Your opinion on a towing question

[Ray364]

Hey Folks,

Just got back from a shakedown cruise in my new Jay Feather Sport TT this past weekend. Overall, the trailer towed pretty well, but I noticed that the 4-speed transmission in my truck spends a lot of time in 3rd gear --esp on inclines. Is this normal? It finally moves into 4th gear when descending a hill, or sometimes on flatter surfaces.

The trailer has a dry weight of 2965 lbs and my Canyon pickup is equipped with a 220-hp, 5-cylinder engine with a towing capacity of 4,000 pounds. I pack light and it's just me and my dog.


So, my questions are:

1. Do you think it is harmful to my transmission to pull a trailer that requires the tranny to stay in 3rd gear much of the time?

2. If it is, what is the solution to my problem? More horsepower? If so, how MUCH more?

Thanks for your feedback.q

[OurJayco]

It is common for a tow vehicle to down shift to a lower gear while climbing hills. Is 4th gear in your truck "OverDrive"? I do not tow with Overdrive ON.
The damage to your tranny will happen if it "Hunts" a lot. Meaning it will shift UP and Down a lot while towing. I find that towing without overdrive means I am in the "Sweat Spot" for torque and horsepower.
More Horsepower will always help, but you may want to find out what gears you have in the rear axle. I have 3.73 gears and some people recommend the same or higher such as 4.10 gears.
Does your truck have a tranny cooler? You want to invest in one if it does not have one.

[cmcgilvery]

I agree with OurJayco. Overdrive must be turned off in order to tow anything. We had a 6 cyc. truck towing 4300 and towing capacity was 5000 and any incline the truck shifted to lower gear. With overdrive on it shifted constantly. We have since upgraded camper and truck and made sure we had the horse power to tow more than is needed.

[RR Conductor]

OurJayco & cmcgilvery are both right, most auto trannys will shift into 3rd when pulling hills, so that doesn't sound like a concern. As OurJayco said, more horsepower is always a good thing but your rig is set at a capacity of 4,000 pounds for towing so you shouldn't have a problem there.

As they indicated, I would check and make sure you've got a transmission cooler set up and working. If not it's certainly money worth spending. An oil cooling line wouldn't hurt either. With the engine you've got, assuming I read it right, you can't expect to fly up hills keeping yourself pinned to the seat but you should get about respectably, IMO. Ease your mind Ray, enjoy your trailer and get out there and camp.

[One Country Boy]

Nothing I can add except "ditto". Get out and enjoy. Good to have you.