Tow haul & cruise control-mountain passes

[Grand Mesa]

Living within a high mountainous area I utilize both the tow haul and the cruise control on my 2016 Power Wagon to control my speed while ascending and descending the multitude of steep mountain passes which are located around here.

This is my first automatic truck for nearly 40 years and I have always used my manual transmission lower gears versus burning up the brakes to control my downhill speed. I just returned from a quick 1,300 mile trip to the Texas panhandle from western Colorado while pulling a 4,000 pound trailer.

While descending a 50 mph zone on the east side of the 10,135 foot high North Cochetopa Pass between Saguache and Gunnison, Colorado I had my cruise control set at 46 mph with the tow haul on. The truck was holding the 50 mph speed limit and the slower cornering by automatically downshifting to lower gears as it has done multiple times before while I adjusted the cruise control speed setting. I like this feature a lot due to I can watch the road and especially for the stupid deer whom run out into it.

Further down this pass the road becomes straight and the speed limit increases to 65 mph, but the steady grade is still around 6%. Not the steepest or even mildly challenging downhill grade that I drive, but it is steep enough to get a truck easily out of control while towing. I increased the cruise control to 62 mph to compensate for the higher 65 mph speed limit, however, the transmission stayed put in a lower gear and the RPM increased to as high as 6,500. I turned off the tow mode in an attempt to make it shift to a higher gear and increased the cruise control to 75 mph. I saw the ECO light come on, but it still stayed in the lower gear and the RPM increased further to near the 7,000 gauge limit. My speed increased to 65 mph and so I applied the brakes turning off the cruise control and slowed the truck down to 45 mph. The truck finally shifted into a higher gear.

I didn't have any instances of this happening again over the five mountain passes in the return trip across the same stretches of highway.

 

[sandawilliams]

Living within a high mountainous area I utilize both the tow haul and the cruise control on my 2016 Power Wagon to control my speed while ascending and descending the multitude of steep mountain passes which are located around here.

This is my first automatic truck for nearly 40 years and I have always used my manual transmission lower gears versus burning up the brakes to control my downhill speed. I just returned from a quick 1,300 mile trip to the Texas panhandle from western Colorado while pulling a 4,000 pound trailer.

While descending a 50 mph zone on the east side of the 10,135 foot high North Cochetopa Pass between Saguache and Gunnison, Colorado I had my cruise control set at 46 mph with the tow haul on. The truck was holding the 50 mph speed limit and the slower cornering by automatically downshifting to lower gears as it has done multiple times before while I adjusted the cruise control speed setting. I like this feature a lot due to I can watch the road and especially for the stupid deer whom run out into it.

Further down this pass the road becomes straight and the speed limit increases to 65 mph, but the steady grade is still around 6%. Not the steepest or even mildly challenging downhill grade that I drive, but it is steep enough to get a truck easily out of control while towing. I increased the cruise control to 62 mph to compensate for the higher 65 mph speed limit, however, the transmission stayed put in a lower gear and the RPM increased to as high as 6,500. I turned off the tow mode in an attempt to make it shift to a higher gear and increased the cruise control to 75 mph. I saw the ECO light come on, but it still stayed in the lower gear and the RPM increased further to near the 7,000 gauge limit. My speed increased to 65 mph and so I applied the brakes turning off the cruise control and slowed the truck down to 45 mph. The truck finally shifted into a higher gear.

I didn't have any instances of this happening again over the five mountain passes in the return trip across the same stretches of highway.

I tow in our mountains often. I never use cruise while doing so. When approaching the incline I manually shift into the gear that will pull the grade and maintain adequate RPM's. When descending I am in a low enough gear to stay about 5 MPH under the speed limit to better handle the curves on our passes. I tow 8000# with another 1000 in the bed. I've towed all our major passes and this works best for me. I also allow other vehicles to pass wherever possible to keep the backups to a minimum.
When you hit 7000 rpms your truck was begging you to slow down. Although our trucks are governed for speed and rpms you can still blow them up going downhill. If I ever see you in my rear view mirror coming off Monarch I'll make sure to get out of your way. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Grand Mesa]

Yes, I drive Monarch Pass often too and I was using the lower gear selector until just recently. Never had an issue.with using it. I have tried the cruise control with the tow haul on due to the road was entirely dry and I found it a bit safer to keep my eyes firmly on the road versus selecting the gear on the dash by looking at each individual gear number selection. I will take your advice and go back to the gear selector method due to I agree that too high RPM isn't good at all.

