Towing questions

[ejd43]

Hello my fellow campers! New to the forum and I figured someone here could help me with a concern I have. Last fall we had upgraded our camper, we went from a hybrid to a 32 foot travel trailer. While towing it home I watched all my temperature gauges to make sure all was well. My transmission temp sat around 160-170 on the 4 hour drive home, and the oil temp stayed around 215 degrees, engine temp was normal as well. However, towing it from winter storage to our campground a few weeks ago I noticed everything was still in good range except for my oil temperature. It was 248 in just the hour trip from my house to the campground. My question is, would it be wise to install an oil cooler, or should I run better oil in my truck? We have one long haul trip planned in July, it's only 6 hours but I don't want to compromise my truck in the process. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

By the way my truck is a 2013 Ram 1500.

[LoudRam]

robertr93 wrote:
Is there a recommendation on engine oils in towing? My TV oil temp raises whenever I go up hills for more than a mile. Normal range is at about 190 but when going up hill it can reach 215-220 degrees. How high is too high before I have to pull over? I'm relatively new to towing a trailer and I have a trip coming up in July where I have to go through mountains for an extended distance.

As far as weight, use what is recommended for your truck. As far as brand your going to get a thousand answers. I use Walmart full synthetic. It's got an API rating so that's what I go with. But use a good filter. Wix makes a good filter. They make NAPA filters.

[time2roll]

What gear you in, what speed you runnin' and what RPM are you turning? I recommend Mobil 1 oil but I doubt it will help much. Keep your rpm 2500+ on the flats and a bit more on the hills.

Otherwise put some tape over the gauge and drive.

[robertr93]

Is there a recommendation on engine oils in towing? My TV oil temp raises whenever I go up hills for more than a mile. Normal range is at about 190 but when going up hill it can reach 215-220 degrees. How high is too high before I have to pull over? I'm relatively new to towing a trailer and I have a trip coming up in July where I have to go through mountains for an extended distance.

[trailer_newbe]

250 in the summer towing a heavy trailer in mountain areas I would consider normal. This time of year, I would look into the matter. As far as towing your trailer with a 1/2 ton, you are close, but doesn't appear over. Under these conditions everything needs to be in good shape and performing close to new.

[LoudRam]

philh wrote:


Which seals do you think "swell"? Most sealing is done with RTV. Rotating parts and some other seals are a polymer, so they don't react to anything in the oil.

https://www.cars.com/articles/is-oil-for-high-mileage-engines-worth-the-extra-cost-1420680439321/

https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/05/use-high-mileage-oil-car.html

These two articles explain what happens when you use high mileage oil and what seals are affected better than I could.

[philh]

LoudRam wrote:
How so? The additives in high milage oil swell the seals to stop leaks and blow by. The seals then brake in or wear in again with the expanded size. If you stop using high milage oil then the seals shrink back to the original size and leak more.

Now there was a myth about once you use synthetic oil you can't go back to regular dino oil. Is that what you were thinking of?

Which seals do you think "swell"? Most sealing is done with RTV. Rotating parts and some other seals are a polymer, so they don't react to anything in the oil.

[TurnThePage]

My oil routinely climbs close to 240-250 when towing my trailer. The truck has lots of built in protection, which has never reared it's head yet. Mine is a 2015 Ram 1500.

[LoudRam]

philh wrote:

LoudRam wrote:
But be warned if you use high milage oil (any brand) for any length of time you'll have to stick with high mileage from that point on.

Untrue urban legend

How so? The additives in high milage oil swell the seals to stop leaks and blow by. The seals then brake in or wear in again with the expanded size. If you stop using high milage oil then the seals shrink back to the original size and leak more.

Now there was a myth about once you use synthetic oil you can't go back to regular dino oil. Is that what you were thinking of?

[philh]

LoudRam wrote:
But be warned if you use high milage oil (any brand) for any length of time you'll have to stick with high mileage from that point on.

Untrue urban legend

[gmckenzie]

ejd43 wrote:
My apologies, the camper is a keystone cougar. Unladen weight is 7,000 lbs. It says my max is 8500 lbs that I can tow according to the chart. I really hope I didn't miscalculate what the truck can actually haul.

What model Cougar? Most with a dry weight of 7K are more than 8.5K loaded. And dry weight is irrelevant.

I think you don't have enough truck for the trailer.

For comparison, I have a 2015 GMC Sierra with their full on trailer package. Brochure says I can pull 10,900 and I'm at the payload limit with a trailer weighing 8,200 (actual scale weight).

But I'm not sure engine oil temp would be the first to overheat. I'd think the tranny and coolant would heat up first, so that's odd.

[LoudRam]

If you do your own oil changes make sure you use the correct weight which is 5w-20. Personally I use Walmart full synthetic high milage in my Ram and also in the Grand Cherokee I just traded in. That had a Hemi too. Some people will scoff at using Walmart oil but it has an API rating so it meets all the standards. But be warned if you use high milage oil (any brand) for any length of time you'll have to stick with high mileage from that point on.

[Jebby14]

give us the numbers on the truck. I suspect you are asking a lot of your ram.

[philh]

5000 miles on good oil is nothing

[Grit_dog]

In general you shouldn't have to worry about engine oil temp towing anything near or at the truck's tow rating.
250 sounds high though for cool weather, but idk what you were doing with the truck. Watching the gauge after a full throttle pull up a grade, or cruise at 60mph on a flat road?
Either way, Dino oil is good to at least 260 ish without any ill effects. Syn is good north of 300deg.
Were your trans and coolant temps high as well? If not then maybe you have an issue with oil cooling.

If it makes you feel better, I'm not a newbie to towing and can't say I've ever looked at oil temp (well, couple times on my new company truck that has the feature) and have never blown an engine.
Change the oil, keep an eye on it and see if it was relative to the conditions or an anomalie.