change the fluid when you get a chance. Pull the dip stick and smell it, if it has a burnt smell, change it ASAP.

Don't do air bags, buy a Weight Distribution Hitch. This is the best buy on one now.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...ng-hitches.htm
You can also add sway control to this hitch.

 

thanks for the response.

i actually do have the weight distribution hitch with the sway bars.

i'm not kidding though i't put about 3" droop on the truck. i think my boat does too.

mind answering another question for me, but what significance does the tow/haul feature have. at times i use it at times i don't. i know it kicks the trans to a lower gear when breaking, but essentially does it just keep the truck from going into over drive?

 

Keeps you out of OD, changes the shift points and gives you a lot more engine braking.

 

Are your torsion bars adjusted right? does the front end also go down? They both should squat if the bars are right. I've seen higher trans temps in my truck when towing uphill on hot weather. I looked at the fluid color and smelled it and it passed that test. I plan on doing the machine fluid exchange at 30,000 miles (I'm at 23,000 today). Follow the maintenance schedule in case you need work on the tranny down the line and the warranty can't be denied. On the air bags, I have some and they help but don't rely on them when towing as they tend to leak.

 

When I was towing an 8500# trailer through the mountains out west (long grades of 10%, lots of slow twisties) my trans temp got up to 220* or so at times. It wouldn't be good if you ran at that temp for hours and hours straight, but typical towing with peak temps like that isn't going to hurt things.

Rob

 

I was told by a friend that dodge transmissions bypass the trans cooler when they are in overdrive. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this? I noticed that the trans gets a lot hotter if you keep it in overdrive. Knock it down to 4th and you'll notice the temp stays down.

 

I've had the air lift bags for about five years now, obviously different since I have rear leafs. I will also use a WD hitch when pulling over about 6000 lbs. Bags are a good investment.

As far as the tranny temp goes, I kinda like this simple chart:




As far as by-passing the trans cooler when in OD, I've never heard it, but I'm curious now and I have a couple of different sources where I can find out. I'll post back...

 

There is a thermostat on the input line to the trans fluid cooler, I would think that the only time the cooler is bypassed is when the fluid is too cold. My experience with the fluid temps and OD is that in tow haul mode versus not, the temps don't vary much. Tow haul does allow the first OD though. I've monitored the trans fluid in 3rd gear and I don't remember it making a difference either.

 

I forgot to add this yesterday, but on the trip to the lake I did pull in tow/haul mode, and this is when i peaked at 210*.

On the way home i left it out of tow/haul, and while there there was some tail wind, i'm not sure how significant it was. Anyhow, the pull home i think it held pretty steady at 177* this was going 65mph on the interstate.

Once i got off the interstate there is a stretch of hwy and a small town to drive through, and this is when the temps started rising again. Not back to the 200's but mid 190's.

I'm not sure if they are adjusted correctly. I had assumed they would be as the Camper dealer put them on at the time i purchased the camper.

How would i know, just the front of the truck drooping too? It might be a case where the entire truck did sit lower, but by no means was the front down like the back.