Cummins12V98 wrote:
4x4ord wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I will be pulling my 35k combined double tow thru 6% grades next week. What should my low speed be?
44 mph if you hit a long steady 6%. Sometimes there are short sections with a 6% grade where the sign is but the overall grade is considerably less. To really know the grade of the hill you'd have to know the elevation at two points on the hill and measure the distance between them. Here is a link to an elevation tool.
Edit: I was thinking you had 3.42 gears so 44 mph was figuring you'd be approaching the redline in 2nd gear. You've actually got 4.10's. The 4.10 gears will keep you in 3rd at a nicer rpm but you'll only be at about 40 mph.... maybe a touch over.
Must be that good AMZ/OIL top to bottom that nets me 5mph more than your calculation. The slowest speed from NW WA to SoCal was 45.
Could also be that the Cummins delivers more of it's advertised HP to the ground than what you calculated. This is at 35k combined double towing my MC trailer behind RV.
You are correct there are times that the 3.42's will out pull the 4.10's. I have owned both and have experienced this.
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I plugged your values into my formula. It says it would take 372 flywheel HP for you to climb a 6% grade at 45 mph. At 2600 rpm your Cummins being able to put out 372 HP sounds a little optimistic but not unbelievable... My formula is close.... At 40 mph you'd be running about 2300 rpm and the formula says 40 mph up a 6% grade would require 330 HP. I figured 330 HP at 2300 rpm sounded about right. So I predicted 40 mph ... maybe a little more. Without a power or torque graph of the engine it is hard to preduct exactly what rpm the engine will pull down to. As well, if the hill is just slightly less than 6% grade less wheel torque is required so the engine can run a little faster where it makes more power. You might find it interesting to know that of the required 372 flywheel HP only about 75 HP is required to overcome drag and rolling resistance. The vast majority is being used to raise the weight.