Mountain Towing

[bogie514]

I am planning on taking an extended trip that will include time in Leadville, Colorado at 10,000 ft, and other western states. I am looking for advice from those who have done mountain and high altitude towing with a similar set up to what I have (see below). Will this be safe and dowable? I will be will under my max payload and tow rating by a wide margin. I did tow my old pop-up with a minivan through the mountains years ago - a case of ignorance is bliss.

Using the formula below, I understand that by the time I hit 7000 feet I will have lost 68 hp.

% HP LOSS = (ALT x 0.03 x 1) / 1000

Tow vehicle: 2008 Silverado 1500, Crew Cab, 5.3 L, Z71, 3.73 gear, Prodigy Brake controller (about 10 years old - can't remember the model number)

Camper: 2016 Freedom Express 231RBDS, 26'10", 5100lbs unloaded, 6100lbs estimated loaded.

My old camper was about 900 lbs less than my current camper. I was surprised how much of a difference that 900 lbs made when going uphill. On the flat I can't tell any difference.

Tom

[bogie514]

Over thinking, worry too much....never! You must have been talking to my wife.

Again, thanks for all the information.

Tom

[_40Fan]

Bionic Man wrote:
6100 pound trailer with a 2008 1500? I believe you are over thinking this.

Use the gearing as suggested when going down hills and take your time. You will be fine.

Agree!

We're not climbing to the moon out here. OP, you'll be fine. Steer clear of that CAI, please.

[mileshuff]

With a typical diesel turbo'd truck I'd assume any HP loss is minimal. I do a lot of mountain towing so one reason I won't go back to gas.

[time2roll]

No worries. Plan to go slow at times. If you can get past the speed issue you will have a great time.
You have more truck and less trailer than me and I have definitely been up those 10,000' mountains.

[bogie514]

My truck does have a transmission temperature gauge; as Raceman6135 said, it is in the Driver Information and has to be selected.

Thank you for all the great advice.

Tom

[raceman6135]

CampingN.C. wrote:
Being it's a 1500 there's no trans temp gauge.

It may have one. My 2008 GMC Sierra 1500 has one and can be read in the DIC display, accessed by using the DIC buttons. If the vehicle does not have DIC buttons, use the trip meter reset button to scroll through until the transmission temp is found.

[jerem0621]

Yea, I'd worry about the day or two worth of strong headwind more than the relatively small amount of time you will be pulling the mountain. Those are really good trucks and you shouldn't have a problem pulling that trailer as long as your truck is well maintained.

Just be prepared to gear down and let the 5.3 rev into the powerband...I wouldn't be surprised to see 4000-4500 rpm while pulling.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Bionic_Man]

6100 pound trailer with a 2008 1500? I believe you are over thinking this.

Use the gearing as suggested when going down hills and take your time. You will be fine.

[Mike_LeClair]

CampingN.C. wrote:
Being it's a 1500 there's no trans temp gauge. I'd recommend a replacement pan with a temp port and an aftermarket gauge on the dash. You would also gain some extra fluid capacity. I believe they make them for the 4L60e that you should have. I might would even look into a larger cooler than the OE one. The "HD" one that's on there isn't much. I only say that because I had a 2500HD with the 6.0 and the stock cooler was tiny.
I would flush the coolant and replace rear end gear oil as well.
Save you $$$ on the CAI, just replace the OE filter.

This is well said IMHO. Lots of good advice in other posts as well. Change out ALL of your fluids front to back, give her a premium tune up, make sure that the running gear on the trailer is spot on and get a trans temp gauge in easy sight on the dash of your truck. Personally, I would save your $$$ on a CAI, to me they are all about marketing hype. The engineers that build these trucks are pretty clever at determining ideal air/fuel ratios. Put it a GOOD air filter and you should be able to suck in enough air to keep your fuel mix quite happy.

Cheers and enjoy your trip. Give us some updates if you can!

Mike

[CampingN_C_]

Being it's a 1500 there's no trans temp gauge. I'd recommend a replacement pan with a temp port and an aftermarket gauge on the dash. You would also gain some extra fluid capacity. I believe they make them for the 4L60e that you should have. I might would even look into a larger cooler than the OE one. The "HD" one that's on there isn't much. I only say that because I had a 2500HD with the 6.0 and the stock cooler was tiny.
I would flush the coolant and replace rear end gear oil as well.
Save you $$$ on the CAI, just replace the OE filter.

[valhalla360]

If the trailer is within the trucks ratings and the truck is in good running order, no real concerns. You might go up the hills slowly but just get in line with semi's.

Take your time coming down and use a lower gear as your first line of braking. Then use the brakes hard but for short bursts so they stay cool.

[Old-Biscuit]

DON'T ride the brakes......use tranny downshift as necessary to decrease/hold speed down when descending

Stab brakes.......use them to aggressively reduce speed by 10 mph and then get off of them so they can cool and don't fade on you

Slow and easy.....stay in control and pull over if holding up traffic. RELAX.

[bbaker2001]

x2 on watching temps.
coming down be careful of brake fade. stop and let cool down if needed. you are on vacation, just take your time, and I think you will be ok.

[GordonThree]

I never noticed HP loss at altitude... my tiny trailer is far too light for the hemi to notice it by weight alone.

what it does notice is a head wind. I forget what highway it was, coming out of Vegas toward death valley, a really long moderate grade climb to only about 5000-6000ft? STRONG wind from the West, as I was heading west. This was the only time I've taken pitty on the hemi and backed off from the speed limit as I watched the oil and trans temps climb into the upper 25 (percent) of the gauge.

I don't have a manual transmission, I don't pretend to have one either, playing with the gears. I occasionally downshift on steep downhill grades when tow-haul doesn't for some reason (usually it does automatically)

just my 5cents

oops, forgot good sam inc. doesnt like percent signs

[Dennis_M_M]

If you have an iPhone search for "Mountain Directory East and West" in the app store. A great app!

Pay more attention to the downhill than the uphill! That app will tell you the slowest curve on the downhill side.

At the top determine your target max speed for the downhill run.

Start down in the appropriate gear for that speed, but 5 to 10 MPH below your target. Use your engine brake if you have one.

Let the speed build until you reach your target speed, then brake firmly to drop down 5 to 10 MPH, then release the brakes and don't touch them again until you get back up to your target speed.

Repeat as necessary.