troubledwaters wrote:
The other side of the coin is I'm never going to tow up the Davis Dam grade in 100° heat. So if it can do that at 35 mph, it should be just fine at 65 mph anywhere I'm going.
Not necessarily. The J2807 test at Davis Dam peaks out at just 3,500 ft above elevation at the very end. If you are towing above 5,000 ft, then you have lost a lot more engine power especially if your truck is naturally aspirated which looses about 3% engine power per 1,000 ft versus 1.5% for forced induction engines. The Ike Gauntlet for example starts at 8,000 ft and ends at 11,000 ft so you would probably be going a lot slower than 35 mph on the Ike if all you can do at Davis Dam is 35 mph towing the same amount.
However, why is having such a high tow rating (and only doing 35 mph to get that rating) so important? What would you rather be able to say, my truck can tow its rated 20k at a minimum of 55 mph or my truck can tow its rated 30k at a minimum of 35 mph? Why is lowering the standards just so you can post a higher tow rating number so important? That is like making a test easier just so you can get a better score like they do with many kids these days.
