1st time towing w truck and concerned

[BeachGirl]

You'll definitely see 230 - 250 pulling that load in hilly/mountainous terrain, anything with higher rpms and low MPH will cause temps to rise as there is less air flow over the engine. 240 is absolutely nothing to worry about, and you should expect to hit peaks of 250 as well in some conditions. I just towed home this past weekend and got caught in stop and go traffic, then had to climb a steep twisty grade for about 1 minute in first and second gear all the way up, it was toasty at the top, about 250 as well and that's just because it was at 3000+ rpms with no air flow. On the freeway at 2200 RPMs it should stay at <= 230.

"struggle" is highly subjective though. With T/H engaged you'll notice the truck uses higher rpms, higher than if you left it off, this is by design as the truck makes most power at 4000+ RPMs and it will rev up to get you there when needed.

So it's hard to guess whether you're just new to towing and seeing a truck work for the first time, or whether there is something wrong with your specific truck.

Does your truck have lots of power otherwise, outside of towing? If it's just something you're noticing while towing then my guess is you're just seeing a N/A v8 work (possibly at higher altitude/mountains where it loses power with height).

Do you have a 6 speed transmission or an 8?

Struggle= it kept losing speed the higher 8 climbed.
It seems to do ok with hills w/o towing. I live on a mountain and around other mountains. None as big as Black Mountain. And Black is not as big as what I'll encounter going out to Colorado to see my brother.

 

[BeachGirl]

If it's a 2013, it's definitely a 6-speed.

230-250 seems nuts to me, but I'm used to my Cummins and it doesn't break 210 towing heavy up the side of a mountain. Granted I never towed very heavy with my 1500 but I can't recall ever breaking 220-230 temps. Maybe that's normal, but it just seems hot to me. I guess more importantly are trans temps. I wouldn't want to see those climb north of 230 for very long at all.

Im going to put a sticky note on the dash to remind myself to keep an eye on it and take pics every so often

 

[BeachGirl]

If it's a 2013, it's definitely a 6-speed.

230-250 seems nuts to me, but I'm used to my Cummins and it doesn't break 210 towing heavy up the side of a mountain. Granted I never towed very heavy with my 1500 but I can't recall ever breaking 220-230 temps. Maybe that's normal, but it just seems hot to me. I guess more importantly are trans temps. I wouldn't want to see those climb north of 230 for very long at all.

My brother has the 2924 Cummins now too. But he lives in Colorado and tied a large toy hauler now. It's nice. I didn't think I'd need it and didn't want to have to deal with Def or getting one that has been deleted and not tuned correctly. Id be buying a used one and around here most have been deleted.

 

[BeachGirl]

Are those temps oil temp or coolant? If oil temps that is normal towing in mountains. If coolant it is not. At least my 2018 will usually be 220 or so coolant when towing thru mountains with occasional spikes to 226 or 230 pulling long grades. Oil temp can see 260. Any higher than that i back down speeds until they reduce but usually i don't have to resort to that. 240 coolant is at or near overheating iirc.

Coolant

 

[BeachGirl]

230 trans temps will shorten the life of the trans, significantly. My advice to OP is to install a large external aux. trans oil cooler, and look for temps under 200, tops! Hayden makes an external cooler with a thermostat to address BRR cold winter temps. I generally install one for folks who tow under severe conditions (OP described conditions which, when added up, are severe) rated for 14000 pound (7 ton) motor homes.

As to which trans, is it possible that it might be a 545RFE? Those were in production until 2018.

I was wondering if I should see about adding the extra fan.
How do I know which trans I have?

 

[BeachGirl]

I agree with the posts saying that "struggling" is highly subjective depending on the person. You can have the exact same truck and trailer setup and one person will say you can't even tell the trailer is there, and another say it's struggling and can't hardly make it up a hill.
While I obviously haven't driven this exact truck and trailer setup, from experience I would say that the truck shouldn't have any issues pulling it....but you would know it was there. Especially climbing a steep mountain grade.
Whether in tow/haul or not, you should just be able to go and the trans will downshift as needed. If it was a really steep grade and the trans had downshifted a few gears you probably do need to give it a lot of gas. Not necessarily for the power but just so it's revving up enough to maintain 55 mph in the lower gears.

According to Mountain Directory,
"Between Black Mountain and Old Fort, there are five miles of strong 6%. The westbound descent is about 1-1/4 mile of 6%. "
6 isn't much. Ithink it was a combination of grade, distance and outside temperature. It was 90+ that day.
I do remember by the time I got to the top I was doing 50. It's a 70 road.

 

[Sherman Bird]

I was wondering if I should see about adding the extra fan.
How do I know which trans I have?

Look at the tag on the side of the transmission adjacent to the shift lever. It will clearly have the transmission model on it.

 

[62Blazer]

According to Mountain Directory,
"Between Black Mountain and Old Fort, there are five miles of strong 6%. The westbound descent is about 1-1/4 mile of 6%. "
6 isn't much. Ithink it was a combination of grade, distance and outside temperature. It was 90+ that day.
I do remember by the time I got to the top I was doing 50. It's a 70 road.

