Overdrive?

tow/haul is what it said. it should hold the gear it needs and should shift when needed. But if it's hunting, upshifting and downshifting a lot the temps will go up and that's not good for the trans.

BlindGuynAR wrote:

Jayco-noslide wrote:
I would put it in tow-haul and let it do whatever it's computers says it can. Within limits. For example, if it kept shifting gears all of the time, I would downshift till it would mainly stay in the 1 gear.

^^ x2 ^^

X3

You'll probably end up sticking to 4th or 5th gears

When all else fails, refer to the Towing section of your owner manual. I know my old '95 Chevy K1500 said to "Not tow in OD", but the newer TVs are a lot different, so I would refer to the manual to see what it had to offer. Now in my present case I tow close to 17K, put it in Drive, Tow/Haul ON, Exhaust Brake on, and sit back and relax and enjoy the sites.

:h

I am thinking if you can't drive down a fairly level road in OD with the cruise on, maybe, just maybe you might have too much trailer for your power train!

I was looking for an opinion from someone with a similar rig.
Brand new 13 Ram hemi,rated to tow 8600 pounds,trailer is a Jayco x23b 4900 lbs. After hitch weight I will have a cargo capacity of about 7 to 800#.
Owners manual is clear as mud. I did tow this trailer with the 4.7 Ram and it struggled horribly so I upgraded.
My understanding from the manual is that even though this is a six speed transmission, only 5 gears are used in normal use. when tow haul is used 6 is locked out,and 2nd is split into two gears.
I'm thinking that I will just use tow haul and pay close attention to performance and tranny temp.
Am I wrong in my understanding of this transmission?
It will be several weeks before I can try it in order to get the 1000 miles recommended for differential break in.

rhagfo wrote:
:h

I am thinking if you can't drive down a fairly level road in OD with the cruise on, maybe, just maybe you might have too much trailer for your power train!

A logical thought. But wrong.

In their quest for maximum MPH, the newest trucks highest gears are way too high for any kind of towing, and the TV drops down to a lower gear to go up mild hills- when empty.

Thus adding a camper can pretty much 'instantly' render the highest gear of minimal value.

If sixth is locked out when using tow/haul that is what you want. Use it.

x2 on using tow/haul mode.. also if it still shifts allot. just manually drop it down one gear from the one it shifts down from… (as some transmissions drop two gears under load). that way you won't build up extra heat and wear from the extra shifting… this will let your engine run easier..thus getting better mpg and less wear…