2016 Silverado 3500 - Ike Gauntlet Pull

ShinerBrock

I NEVER have used my EB in auto mode when towing. I always place my trans in the gear I would have ascended the hill in when descending and set cruise control. I have also let it do it's thing by letting off going down a grade and it does down shift. I guess I will have to give the Auto mode a try and compare it to the full on mode. I don't think it will make any difference.

ShinerBock wrote:
It performed very well both up hill and down hill.


I remember when the Ram video you came out last month I sent a email to them saying they need to do the down hill portion again since the they had the exhaust brake in full mode and not in auto mode. You can clearly see they had it in full mode since the icon was yellow and not green. I never got a response back from them which was kind of a disappointment especially when they should know better being a truck site.

For those that don't have Ram's, they have two exhaust brake modes, full(yellow icon) and auto(green icon). Now I know what you you are thinking that full mode show slow you down the most. It does, but only when you are downshifting yourself so in situations like the down hill Ike test where they don't shift manually then auto mode would work better.

In auto mode, the truck will remember what speed you let off the accelerator pedal or what speed the cruise control is set to and will vary the exhaust brake and even downshift to keep you at that speed. If you let of the accelerator pedal at 60 mph, then the truck will do whatever it takes to keep you at or near 60 mph. If you start to go too fast that the exhaust brake in 6th gear is not strong enough to slow you down then it will drop down a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow you down to the desired speed just like the Chevy did in the video. The higher the rpm and lower then gear you are in then the better the exhaust brake works. As stated in the owners manual, the auto mode is meant to keep you at a certain speed.

In full mode like they had in the Ram video the truck will not downshift to keep you at a certain speed like auto mode will. All it does is activate the exhaust brake when you let off the accelerator (if the rpms are high enough and the torque converter is locked) and you will remain in 6th gear at 60 mph which is the gear that the exhaust brake is the weakest. Full mode is mainly for aiding you in slowing down since the transmission will automatically downshift as you come to a stop making the exhaust brake even stronger with each downshift. It is also good for those who like to manually downshift to a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow them down to the desired speed. It is NOT best for keeping speed (cruise control or not) going down a mountain like TFL did down the Ike.

Since we have already taken it off topic............

In the RAM test, did they have tow/haul on? I know my truck has a lower output engine and a different transmission, but in tow/haul mode I believe the truck begins to down shift when you let up on the accelerator. If that is the case, it would seem to me that tow/haul on and the EB on full, you would have the most stopping power.

That said, I am surprised they would need multiple times. When I towed my 5er and old boat tandem, I was right at 17,000 pounds towed weight. With tow/haul and EB, I would often have to use my accelerator going down Eisenhower because the compression brought my speed too slow.

ShinerBock wrote:
It performed very well both up hill and down hill.


I remember when the Ram video you came out last month I sent a email to them saying they need to do the down hill portion again since the they had the exhaust brake in full mode and not in auto mode. You can clearly see they had it in full mode since the icon was yellow and not green. I never got a response back from them which was kind of a disappointment especially when they should know better being a truck site.

For those that don't have Ram's, they have two exhaust brake modes, full(yellow icon) and auto(green icon). Now I know what you you are thinking that full mode show slow you down the most. It does, but only when you are downshifting yourself so in situations like the down hill Ike test where they don't shift manually then auto mode would work better.

In auto mode, the truck will remember what speed you let off the accelerator pedal or what speed the cruise control is set to and will vary the exhaust brake and even downshift to keep you at that speed. If you let of the accelerator pedal at 60 mph, then the truck will do whatever it takes to keep you at or near 60 mph. If you start to go too fast that the exhaust brake in 6th gear is not strong enough to slow you down then it will drop down a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow you down to the desired speed just like the Chevy did in the video. The higher the rpm and lower then gear you are in then the better the exhaust brake works. As stated in the owners manual, the auto mode is meant to keep you at a certain speed.

In full mode like they had in the Ram video the truck will not downshift to keep you at a certain speed like auto mode will. All it does is activate the exhaust brake when you let off the accelerator (if the rpms are high enough and the torque converter is locked) and you will remain in 6th gear at 60 mph which is the gear that the exhaust brake is the weakest. Full mode is mainly for aiding you in slowing down since the transmission will automatically downshift as you come to a stop making the exhaust brake even stronger with each downshift. It is also good for those who like to manually downshift to a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow them down to the desired speed. It is NOT best for keeping speed (cruise control or not) going down a mountain like TFL did down the Ike.

If you watch these yahoos they don't drive the truck like they were intended. They don't use manual gear selection to hold a gear. They don't try and make the truck perform well. They just get in and drive!