6% is a pretty good grade and is the steepest grade you are allowed to have on an interstate. 5 miles is also a long way and you would lose all of your momentum. The average car or light truck running empty will most likely need to downshift to maintain speeds on that type of grade, so then add a trailer with the weight and aerodynamic drag of going highway speeds. Keep in mind that pulling a 4,000 lb. trailer is the same as a 200 lb. person putting on a 130 lb. backpack and telling them to run against strong winds.
Did you have the gas pedal to the floor...I mean, did you really have it floored? You definitely would need to push the gas pedal further down to maintain speed.

 

[CamperMike]

I suspect something is wrong with the cooling system. 230 is high, 240 is at or near overheat. I actuality never had major issues going out west to Colorado or Wyoming but i did blow the head gasket traveling thru west Virginia. It only took temps in the 230s for this to happen but it also was probably just something off with my truck maybe a defect from the factory as it was still under warranty. That said i would be very nervous with those coolant temps you had.

 

[BeachGirl]

6% is a pretty good grade and is the steepest grade you are allowed to have on an interstate. 5 miles is also a long way and you would lose all of your momentum. The average car or light truck running empty will most likely need to downshift to maintain speeds on that type of grade, so then add a trailer with the weight and aerodynamic drag of going highway speeds. Keep in mind that pulling a 4,000 lb. trailer is the same as a 200 lb. person putting on a 130 lb. backpack and telling them to run against strong winds.
Did you have the gas pedal to the floor...I mean, did you really have it floored? You definitely would need to push the gas pedal further down to maintain speed.

If it wasn't all the way on the floor it was close.
Like your analogy one day next week I'll take the camper gor a ride locally. There are a few mountains that have steep grades, just not as long a distance. I'll do a video to try to get the truck to do it.
I may just be overreacting.

 

[BeachGirl]

If the T/H function was engaged and not shifting down automatically then I suspect it's not working.

Were you in cruise control as well?

On the flats I was in cruise

 

[nlambert182]

Please private message me. I'd love to go on a drive w you towing the camper to see if it's something I don't realize I'm doing

Sorry, just seeing this. I wish I had the time right now, but unfortunately we have a kid moving to college in a couple weeks (so we're prepping), one starting high school, and 2 toddlers (nephews) that we're battling in court for. I haven't even moved my camper this year. Happy to help with advice here if possible, though.

 

[Hydrasport23]

If it's a 2013, the last half of the production year had the 8 speed. If you have the "rotary" shift knob, it's an 8 speed. Use tow/haul mode and let it decide when to shift. You may want to downshift to a lower gear if you need downhill braking. The TCM is very quick at reading inputs. The shift point rpm's will be high, compared to an unloaded truck, at times. Holding at 3000 rpm uphill is normal, not struggling. The hemi is just getting into it's torque at that rpm. I would change the thermostat to a 190 for towing. You will have to change the fan control temps to get the benefit of a lower temp thermostat. A hand held tuner can add a tow or performance tune and change the fan temps. My truck has a 190 thermostat coolant runs about 194 and up to 204 and oil never exceeds 220 if towing about 5,000 lbs. If I had to replace the thermostat again, it would be a 180. Helps the AC work better in traffic IMHO.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

What axel gears do you have?

I have a 2013 1500 4x4 5.4 hemi, w tow/haul and aftermarket trailer brake. About 154k miles. Camper and extra weight, about 4000lbs total
I towed my camper for the 1st time last week. Did some mountains going the southern route around Asheville NC including Black Mountain.
I forgot the tow/haul thing, but did have it off overdrive and down shifted as necessary. (Used to have a stuck shift)
On the way my thermostat died. I got that fixed, learned how to find the screen that shows exact temps and went on my way.
On the way home to AL, I had the tow/haul on, it seemed like it struggled going up some of the mountains. Felt like I had to floor it to go 50-55mph. Hottest the temp got was 1 time 244. Most of the time 230-240. It was 90-95 outside.

Am I supposed to push t/h and let it do its thing or still down shift?
Is this normal to feel like it was struggling? I'm well below the weight limit, and bought a V8 hemi just for this year of camping.
I want to go out to Colorado but am a little hesitant.

 

[OC455]

Type in your VIN into this site and it will tell you exactly what your truck has. No guess work.

FCA RAM

fcagroup.my.site.com

 

[BeachGirl]

If it's a 2013, the last half of the production year had the 8 speed. If you have the "rotary" shift knob, it's an 8 speed. Use tow/haul mode and let it decide when to shift. You may want to downshift to a lower gear if you need downhill braking. The TCM is very quick at reading inputs. The shift point rpm's will be high, compared to an unloaded truck, at times. Holding at 3000 rpm uphill is normal, not struggling. The hemi is just getting into it's torque at that rpm. I would change the thermostat to a 190 for towing. You will have to change the fan control temps to get the benefit of a lower temp thermostat. A hand held tuner can add a tow or performance tune and change the fan temps. My truck has a 190 thermostat coolant runs about 194 and up to 204 and oil never exceeds 220 if towing about 5,000 lbs. If I had to replace the thermostat again, it would be a 180. Helps the AC work better in traffic IMHO.

I know I have 6 speeds. I've manually shifted through them to check.
Ill ask at a loc a l shop about adjusting like you suggest and see what they say.