It happened very quickly due to the truck accelerated as I wanted it to once I increased the cruise control speed to 65 mph and I expected it to upshift to adjust for the increased speed limit. I responded immediately to correct for the higher RPM. I believe that the transmission should have upshifted to keep the RPM lower, but it didn't. It had upshifted many times before while I was towing over the two other summits to the west of Gunnison with the cruise control and tow haul on that night. It also worked excellent on the 5 summits back to Grand Junction keeping my speed well below the suggested cornering speed limits. Never once did I need to use the brakes due to the truck controlled the down hill speed to a slow pace.

There is a quite similar to North Cochetopa Pass 65 MPH zone straight away just east of Sargents on Monarch Pass of which the speed limit was at 45 MPH going down the grade until just before the two last corners it increases to 65 mph and the the road levels out.

I drive at speed limit and normally much slower while towing always. North Cochetopa Pass is not anything like Monarch. It is a quite mild drive, whereas, Monarch Pass isn't, especially on the west side with a minimal amount of guard rails and cliffs.

Also, I have a immediate family member whom works up above the town of Monarch and so I drive there often, but Monarch Pass was covered with snow and ice last Thursday night and so my wife and I went over North Cochetopa Pass of which we have been over many times before.

You do not have to get out of my way due to I am not reckless while towing even when towing a lighter under 4,000 pound trailer with electric brakes.

 

[Warner R Rohr]

I have a2018 Power wagon and I am wondering if I put air bags in the rear coils if this will allow me to haul a heavier trailer. What I want to haul is a gearbox trailer dry weight is 12500lbs

 

[Grand Mesa]

Not a good idea with the stock load range D tires that come on the 2018. You'll need load range E tires. That's my opinion to avoid tire sway on towing beyond the specification. My next set of tires will be load range E due to the stock load range D tires handled very poorly with 33 forty pound bags of wood pellets in the bed. Otherwise, the tires are great.

The air bags with the Power Wagon's lighter springs, the 2" lift, 300 pound winch, and other Power Wagon suspension modifications I have no experience with in regards to heavier than specification towing. Best advice is to post this on a new thread to get the most response.

 

[sandawilliams]

Grand Mesa- Our transmissions wont shift up if there is much of a downhill grade. Even empty if they sense much of an increase in speed, empty or loaded, they will downshift themselves to try and hold the same speed while going down hill. They will remain in that gear until the speed levels out and then upshift.

 

[1quick1]

I wonder if you accidentally hit the gear selector button. I've done it 2x. The first time I'm screaming along at 5500rpm wondering WTF is happening. Took me a few seconds to realize I accidentally hit the selector which just held the gear I was in at that moment.

 

[Grand Mesa]

Grand Mesa- Our transmissions wont shift up if there is much of a downhill grade. Even empty if they sense much of an increase in speed, empty or loaded, they will downshift themselves to try and hold the same speed while going down hill. They will remain in that gear until the speed levels out and then upshift.

Yes, that's what my wife figured it did too properly and I agree with it. Since that happened I have waited until the road leveled out prior to increasing the speed to the much higher posted speed limit or if need be braked to get the load off it.

I was avoiding the speed selector method due to on several occasions on the steep grade of the Colorado Highway 65 that we live near the time it takes to find the displayed gear became an issue.

On several occasions after pulling on to it and selecting the right gear on the display to hold it after reaching the 50 mph speed limit I haven't noticed the deer standing in the dark on the side of the road. 20 to 30 deer sightings during some nights isn't too unusual.

We also have a lot of tourists whom have passed us going at a too high rate of speed while towing their 5th wheelers, so we have to quickly get up to the speed limit or move over and then hold it back on the grade. Unfortunately, a man was killed last week taking a corner of which I would expect was too fast on Highway 65 due to he hit a parked car on the opposite side of the road.

With my 5 speed.manual transmission K1500 I just put it into 2nd, 3rd or 4th without looking away from the road at anytime. I can hear the truck going down the grade and pretty much know the speed from the sound and gear selected with an occasional glance at the speedometer. Getting use to an automatic ever since I drove my first manual transmission in a 1962 IH Scout back in 1971 when I was 13. I still prefer manual transmissions over an automatic, but an automatic is what one can gets with the Power Wagon.