I don't hold much of an opinion of them and their tests for any brand!

Me Again wrote:
At 22050 combined ours seldom comes on, will know more in a couple weeks. It is hot here in the SW. But given the source of the report the cooling fan is just horrendous, not! Chris

If you think it's hot in March wait until August! :W

It performed very well both up hill and down hill.


I remember when the Ram video you came out last month I sent a email to them saying they need to do the down hill portion again since the they had the exhaust brake in full mode and not in auto mode. You can clearly see they had it in full mode since the icon was yellow and not green. I never got a response back from them which was kind of a disappointment especially when they should know better being a truck site.

For those that don't have Ram's, they have two exhaust brake modes, full(yellow icon) and auto(green icon). Now I know what you you are thinking that full mode show slow you down the most. It does, but only when you are downshifting yourself so in situations like the down hill Ike test where they don't shift manually then auto mode would work better.

In auto mode, the truck will remember what speed you let off the accelerator pedal or what speed the cruise control is set to and will vary the exhaust brake and even downshift to keep you at that speed. If you let of the accelerator pedal at 60 mph, then the truck will do whatever it takes to keep you at or near 60 mph. If you start to go too fast that the exhaust brake in 6th gear is not strong enough to slow you down then it will drop down a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow you down to the desired speed just like the Chevy did in the video. The higher the rpm and lower then gear you are in then the better the exhaust brake works. As stated in the owners manual, the auto mode is meant to keep you at a certain speed.

In full mode like they had in the Ram video the truck will not downshift to keep you at a certain speed like auto mode will. All it does is activate the exhaust brake when you let off the accelerator (if the rpms are high enough and the torque converter is locked) and you will remain in 6th gear at 60 mph which is the gear that the exhaust brake is the weakest. Full mode is mainly for aiding you in slowing down since the transmission will automatically downshift as you come to a stop making the exhaust brake even stronger with each downshift. It is also good for those who like to manually downshift to a gear that the exhaust brake is strong enough to slow them down to the desired speed. It is NOT best for keeping speed (cruise control or not) going down a mountain like TFL did down the Ike.

At 22050 combined ours seldom comes on, will know more in a couple weeks. It is hot here in the SW. But given the source of the report the cooling fan is just horrendous, not! Chris

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

drittal wrote:
I wish TFLTRUCK would monitor temps and compare them as well during the ike.

This floor it and go balls out is fine, but I'd like to know which ones will last doing it over and over again and which ones are pulling themselves to death, if any.

Yeah I'm surprised they didn't do the brake temp measurement like they used to. With only 2 brake pedal applications vs 7 I'm sure the Chevy was a lot cooler. Also on some of these pull tests the ram seams to have to kick in the radiator fan so hard it's freaks out the drivers.

My fan comes on slowly and builds up then within seconds it is cooled and back to normal.

x2. And it's not much louder than the one in my 6.0L PSD was; it was quite a screamer too.

FishOnOne wrote:

drittal wrote:
I wish TFLTRUCK would monitor temps and compare them as well during the ike.

This floor it and go balls out is fine, but I'd like to know which ones will last doing it over and over again and which ones are pulling themselves to death, if any.

Yeah I'm surprised they didn't do the brake temp measurement like they used to. With only 2 brake pedal applications vs 7 I'm sure the Chevy was a lot cooler. Also on some of these pull tests the ram seams to have to kick in the radiator fan so hard it's freaks out the drivers.

My fan comes on slowly and builds up then within seconds it is cooled and back to normal.

larry barnhart wrote:
Ford 6 liter diesel engines had a lot of fan noise from what Ford guys told me. Our 05 duramax at times will kick the fan at a low level when the engine is below 200 degrees but the air intake spikes at higher altitudes. MH fans run going up hills. Chevman

The only time my sick-0 fan made a lot of noise like the newer Rams is when the clutch went bad.

FishOnOne wrote:

drittal wrote:
I wish TFLTRUCK would monitor temps and compare them as well during the ike.

This floor it and go balls out is fine, but I'd like to know which ones will last doing it over and over again and which ones are pulling themselves to death, if any.

Yeah I'm surprised they didn't do the brake temp measurement like they used to. With only 2 brake pedal applications vs 7 I'm sure the Chevy was a lot cooler. Also on some of these pull tests the ram seams to have to kick in the radiator fan so hard it's freaks out the drivers.

If it catches you by surprise it will startle you. It sounds like a gas engine turning 6 grand. LOL I believe it kills some of the power too. I wish they would put a couple electrics on and tone down the engine mounted fan a little. The dang thing is at big as a C15 Cat fan.