Tow/haul

[ddwege]

Was pulling our camper (just under 6000 pounds) and the tow/haul mode disengaged, along with the stability control. Had to pull over and shut off truck. This happened a few times. Any thoughts why this happens? I have a 2013 Ram SLT 1500 v6 engine.

 

[06 Dodge]

Was pulling our camper (just under 6000 pounds) and the tow/haul mode disengaged, along with the stability control. Had to pull over and shut off truck. This happened a few times. Any thoughts why this happens? I have a 2013 Ram SLT 1500 v6 engine.

Stop by a parts house and have them see if it has codes, those codes can point you to where the problems may be...

 

[gofishn]

Welcome to the Forum.
As mentione,d there are probably codes stored and you need to pull them, almost any auto parts tore will do this, for you.

 

[2003F350]

Was pulling our camper (just under 6000 pounds) and the tow/haul mode disengaged, along with the stability control. Had to pull over and shut off truck. This happened a few times. Any thoughts why this happens? I have a 2013 Ram SLT 1500 v6 engine.

Yes, as stated above, check for codes. If the issue isn't in the ECM they may not be able to read it but I'm betting it is.

That said, do you pull this setup often? What gears do you have in the rear end? The V6 is a stout motor but not really designed for pulling unless you have tall gears out back. If you've got something like 3.31's and pull the camper a lot, you're adding a LOT of stress to your driveline, and parts are going to fail pretty often.

 

[Daw14]

Was pulling our camper (just under 6000 pounds) and the tow/haul mode disengaged, along with the stability control. Had to pull over and shut off truck. This happened a few times. Any thoughts why this happens? I have a 2013 Ram SLT 1500 v6 engine.

?

 

[JF19Longhorn]

Pretty sure you were above your trucks tow capacity.

Did the temps get high? Was there anyother warning signs?

 

[bcbouy]

trans overheat maybe?

 

[62Blazer]

Not sure why possibly being over towing capacity or the trans getting hot would cause tow/haul and ESC to shut off? Guess I could at least see it being feasible that tow/haul may default off if the trans temp was higher......but would also suspect that tow/haul would be calibrated to cause less heat build-up so not sure why it would default off. Can't see any reason at all why ESC would shut off because the trans got hot????
My guess would be a bad wheel or vehicle speed sensor, or associated wiring, that causes an intermittent signal. If you have a wheel speed sensor act up it generally turns off the ESC and I would think it would be reasonable that it would turn off the tow/haul also?

 

[Tony81089]

I had to have the tranny rebuilt in my '99 Ram 5.9L, at about 100K. I asked the mechanic how to make the rebuilt tranny last forever and he gave me these instructions:

1. Install a transmission cooler
2. Change the transmission fluid as recommended
3. Anytime you tow anything, or carry more than 500 lbs in the bed, turn the overdrive (guess they changed it to T/H later) off.

I followed his recommendations and that tranny ran perfectly until I totaled the truck at 318,000 miles.

That wasn't today's 8 speed transmission, but I believe those general recommendations are solid.

T

 

[jejb]

I had to have the tranny rebuilt in my '99 Ram 5.9L, at about 100K. I asked the mechanic how to make the rebuilt tranny last forever and he gave me these instructions:

1. Install a transmission cooler
2. Change the transmission fluid as recommended
3. Anytime you tow anything, or carry more than 500 lbs in the bed, turn the overdrive (guess they changed it to T/H later) off.

I followed his recommendations and that tranny ran perfectly until I totaled the truck at 318,000 miles.

That wasn't today's 8 speed transmission, but I believe those general recommendations are solid.

T

It didn't have a tranny cooler?

At any rate, much has changed from '99 to the current trucks. T/H mode does not lock out the top gear in the newer trucks, at least on the HD trucks. Not sure on the 1500's.

 

[Random_Walk]

Yes, as stated above, check for codes. If the issue isn't in the ECM they may not be able to read it but I'm betting it is.

That said, do you pull this setup often? What gears do you have in the rear end? The V6 is a stout motor but not really designed for pulling unless you have tall gears out back. If you've got something like 3.31's and pull the camper a lot, you're adding a LOT of stress to your driveline, and parts are going to fail pretty often.

3.21 gearset + the 3.6L v6 typically meant a max tow of 4410 lbs; this was the case until -very- late in Gen4, when IIRC it got bumped to 7500 lbs after some driveline improvements. I know this because my 2017 has a v6, 3.21 gears, and a listed max tow of 4410 lb.

If OP has a 3.55 rear gearset (it's common enough, believe it or not), then his max tow is 7500 lbs.

Either way, double-check that inside-of-the-door sticker, and never rely on the salescritter to tell you what you can tow (because most of them are ignorant, and/or stupid, and/or maliciously way too eager to sell a truck to bother with things like the truth.)

 

[Random_Walk]

PS: the trannies run -HOT- in these things, and it's typical to see it hover around 190 degrees in summer (when under stress, like an uphill climb), even when towing a puny 4,000 lbs of travel-trailer...