What Gear For towing

[mr wayne]

What gear would you tow a 12,000 lb 5er in ? No mountains. Have a 373 gear with 6.7 cummins.

 

[MEGA HO]

Would put it in TH mode and let it decide which gear to be in.

 

[tchur1]

Agree with the above, just let it do its thing. Only time I would think about locking out gears is when climbing while towing a ton but even then I just let mine do its thing.

 

[Will_T]

I put it in Tow Haul and lock out 6th. That seems to keep the RPMs in the sweet spot. And that is at the 65-mph max that I tow at. I imagine at higher speeds the RPMs in 6th might be OK, but not sure. When I started doing this, I kept note of MPGs and did not notice any difference in mileage with 6th locked out. Sounds odd, I know, but I checked several times. The engine just seems to run best if you keep the RPMs above the 12 or 1300 or so it wants to run at if in 6th and under 65 MPH.

 

[mr wayne]

Thanks for the replies. Only towed my 5er once for a 50 mile round trip. Just didn't feel comfortable about pulling in 6th gear. It didn't gear hunt but RPM's seemed low for towing. I will lock out 6th next time and see where RPM's are. I do know that heat is number 1 killer for tranny's. Just want to make sure it's not building heat. Thanks

 

[Firebird]

Tow haul mode and let her work, it will choose what gear is needed

 

[MEGA HO]

My TT was only about 5K lbs but in TH it would only stay in 6th until it downshifts and then would keep going in 5th and never shift back up, but I guess my speed was not high enough for it to shift to 6th (around 70mph).
I also noticed the fuel mileage stayed the same so definitely not going to hurt anything locking out 6 but it sort of did it on it's own, so I'd say don't worry about it and let it be

 

[Will_T]

My TT was only about 5K lbs but in TH it would only stay in 6th until it downshifts and then would keep going in 5th and never shift back up, but I guess my speed was not high enough for it to shift to 6th (around 70mph).
I also noticed the fuel mileage stayed the same so definitely not going to hurt anything locking out 6 but it sort of did it on it's own, so I'd say don't worry about it and let it be

Interesting. Mine in TH with the 8,500 lb TT will cruise in 6th all day unless I encounter a decent hill. But then as soon as it levels out, back to 6th. I lock it out because I think the RPMs at 1200 or 1300 in 6th at 65mph are just too low. This may be one difference between the SO and the HO since they have different transmissions?

 

[MEGA HO]

Interesting. Mine in TH with the 8,500 lb TT will cruise in 6th all day unless I encounter a decent hill. But then as soon as it levels out, back to 6th. I lock it out because I think the RPMs at 1200 or 1300 in 6th at 65mph are just too low. This may be one difference between the SO and the HO since they have different transmissions?

What was your cruising speed? 65 you said? Yes it is strange and goes against what I thought to be the case - speed too low and therefore RPMs too low for it to shift to 6th in TH. With TH off it would shift as normal and I ended up leaving TH off as I believe 5K TT is not heavy enough for TH (EB was waaaay to agressive in TH mode, I didn't like it)

 

[Firebird]

My TT was only about 5K lbs but in TH it would only stay in 6th until it downshifts and then would keep going in 5th and never shift back up, but I guess my speed was not high enough for it to shift to 6th (around 70mph).
I also noticed the fuel mileage stayed the same so definitely not going to hurt anything locking out 6 but it sort of did it on it's own, so I'd say don't worry about it and let it be

My camper is at 10,000 pounds, and it will tow 6th all day. Only drops to 5th on big hills, and then right back to 6th. However, I don't live in the mountains

 

[MEGA HO]

My camper is at 10,000 pounds, and it will tow 6th all day. Only drops to 5th on big hills, and then right back to 6th. However, I don't live in the mountains

Your is SO and what you're saying your truck acts exactly as Will_T truck, mine is HO.
Mine is also older and didn't let my dealers do any recalls on it (yet) which also included the recall for engine and transmission calibration.
I'm curious now how other HO trucks act in TH when towing under 70mph.

 

[GBB]

Tow haul and exhaust brake on and let her eat!

 

[tchur1]

Your is SO and what you're saying your truck acts exactly as Will_T truck, mine is HO.
Mine is also older and didn't let my dealers do any recalls on it (yet) which also included the recall for engine and transmission calibration.
I'm curious now how other HO trucks act in TH when towing under 70mph.

I have an HO and tow about 10k pounds, if im towing on flat ground between 65 and 70 in 6th gear at like 1500 RPMs, when it tilts uphill then it drops to 5th.

 

[MEGA HO]

I have an HO and tow about 10k pounds, if im towing on flat ground between 65 and 70 in 6th gear at like 1500 RPMs, when it tilts uphill then it drops to 5th.

Will it upshift back to 6th after you're back on level ground or it would stay in 5th?

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Tow haul does the thinking and it knows what its doing, i only lock out gears when im on winding hilly back roads where i need it in 3rd but it wants to be in 4th at 1000rpm(small down hills)

 

[elephantrider]

t/h and send it.

I noticed a huge difference before and after the trans recall. just had it done a few wks ago.

 

[MEGA HO]

t/h and send it.

I noticed a huge difference before and after the trans recall. just had it done a few wks ago.

Your SO or HO?

 

[elephantrider]

I have the mediocre output.

 

[tchur1]

Will it upshift back to 6th after you're back on level ground or it would stay in 5th?

It’ll upshift back to 6th once back on flat ground.

 

[valv910]

Interesting. Mine in TH with the 8,500 lb TT will cruise in 6th all day unless I encounter a decent hill. But then as soon as it levels out, back to 6th. I lock it out because I think the RPMs at 1200 or 1300 in 6th at 65mph are just too low. This may be one difference between the SO and the HO since they have different transmissions?

This is something I've been wondering for years. I had a '12 and it kept it in 6th always, it never shifted back, just like yours. Then I had a '14 a '17 and a '20 (HO with Aisin) and they all shifted down immediately as soon as they hit a small incline. Now on my '22 I'm back at 6th never shifting back again. This is also while towing medium (9000lbs).
I blamed it to the factory transmission tune, there might be more than one source and they're different