Just completed first tow....good and bad!,
As a newby, We just finished our first tow with a 2011 GMC hd 2500 6.0 gas from st louis, mo. to harrington beach campground north of Milwaukee, Ws. Trailer is about 8000 pounds. Trip was about 860 mi...
Forum Discussion
APT wrote:So what is your torque at 5000rpm? My less than 6L I-6 makes 600ft.# from 1600 to 2800 rpm, redlined at 3200rpm,and cruise at 1800rpm for 65mph with 3.73 rearend.zogg wrote:Taco wrote:
If it is shifting back and forth while staying on the same hill with tow haul and cruise on there is something wrong.
I will go into 6th while towing but it is rare. It is completely normal to run 5th gear at 65 mph (2250 rpm) and shift once to 4th (3050 rpm) to go up a moderate hill (3%). It will hold 4th till it levels off or goes down hill and will go to 5th. It should not go back and forth on the same hill. If you get the right feel you can get it to hold a higher gear on a hill if you want. However if you push the pedal yourself you can also get it to shift back and forth by losing speed in 5th pushing harder till it shifts to 4th then backing off to try and get it into 5th again.
For what it is worth the gm 6.0 with the 6 speed will put more power to the wheels at every ground speed than the old 8.1 and the ford v10. It will just do it at a higher rpm.
I guess I do need to clarify.....
The tranny did a lot of shifting but not up and down going up the same hill. Once it shifted from 5th to 4th on a hill, it stayed there until I topped the hill and then up shifted to 5th again.
I continually monited the trans temp on the dic, and it never go over 178 even in 98 degree weather....pretty impressive, I thought. My understanding is that the trans temp needs to stay under 250 degrees....not an issue, even with all the shifting....I was glad that I did change the trnas fluid and filter before the trip....used Kendall full synthetic dexron VI....
Overall, the truck did perform well, considering the weight I was pulling. Even with the 3.73 gears it did well....i do wish it had the 4.10....
Sounds good to me. 3000rpm in 4th gear at 65mph is not a big deal. Mine wakes up over 3000rpm, and sees 5500rpm occasionally on uphill on-ramps. The 6.0L at 5000rpm makes more wheel torque than the Duramax at 2000rpm going the same speed. Let it spin when it needs to.