 

[sandawilliams]

After you tow more with your setup I think you will be able to feel the shift switch on the lever without ever looking at it. It took me a while but now it is comfortable.

 

[Grand Mesa]

That's my intent too.

The gear button selector though seems to respond with a possible slower response in gear selection when the temperature dips below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Just a gut feeling due to on more than one occasion it has jumped down two gears due to a somewhat slower response to a patient shift button push.

I have found in extreme cold though that the pushing the cruise control on button usually is either very slow to respond at very cold temperatures (below 10) or it doesn't want to respond at all until the cab gets above freezing.

Also, at highway speeds in below 10 degree weather with the tires at their maximum pressure per specifications at the coldest temperature, the TPMS warning symbol in very remote highway occasions has flashed, caused warning bells on start up, and remained within the screen warning of a problem when driving along. Whereas, the fronts tires when driving along at highway speeds were showing on the screen both 66 psi and the rears at both 71 psi. Spare tire was fully inflated too. I figured that when I inflated them at 10 degrees Fahrenheit that moisture got into the tires and froze onto the TPMS tire sensors. I had issues with ice freezing up my compressor lines during inflation, but then 10 degrees was the warmest it got that day.

All works just fine when its warmer than 10 degrees and just splendid once I am anywhere near any Ram dealership.

 

[Grand Mesa]

When the Power Wagon stays put in a lower gear such as 3rd or 4th due to it is holding the truck back in speed while descending a slight grade (incline) of which the road speed limit has since increased (usually due to a straighter road), whereas, the hill is still the same grade. Anyhow, I figured out how to make it up shift by first turning off the cruise control if it is on, then manually selecting down to 5th gear then manually shifting back to 6th gear. Kicks it out of the lower gear to the highest gear without having to slow down the truck to nearly a stop until it eventually can up shift.

 

[scoutpappa]

http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/25/autos/fca-recall-cruise-control/index.html

After reading through this I'm curious if this is a symptom of the above recall. Thankfully it didn't remain engaged but food for thought.

 

[Grand Mesa]

Just getting the cruise control to engage during winter days (below 10 degrees Fahrenheit) is quite a challenge due to the pushing of the cruise button doesn't do anything when it's too cold. That isn't stated in their recall either. Both my son's 2014 Ram 2500 and my 2016 Power Wagon have this same issue. Maybe it is a safety issue since driving on icy or snow covered roads with the cruise control on isn't advisable as per WYDOT (Wyoming Dept. of Transportation) road signs. Unfortunately, it can stay in the minus temperatures around here all winter day with nothing, but plenty of sunshine and dry pavement.

I am wondering if the issue with the cruise control is extreme cold weather related? There have been plenty of much more expensive top of the heap engineering marvels which didn't work as intended in cold situations such as the Titanic and the Space Shuttle Challenger...

(Retired from a 36 year career in defense and aerospace, including work on the Space Shuttle).

 

[sandawilliams]

Just getting the cruise control to engage during winter days (below 10 degrees Fahrenheit) is quite a challenge due to the pushing of the cruise button doesn't do anything when it's too cold. That isn't stated in their recall either. Both my son's 2014 Ram 2500 and my 2016 Power Wagon have this same issue. Maybe it is a safety issue since driving on icy or snow covered roads with the cruise control on isn't advisable as per WYDOT (Wyoming Dept. of Transportation) road signs. Unfortunately, it can stay in the minus temperatures around here all winter day with nothing, but plenty of sunshine and dry pavement.

I am wondering if the issue with the cruise control is extreme cold weather related? There have been plenty of much more expensive top of the heap engineering marvels which didn't work as intended in cold situations such as the Titanic and the Space Shuttle Challenger...

(Retired from a 36 year career in defense and aerospace, including work on the Space Shuttle).

It is just one more example of our government via car companies trying to make the world idiot proof. It will never work but they keep trying.

 

[scoutpappa]

It's 2014 - 2018 2500 related so as an E&I guy I agree with the cold but I'm sure the software hasn't changed much so definitely a potential two part problem, one for hardware environmental related issues and another being software based.

 

[BlkZrx]

My 16 2500 CC gets balky in hot or cold temps. Today it wouldn't turn on till AC cooled the cab a little..

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