rhagfo wrote:
blofgren wrote:
With my manual transmission equipped Cummins, I simply see if it will pick up speed in whatever gear I'm in. If it does, then I don't consider it to be lugging. And it will happily tow my 16k high profile fiver on level ground at 1,500 rpm with no problem at all.
Too many gassers, shifting to diesel and don't understand how they work!
Diesel don't need to be screaming at higher rpm to provide power, they are designed to run at lower RPM.
I tow in the flats in OD, and at 60 or never have issues accelerating without down shifting. When I come to a noticeable hill I will drop one gear to 4th, and climb at about 2,000 rpm.
Even at idle I have 40 to 50 psi of oil pressure.
Exactly. I tow the vast majority of time in 6th gear and this includes moderate rolling grades. When I approach a larger grade I will perform a relaxed downshift into 5th gear which will bring it up to 2,200-2,300 rpm which will suffice on most grades. It is only on extreme mountain passes that I need to go down another gear to 4th. And my oil pressure is right where yours is.
I'm very happy with my 3.73 gears because it provides a great ratio for both towing and solo driving. My previous 2 trucks were 4.10 which were great for towing but suffered in solo driving with increased rpm which equates to more noise and burning more fuel. Certainly a necessity for towing very heavy but not for most IMHO.