Manual vs Automatic transmission in TV
Would it be beneficial to have a manual transmission in the TV to help with getting the trailer up steep mountains?
Forum Discussion
Not reading all the posts above, I think I might just be repeating some great advice again.
Manual transmissions are de-rated to a weight limit well below the automatics because of hill gradeability. So in first gear, on a 6% grade, you need to get the whole GVWR moving without to much burning up the clutch. So if you only have say 75 HP at 1,200 RPM and it takes moving the RV at 4 MPH to get the engine up to 1,200 RPM, then you have very few HP to get the RV up to speed in first gear.
Once you are up to say 3,000 RPM and are making 300+ HP, you have plenty of power to move a huge load up the hill, but need to shift to second gear now, and might drop the RPM back to say 1,400. This limits max HP to only about 100 HP again, and the truck might not have enough to get a load over 15,000 pounds GCVWR to accelerate at that small HP rating.
The automatic transmission solves all these problems, because it can let the engine turn say 1,800 RPM even when the truck is still. Once at 3,000 RPM, a shift into the next higher gear, and still stay in the 2,000 - 2,200 RPM still making 200+ HP!
Good luck with your selection!
Fred.
Manual transmissions are de-rated to a weight limit well below the automatics because of hill gradeability. So in first gear, on a 6% grade, you need to get the whole GVWR moving without to much burning up the clutch. So if you only have say 75 HP at 1,200 RPM and it takes moving the RV at 4 MPH to get the engine up to 1,200 RPM, then you have very few HP to get the RV up to speed in first gear.
Once you are up to say 3,000 RPM and are making 300+ HP, you have plenty of power to move a huge load up the hill, but need to shift to second gear now, and might drop the RPM back to say 1,400. This limits max HP to only about 100 HP again, and the truck might not have enough to get a load over 15,000 pounds GCVWR to accelerate at that small HP rating.
The automatic transmission solves all these problems, because it can let the engine turn say 1,800 RPM even when the truck is still. Once at 3,000 RPM, a shift into the next higher gear, and still stay in the 2,000 - 2,200 RPM still making 200+ HP!
Good luck with your selection!
Fred.
