Towing in the mountains

TitanLou · 07-10-2007, 08:34 PM

Just got a 27' TT. I've had my Titan for 2 years now and towed my bass boat all over the country with no problems. Big difference between a bass boat and a 27'TT that is 5600lbs dry. Living in Albuquerque I can't avoid the mountains so I'm looking for any advice from someone with mountain towing experience.

AF-Medic · 07-10-2007, 09:21 PM

Drive slow and dont try and break any land speed records. Folks think they can still drive 75 with a big trailer behind them. Make sure yor trailer has a sway control bar. Leave the tow mode off ( if equipped) and use the right gear for the steep grades. Dont be surprised if your in 3rd gear pulling High RPM'S. Watch the temp guage on the tranny and let the big dog eat.

TitanLou · 07-11-2007, 05:59 AM

Why leave the tow mode off?

**Helinut1970** · 07-11-2007, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbglenn

Drive slow and dont try and break any land speed records. Folks think they can still drive 75 with a big trailer behind them. Make sure yor trailer has a sway control bar. Leave the tow mode off ( if equipped) and use the right gear for the steep grades. Dont be surprised if your in 3rd gear pulling High RPM'S. Watch the temp guage on the tranny and let the big dog eat.

Well the rest was good advice! Better keep that on! Add going up hill let it slow down to catch a better gear. SCREW the people behind you. If they want to pass let them go around including the big rigs. Do you have BT package? If not, even more important to slow it down on hills. You will over heat that tranny real quick if you dont.

TitanLou · 07-11-2007, 06:19 AM

Yeah I have the BT package. The big dog pulls a bass boat like its not even back there. Thanks for the advice. I'll just leave it 4th with the tow mode on and slow to catch different gears on the bigger hills.

AF-Medic · 07-11-2007, 07:16 AM

Plenty of folks here have had the tranny overheat towing heavy loads with the tow mode on. If you start to overheat turn the tow modeoff and leave in the right gear for the grade. Do a search and others will share the overheat info with you. Have fun

Quad T · 07-11-2007, 09:28 AM

My 1st suggestion would be regarding brakes, as the downhill part of towing in areas with big elevation changes is way more important than the uphill runs as far as I'm concerned.

What kind of brake controller do you have? If you don't have something like a Prodigy then get one. One of the many features I like about this unit is it isconstantly monitoring itself, so if it fails you in theory can get an advance warning.

For someone like you I would spend a great deal of time paying attention to your trailer's brakes, I cannot talk enough about how important it is to have these adjusted evenly and up close, you want these things to be working as best as they can.

Use the trucks tranny to downshift and put some of the braking load on the titan's drivetrain.

And like Helinut1970 said, screw the people behind you, go as slow as you want, brake lighter and for shorter periods of time, allowing the brakes a chance to breath/cool off, the worst thing to do is get on them and then ride them, this is a great way to overheat the pad material and have them fail.

**Helinut1970** · 07-11-2007, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quad T

My 1st suggestion would be regarding brakes, as the downhill part of towing in areas with big elevation changes is way more important than the uphill runs as far as I'm concerned.

What kind of brake controller do you have? If you don't have something like a Prodigy then get one. One of the many features I like about this unit is it isconstantly monitoring itself, so if it fails you in theory can get an advance warning.

For someone like you I would spend a great deal of time paying attention to your trailer's brakes, I cannot talk enough about how important it is to have these adjusted evenly and up close, you want these things to be working as best as they can.

Use the trucks tranny to downshift and put some of the braking load on the titan's drivetrain.

And like Helinut1970 said, screw the people behind you, go as slow as you want, brake lighter and for shorter periods of time, allowing the brakes a chance to breath/cool off, the worst thing to do is get on them and then ride them, this is a great way to overheat the pad material and have them fail.

Or catch fire!!! Great points, I didnt touch on going down hill. A whole different ball game there.

Quad T · 07-11-2007, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helinut1970

I didnt touch on going down hill.

The one that always bothers me more as a newbie tower...

Yahooligan · 07-11-2007, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbglenn

Plenty of folks here have had the tranny overheat towing heavy loads with the tow mode on. If you start to overheat turn the tow modeoff and leave in the right gear for the grade. Do a search and others will share the overheat info with you. Have fun

Tow mode is not a replacement for using the right gear, all it does it change the shift points of the trans during acceleration. I definitely recommend 3rd gear when going up hills on the freeway (Keep the RPMs up), the problem with the trans heating up is lower RPMs not providing enough fluid flow. Dropping down a gear and bringing up the RPMs cools it down almost instantly since the fluid in the pan is at a much cooler temp.

Titanminator · 07-11-2007, 08:23 PM

If you keep the RPM's in the 3000 to 3500, that is were the 379 torque comes in.

krh2 · 07-11-2007, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titanminator

If you keep the RPM's in the 3000 to 3500, that is were the 379 torque comes in.

That's right. Towing my 25' TT east out of san diego it is a steady 6% grade. Pull most of it while shifted into 3rd at a steady 55mph (around 3300 rpm). Tranny stays nice and cool. Remember to put your windows down and listen to the roar when climbing. Love it.

TitanLou · 07-11-2007, 09:21 PM

Thanks for all the advice. I think the ole Titan will be just fine. I don't know what kind of brake controller I'm getting yet because I don't get everything until Friday. It's a pretty big RV dealer here in Albuquerque so hopefully they don't give me something half a$$. Big Dawg tows my bass boat through all of these mountains in OD tow mode off with no problems (2500-2700lbs). I know it will be a bit different towing something weighing around 6000lbs, all the advice from ya'll will definitley help. Thanks

krh2 · 07-11-2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanLou

Thanks for all the advice. I think the ole Titan will be just fine. I don't know what kind of brake controller I'm getting yet because I don't get everything until Friday. It's a pretty big RV dealer here in Albuquerque so hopefully they don't give me something half a$$. Big Dawg tows my bass boat through all of these mountains in OD tow mode off with no problems (2500-2700lbs). I know it will be a bit different towing something weighing around 6000lbs, all the advice from ya'll will definitley help. Thanks

I got a Prodigy and love it. $135 at my local rv store and $15 for the Nissan harness. Makes it plug and play.

AF-Medic · 07-11-2007, 10:40 PM

Harness comes with Big Tow package. The prodigy is the best IMO. I got mine from camping world for 99.00 shipped. Good luck, if start to overheat turn off the tow mode.