First test towing.

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CalDad14

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My wife and I grew up Camping. We do the same for our kids. We chop wood, haul water and cook over our camp fire. My in-laws have a nice roomy camper. So usually, my wife and I tent it, and our kids stay in the camper w/Grandma & Grandpa. My father-in-law runs an 07' PW which he pulls a camper with. He installs "Timbrens" when he tows. My brother-in-law runs a 2012' PW which he pulls his camper with. Both awesome machines. Unfortunately my wife and I don't have it like that! I went w/a 17' Ram 1500 SLT. Plain Jane! Didn't even come w/a CD player! But I've got six seats, a six speed and 392gears so if we ever do get a little camper in the future we'd have a capable truck to pull it.

Fast forward four years to this past Sunday. We rented a little camper. 19ft single axle, 2400lbs. Loaded up our five year old twins, food, supplies along w/a small generator. Including the tongue weight from the trailer, I guesstimate my payload at around 1200lbs. I know, I didn't weigh it, so I'm not certain! My truck's payload is rated for 1530lbs. I had about an inch and a half in between the bottom of my bump stops and the top of the axle shaft.

She did pretty good. Put approx. 500kms on our trip, AC on and super windy on our drive back. Got about 13mpgs. Not great, but not horrible, right??? I average 16mpgs. One time I got 20mpgs, but that was a long road trip. Unfortunately, since we rented the camper, we picked it up on our way out of town. So the truck was packed w/everything. Had I been able to transfer some of the weight from the truck into the camper, I'm sure that would have made a difference. Happy with the way the truck performed. For the most part. She sure likes to shift though. I'm sure the more I tow the more I'll get a feel for how she likes to run.

So to end this lengthy post(apologies)! Does anyone know how exactly my six speed transmission(A6 65RFE) works once I engage the Tow/Haul mode? It felt like it would rarely, if ever shift into 6th gear. When I would manually shift in between 5th and 6th, it sure didn't seem like anything happened. Also, it acted almost like it had a jake brake? Coming down hill, if I brake just little to refrain from gaining too much speed. The truck would downshift to help slow me down. Even on flat ground, like entering city limits. Going from highway speed and slowing down, all of a sudden she would downshift on me. Sometimes quite dramatically.

If anyone knows the exact ins and outs these six speeds, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
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Princeton_Man

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Tow/Haul eliminates shifting to 6th (Overdrive) gear. I have a 2011 1500 Big Horn with the 6 speed auto trans and pull a 31' camper, it probably hits about 8500lbs loaded with our supplies, clothing, etc. I use the Tow/Haul mode anytime I'm towing and never experience any odd behavior. Yes, if I tap the brake on a grade, she does downshift to help control speed, but driving, even in my mountainous are, I don't see a lot of shifting.
 
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Daw14

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Tow haul button is for just that , towing or hauling a heavy load . It will help to keep your transmission from destruction. Lots will say you don’t need to use it , however it would never have been installed if not needed .Ram would not waste money if they thought it wasn’t called for.
 

crash68

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As for the for the braking, the trans stays locked up to use engine braking as to lessen the load on your regular brakes. Going downhill on a grade without engine braking can lead to your regular brakes overheating and brake fade.
 

kurek

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Sounds to me like yours is working as it should. Tow/haul mode increases line pressure, changes the shift map to reduce hunting and increases downshift/hold when coasting or driving down grades to improve safety.

Don't forget to perform fluid maintenance on the transmission, I think 60-80k miles is a prudent interval. They're a good piece of machinery just a little out of date by now.
 
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CalDad14

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Tow/Haul eliminates shifting to 6th (Overdrive) gear. I have a 2011 1500 Big Horn with the 6 speed auto trans and pull a 31' camper, it probably hits about 8500lbs loaded with our supplies, clothing, etc. I use the Tow/Haul mode anytime I'm towing and never experience any odd behavior. Yes, if I tap the brake on a grade, she does downshift to help control speed, but driving, even in my mountainous are, I don't see a lot of shifting.

