Towing Travel Trailer and it won't shift

[tuch01]

I have a 30' travel trailer and I've towed it a few times and the last time i towed it the truck wouldn't shift out of 4th. The trailer weighs about 10000 filled up with all the crap but 8800 empty. I was towing in Florida very flat with no wind. It shifts fine threw all 6 gears in tow/haul mode untill I get past 60mph. After 60 it won't up shift out of 4th , I eaven acc. up to 90 and nothing. If I run at 70 it runs right at 3000RPMs. If I manualy shift it up it will stay in 5th or 6th for a while the down shift again, but when it is in the higher gear I barley have to touch the gas. I brought it to the dealer and they said everything checked out normal and that it was acting the way it was programmed to. Anyone have the same problem?

[TundraBay]

That's how the engine delivers peak efficiency providing enough torque to push the air out of the way of the trailer. When you're driving on a flat road and not accelerating the weight of the trailer isn't the issue, it's wind resistance. You are pulling a large sail. I would call this normal behavior. Putting it into Tow/Haul mode will change your shift points but the engine needs revs to provide the power to haul that thing.

[brettpt]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

That's how the engine delivers peak efficiency providing enough torque to push the air out of the way of the trailer. When you're driving on a flat road and not accelerating the weight of the trailer isn't the issue, it's wind resistance. You are pulling a large sail. I would call this normal behavior. Putting it into Tow/Haul mode will change your shift points but the engine needs revs to provide the power to haul that thing.

Good to Know! I am planning on a 27-29ft TT when my youngest gets out of pre-school at $90 a week.......

[TundraBay]

Over 60 MPH towing the 5th wheel mine is about 3100 RMP steady. MPG isn't great

[snookwheel]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

Over 60 MPH towing the 5th wheel mine is about 3100 RMP steady. MPG isn't great

How heavy is your trailer and what kind of MPG are you seeing? Thanks.

[TundraBay]

Heavy. . .? over 10K let's leave it at that. . .
MPG . . under 10 MPG and enough said about that, too. . .

However I'll be quick to add that my 3/4 ton Dodge got about 6 MPG towing the same trailer, and never FELT as good towing as this little 1/2 ton.

[LeeinAZ]

My 25' trailer weighs about 5500 lbs. I towed it from Arizona to Arkansas to Texas and back to Arizona. Using the Tow/Haul mode, no Cruise Control, and in Drive(Tow/Haul disabled in "S" mode) my truck spent almost the whole trip in 5th gear, with occasional time spent in 4th. When it did go into 6th gear just slight throttle pressure sent it back into 5th gear. I usually ran no faster than 65mph and got between 9 & 11.5 mpg...averaged around 10mpg. Using the Cruise Control gave me mpg's less than 10, and caused the transmission to shift constantly. Your truck sounds like a normal Tundra to me...

[FIVEPOINTSEVEN]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

Heavy. . .? over 10K let's leave it at that. . .
MPG . . under 10 MPG and enough said about that, too. . .

However I'll be quick to add that my 3/4 ton Dodge got about 6 MPG towing the same trailer, and never FELT as good towing as this little 1/2 ton.

OOoh thank goodness you mentioned that last line...I thought some of our former Dodge diesel owners were going to jump in here and pound their chests about 3/4 and 1 tons over this one lol! Thats good to hear!

[FIVEPOINTSEVEN]

Originally Posted by tuch01

I have a 30' travel trailer and I've towed it a few times and the last time i towed it the truck wouldn't shift out of 4th. The trailer weighs about 10000 filled up with all the crap but 8800 empty. I was towing in Florida very flat with no wind. It shifts fine threw all 6 gears in tow/haul mode untill I get past 60mph. After 60 it won't up shift out of 4th , I eaven acc. up to 90 and nothing. If I run at 70 it runs right at 3000RPMs. If I manualy shift it up it will stay in 5th or 6th for a while the down shift again, but when it is in the higher gear I barley have to touch the gas. I brought it to the dealer and they said everything checked out normal and that it was acting the way it was programmed to. Anyone have the same problem?

I'd be interested to hear what your oil and tranny temps looked like while you were cruisin with the 10k TT...You happen to glance at those gauges? The most I've pulled was about 6k lbs for 250 miles and what you're describing sounds fine to me...especially with 10k lbs.

[Rifleman]

I've pulled my 26" toy hauler loaded anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 pounds in the Arizona desert and have yet to see the trans and water temp run much hotter than normal. They usually run at normal or just slightly higher. This is at 110 degrees with the air on. Toyota over engineered the oil and water cooling on the Tundras. My 1 Ton Chevy Dually with the 454 would get hotter than hell whenever the temp was anywhere near that hot. It had a new 4 core radiator, aftermarket towing converter and big tranny cooler on it. Score one more for the tundra. It's a towing machine.
P.S. The Tundra flat smokes the 454 power wise also, not even a contest. The Chevy got 5 MPG and had 4.56 gears in it.
John K

[FIVEPOINTSEVEN]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

I've pulled my 26" toy hauler loaded anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 pounds in the Arizona desert and have yet to see the trans and water temp run much hotter than normal. They usually run at normal or just slightly higher. This is at 110 degrees with the air on. Toyota over engineered the oil and water cooling on the Tundras. My 1 Ton Chevy Dually with the 454 would get hotter than hell whenever the temp was anywhere near that hot. It had a new 4 core radiator, aftermarket towing converter and big tranny cooler on it. Score one more for the tundra. It's a towing machine.
P.S. The Tundra flat smokes the 454 power wise also, not even a contest. The Chevy got 5 MPG and had 4.56 gears in it.
John K

How sick would if be if we had an iForce 454 in the Tundra though?!

[LeeinAZ]

I'd be interested to hear what your oil and tranny temps looked like while you were cruisin

Towed mine from Phoenix to Flagstaff in August when the temps were over 110. Neither the water or trans temp gauges moved off of their normal marks. Plus, I was able to pass traffic going up some pretty steep hills....lots of fun!

[FIVEPOINTSEVEN]

Originally Posted by LeeinAZ

Towed mine from Phoenix to Flagstaff in August when the temps were over 110. Neither the water or trans temp gauges moved off of their normal marks. Plus, I was able to pass traffic going up some pretty steep hills....lots of fun!

Very cool...If you want to keep you motor runnin a little cooler I'd suggest putting a bottle of Water Wetter in the coolant. Supposed to help the motor run a little more efficiently and 20-50 degrees cooler. Definitely helps when towing.

[LeeinAZ]

If you want to keep you motor runnin a little cooler I'd suggest putting a bottle of Water Wetter in the coolant

Thanks...but no thanks. Stock coolant works for me, plus that stuff smells bad!

[Sequoia2003]

if you want to see 6th gear then buy a Dodge Cummins 6.7 with 650tq.