UPDATE:
Well, I am back from my first trip with my TT. We spent a week up in Colorado and pulled mountains as high as 12,000 feet. I have to say that I am please with how my truck performed overall. Here is a run down of the upgrades I made to the truck and how they performed.
MY TRUCK and Travel Trailer
2007 Chevy Sliverado Crewcab with 5.3 V8, 4 speed auto trans with OEM tow package and 3.23 Rear end gear ratio. 2005 Kodiak 19FL.
UPGRADES:
1. Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control with Tekonsha 3015-P Brake Control Wiring Adapter.
2. BAFX Products - Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool with TORQUE PRO Android app for monitoring Transmission temps.
3. Fit System 80800 Chevrolet Silverado Towing Mirrors
4. Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler.
HOW THEY PERFORMED:
1. The Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control was easy to install and set up and performed exceptionally well. The Tekonsha 3015-P Brake Control Wiring Adapter fit my 2007 Silverado perfectly and made the install of the brake controller a breeze.
2. The BAFX Products - Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool with TORQUE PRO Android app work flawlessly during the whole trip and took all worry about transmission over heating problems completely away. It was a little difficult to get the Torque app set up for transmission temp monitoring on my truck because there is virtually no instructions for the app available. I had to sign up for and post questions on the Torque user forum to figure out the proper way to set the app up for transmission temp monitoring, but in the end it worked once I got set up and it was well worth it.
3. The Fit System 80800 Chevrolet Silverado Towing Mirrors snapped on my OEM mirrors like a glove. The mirrors made it easier to see what was behind me, but they were not all that great. The driver side extension was okay but the passenger side was completely useless. One problem with both sides was that the mirrors are not stable and bounce around a little. The mirrors are the same type for both sides (flat style mirrors). The flat style mirror works okay for the driver side and provided a decent (could be better) field of view, but on the passenger side the field of view is so narrow it is about 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide at the rear of my 24 foot TT. I bought a convex stick on mirror at walmart and stuck on the passenger side as a temporary measure to improve the field of view to a more useful level. I plan on making some custom improvements to both the mirrors now that I am home.
4. The Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler worked amazingly. Honestly, I am not sure I could have made the trip without it. Before I installed it my average transmission temp while not towing was about 168 and 190 while towing my TT on flat level ground at 60 MPH, and 200 or more pulling any small Texas hill. After I installed the Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler, my average temps while towing my TT fully loaded and wet was around 170 on flat ground and 180 while pulling mountains. My trans oil only got up to 200 degrees one time while pulling a super steep mountain that climbed 2500 feet over a span of 3 miles with sharp curves and speed limits of 20 MPH. My transmission finally reached 200 degrees just as I was cresting the top and stayed there for less the a minute and quickly cooled down to 170.
Overall, my truck did well in spite of the high gear ratio of the rear end. Of course, power was not available for fast take offs and acceleration while pulling a hill, but I did not feel that the truck was struggling that much to pull my TT. The Derale remote transmission cooler was a real life saver I feel. It was a little difficult to figure out how to install it because there absolutely no instruction, recommendation, consumer created videos or anything else on the internet on how or where to install this cooler. I ended up finding a perfect place to install it up behind the front bump. I had to create a custom bracket to install it there, but it works great. The kit a bought came with a oil thermostat to turn the fan on when the trans oil reaches a certain temperature, but I just wired the fan control into electric engine radiator fans so that the Derale cooler fan will turn on when the electric engine radiator fans turn on. Since I could find no instructions or guides on the internet on how to install this cooler, I took pictures and videos with my smartphone while I was installing to make my own video to post for other to use. Here is a photo.
Well, I am back from my first trip with my TT. We spent a week up in Colorado and pulled mountains as high as 12,000 feet. I have to say that I am please with how my truck performed overall. Here is a run down of the upgrades I made to the truck and how they performed.
MY TRUCK and Travel Trailer
2007 Chevy Sliverado Crewcab with 5.3 V8, 4 speed auto trans with OEM tow package and 3.23 Rear end gear ratio. 2005 Kodiak 19FL.
UPGRADES:
1. Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control with Tekonsha 3015-P Brake Control Wiring Adapter.
2. BAFX Products - Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool with TORQUE PRO Android app for monitoring Transmission temps.
3. Fit System 80800 Chevrolet Silverado Towing Mirrors
4. Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler.
HOW THEY PERFORMED:
1. The Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control was easy to install and set up and performed exceptionally well. The Tekonsha 3015-P Brake Control Wiring Adapter fit my 2007 Silverado perfectly and made the install of the brake controller a breeze.
2. The BAFX Products - Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool with TORQUE PRO Android app work flawlessly during the whole trip and took all worry about transmission over heating problems completely away. It was a little difficult to get the Torque app set up for transmission temp monitoring on my truck because there is virtually no instructions for the app available. I had to sign up for and post questions on the Torque user forum to figure out the proper way to set the app up for transmission temp monitoring, but in the end it worked once I got set up and it was well worth it.
3. The Fit System 80800 Chevrolet Silverado Towing Mirrors snapped on my OEM mirrors like a glove. The mirrors made it easier to see what was behind me, but they were not all that great. The driver side extension was okay but the passenger side was completely useless. One problem with both sides was that the mirrors are not stable and bounce around a little. The mirrors are the same type for both sides (flat style mirrors). The flat style mirror works okay for the driver side and provided a decent (could be better) field of view, but on the passenger side the field of view is so narrow it is about 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide at the rear of my 24 foot TT. I bought a convex stick on mirror at walmart and stuck on the passenger side as a temporary measure to improve the field of view to a more useful level. I plan on making some custom improvements to both the mirrors now that I am home.
4. The Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler worked amazingly. Honestly, I am not sure I could have made the trip without it. Before I installed it my average transmission temp while not towing was about 168 and 190 while towing my TT on flat level ground at 60 MPH, and 200 or more pulling any small Texas hill. After I installed the Derale 13950 Atomic-Cool Remote Transmission Cooler, my average temps while towing my TT fully loaded and wet was around 170 on flat ground and 180 while pulling mountains. My trans oil only got up to 200 degrees one time while pulling a super steep mountain that climbed 2500 feet over a span of 3 miles with sharp curves and speed limits of 20 MPH. My transmission finally reached 200 degrees just as I was cresting the top and stayed there for less the a minute and quickly cooled down to 170.
Overall, my truck did well in spite of the high gear ratio of the rear end. Of course, power was not available for fast take offs and acceleration while pulling a hill, but I did not feel that the truck was struggling that much to pull my TT. The Derale remote transmission cooler was a real life saver I feel. It was a little difficult to figure out how to install it because there absolutely no instruction, recommendation, consumer created videos or anything else on the internet on how or where to install this cooler. I ended up finding a perfect place to install it up behind the front bump. I had to create a custom bracket to install it there, but it works great. The kit a bought came with a oil thermostat to turn the fan on when the trans oil reaches a certain temperature, but I just wired the fan control into electric engine radiator fans so that the Derale cooler fan will turn on when the electric engine radiator fans turn on. Since I could find no instructions or guides on the internet on how to install this cooler, I took pictures and videos with my smartphone while I was installing to make my own video to post for other to use. Here is a photo.