Tow/Haul eliminates shifting to 6th (Overdrive) gear. I have a 2011 1500 Big Horn with the 6 speed auto trans and pull a 31' camper, it probably hits about 8500lbs loaded with our supplies, clothing, etc. I use the Tow/Haul mode anytime I'm towing and never experience any odd behavior. Yes, if I tap the brake on a grade, she does downshift to help control speed, but driving, even in my mountainous are, I don't see a lot of shifting.
Thanks for the feedback Princeton_Man. A few questions for you. What gears do have in your truck? The reason I ask, I'm just curious where your RPM's run at highway speed(not towing)? At approximately 70mph my truck runs around 1950RPM's(not towing). How is your gas mileage when you're towing? Last question, did you upgrade your rear suspension? Heavier duty springs, air bags, Timbrens? To me 8500lbs would be quite the load for a half-ton truck. My 17' Ram 1500 SLT, Crew Cab, 5'7" box, 4x4, 6-speed, 392gears; Payload is rated at 1530lbs, max trailer rating is 10,160lbs, GCWR is 15,950lbs. I feel I would have the Horse Power and Torque to Tow/Haul that much. But I sure would be worried about the handling, the suspension and braking w/that much weight. Thanks.
 
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GsRAM

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Thanks for the feedback Princeton_Man. A few questions for you. What gears do have in your truck? The reason I ask, I'm just curious where your RPM's run at highway speed(not towing)? At approximately 70mph my truck runs around 1950RPM's(not towing). How is your gas mileage when you're towing? Last question, did you upgrade your rear suspension? Heavier duty springs, air bags, Timbrens? To me 8500lbs would be quite the load for a half-ton truck. My 17' Ram 1500 SLT, Crew Cab, 5'7" box, 4x4, 6-speed, 392gears; Payload is rated at 1530lbs, max trailer rating is 10,160lbs, GCWR is 15,950lbs. I feel I would have the Horse Power and Torque to Tow/Haul that much. But I sure would be worried about the handling, the suspension and braking w/that much weight. Thanks.
You would be correct. PM absolutely is pushing the limits of half ton towing. To me, north of 8k loaded trailer weight is 2500 territory.

It can be done with proper set up, but one must be careful of grawr and not exceeding that.
 

Burla

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The Tow/Haul also prolongs your shift points as to keep the veh in the power range more. You numbers seem good for towing.
This, basically TH simply leaves you in higher rpm's at all times. I used it for over 8 years to do away with low rpm shudder, and it worked perfectly, no low rpm's ever.
 

Loudram

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And IMHO your truck is set up better to tow with than those two PW's. They are very capable trucks but their payload is very low because they are so heavy. I purposely bought an Express with a few added options including the 3.92 rear because I wanted a higher payload. The more options a truck has the lower the payload. Feel free to post any more towing questions here or in the towing section. There are a lot of guys in here that tow with 1500's including myself. I have a 29' travel trailer that's in the low 7k range loaded. It tows like a dream.
 
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CalDad14

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And IMHO your truck is set up better to tow with than those two PW's. They are very capable trucks but their payload is very low because they are so heavy. I purposely bought an Express with a few added options including the 3.92 rear because I wanted a higher payload. The more options a truck has the lower the payload. Feel free to post any more towing questions here or in the towing section. There are a lot of guys in here that tow with 1500's including myself. I have a 29' travel trailer that's in the low 7k range loaded. It tows like a dream.
Thanks for the feedback Lou. I assume your 19' Ram 1500 is an 8-speed? Just wondering where your RPM's are while running at highway speeds(not towing)? My 17' Ram 1500, 5.7 Hemi, Crew Cab, 4x4, 392gears, at 70mph she's around 1950RPM's(not towing). Also, how is your gas mileage when you are towing? Again, thanks for the feedback. I went back and forth in between half-ton or 3/4 ton before we ultimately decided on the half-ton. Not sure if I'm feeling a bit of buyers remorse? But, it was not only the first time towing w/the truck. But also the first time I towed/hauled that type of trailer or that much weight w/the family. Needless to say, nerves were high! It turned out to be a great trip and overall I was pleased w/how the truck performed. I think I need to tow more to really get a feel for how the truck wants to run. As well as finding the right set-up; trailer length, weight, WDH. As with everything, the more I do it, the more comfortable I will be. It's all about getting the family home safely. Thanks again.
 

Loudram

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MPG is about 10 to 12 towing. RPM's I'm not sure but yes it's an 8 spd. Most likely you'll never hit your max tow weight so I wouldn't sweat that number to much. Payload is what you have to keep an eye on. And a good quality weight distribution/ anti-sway hitch is a must. I've used an Equalizer hitch in the past and loved it but I think I found a hitch I like better. It's the Weigh Safe True Tow hitch. Here's the thread I started about it.

It's one of the more expensive hitches but it's worth the money. The real test is going to be in two weeks when I head out to All Truck Nationals in Carlisle PA. That's about a 3 hour drive for me.
 
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