Pulling a 5th wheel on level highway
I have a 30' 5th wheel and pull it with my Dodge diesel truck. The rear end gearing is 4:10 and the trans is an automatic which has been rebuilt for heavy towing. I was told recently by an experienc...
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OP... I already posted on this thread once but your post got me thinking that its about time to adjust the trans bands again. I forgot the torque so I broke out the book. Book fell open to trans section and re-building the "overdrive unit". I've only looked at it casually before.
After paying attention of about seeing about 10 pages just on the overdrive. There is no way I'm pulling with anything with it engaged. Got fewer disks and a lot of stuff packed into small area. I'm surprised they last as long as they do.
And I'm sure you know that Dodge hides stuff in the owners manual. No surprise there but if you don't know, you do now. Here is one example:
If you follow Service schedule B (heavy duty) at back of book it says to change trans fluid and filter at 30,000 miles but way back in another chapter under "starting and operating" it says:
"If your vehicle has an automatic and you tow a trailer frequently, change transmission fluid and filter every 12,000 miles or (19,000 km) that's just one example. That's a big difference. And trans fluid is the life blood of transmissions.
And after spending a couple days camping with a retired Cummins guy.
(Funny who you meet sometimes camping. He was walking by and said Thanks for buying and I'm retired Cummins)....
hearing his stories about some of the projects he worked on, there is no way I'm going to worry about a mile or two better MPG in overdrive. False economy, you'll spend more than that you save re-building the trans. My brother in law with his 7.3 gets about 1 to 1 1/2 better MPG than I do. That is pretty consistent tank to tank. And that is when we are following each other, same road and same conditions. He loves to rub it in. But my Trailer is also 2,000 pounds heavier and about a foot higher. He only locks out after trans kicks down one gear.
Anyways happy camping
After paying attention of about seeing about 10 pages just on the overdrive. There is no way I'm pulling with anything with it engaged. Got fewer disks and a lot of stuff packed into small area. I'm surprised they last as long as they do.
And I'm sure you know that Dodge hides stuff in the owners manual. No surprise there but if you don't know, you do now. Here is one example:
If you follow Service schedule B (heavy duty) at back of book it says to change trans fluid and filter at 30,000 miles but way back in another chapter under "starting and operating" it says:
"If your vehicle has an automatic and you tow a trailer frequently, change transmission fluid and filter every 12,000 miles or (19,000 km) that's just one example. That's a big difference. And trans fluid is the life blood of transmissions.
And after spending a couple days camping with a retired Cummins guy.
(Funny who you meet sometimes camping. He was walking by and said Thanks for buying and I'm retired Cummins)....
hearing his stories about some of the projects he worked on, there is no way I'm going to worry about a mile or two better MPG in overdrive. False economy, you'll spend more than that you save re-building the trans. My brother in law with his 7.3 gets about 1 to 1 1/2 better MPG than I do. That is pretty consistent tank to tank. And that is when we are following each other, same road and same conditions. He loves to rub it in. But my Trailer is also 2,000 pounds heavier and about a foot higher. He only locks out after trans kicks down one gear.
Anyways happy camping
