Yes - I know a lot of folks like you - we have some posting in here; they are satisfied their knowledge of engineering and metallurgy is superior to the factory folks who design & engineer our trucks.
No, I am not personally in law enforcement, so the term "weight police" does not apply to me personally. More and more states are equipping their law enforcement to enforce weight limitiations - glad of that; the more they get over-loaded trucks impounded and off the road, the safer my family and I are. As for your other comments - no, I am not exactly "late to the game"...I started driving multi-axle heavy vehcles in 1956. And no, I do not try and tow 30,000 lb. or so weights with my own truck - if I had to tow a load like that, I'd buy a truck "rated" for that kind of load.
So the "bottom line" answer to the initial question is - "no, I have not re-geared my truck from the stock 3.7 final drive". The "higher" (as in lower numerically) the final drive ratio, the lower the engine rpm. Modern transmissions, in particular the Allisons behind our Duramax's, are quality well-designed units. Operated within their design limitations, I cant imagine anyone who respects the laws of physics and safety concepts wanting to change.
show me a law about MFG GCWR recommendations.... according to the FMCSA...
this is 35,540LB GCW there is 40,000lbs worth of combined braking capacity.. said trailer is plated for 30,000lbs with 2-12,000lb axles.
scale ticket for said load..
you sir, just completely solidified yourself as part of the "weight police" good job lol..
sound like you are still of the ideology that slower the engine rpm the more efficient the engine is.... yet best mileage I have gotten towing was cruising 2400-2500rpm with a LBZ course im sure you will dismiss all this as some young kid that doesn't know what he is talking about, since you have stated your more experience at life than I am..
just because a piece of equipment can do something in the OEM setup.... does absolutely not mean there is room for drastic improvement
He’s a troll, seems to get off on talking down to people and telling us how stupid we are....course then again if he started driving commercially in 1956, assuming he was 18 at the time that makes him 80ish
Just gonna throw this in for our buddy 6686L, I hauled some gravel last weekend and I was about 1000-1200lbs over my dump trailers gvwr.......TWICE. I am still fully alive, no church buses, freight trains, small children, wildlife, pedestrians, livestock, Jeep drivers, crab fisherman, hippies, road side fruit stands, aliens (space or human), or any residents of Arizona were harmed in any way shape or form in my travels :rofl :rof
Ok ok I CONFESS!!!! Take me to jail!!!!! I would like to extent my deepest and most sincere apologies to the family and loved ones of Mr. Bush E. Tail crutch:
have tried it with tow setting on and off. Prefer the Towing on as it just seems the engine/tranny seem happier, but am a rookie so asking the basic questions as well.
May I suggest clarification on the "tow mode" function?
The big difference between "standard" and "tow" mode is "convertor lock up".
In "standard" the convertor is working, perhaps a bit smoother driving, but that means wasted energy going to heat. Given how rugged those Allisons are, not a significant problem when lightly loaded. In "tow" mode, you have a more direct drive - true, there is still some clutch activity at the moment of gear change, but otherwise less slippage equals less heat. Easier on the transmission.
I would make an amateur guess and say that towing anything over 5,000 lbs. I'd want to use the "tow mode".
Tow mode - the button at the end of the shifter which selects P|R|N|D|L|1. In the owners manual, they call this button the selector for "Tow/Haul Mode". They also recommend that I press the Exhaust Brake button when I use the other button. Goes on to tell me that by pushing that button, it will adjust my shift pattern to reduce shift cycling. Also give me increased performance, vehicle control, and enhanced engine and transmission cooling.
Not my first time towing, my first time owning a diesel, so just trying to get more information on engine characteristics than just seat of my pants. Other seats have put plenty more miles on them so why not take advantage of those miles.
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You are pulling 30,000 lbs with a older 3500 with 440,000 miles on it, and going 80 mph?
Hopefully, you don't do that near me - sounds like a combination of total irresponsibility towards your fellow highway users, combined with a lack of understanding of the capacity info. of your series of truck.
Hopefully, you will come to your senses and buy a larger, heavier truck whose towing capacity meets your requirements.
As a side note, assuming your existing truck has an Allison automatic transmission, depending on the year and model it will have at least 5 forward speeds in high gear. Yes, when running at, near, or above rated towing loads, you will see slowing on grades. Again, if you cannot deal with the laws of physics causing your existing truck to slow down when pulling that kind of load up long up-grades, sounds to me like you should consider a larger, heavier tow vehicle matched to the weight you want to pull.
Sorry buddy, never saw that there was more action on this thread. I rarely get on here. Just signed in to look for something else and saw in my notifications that I was quoted in this thread.
How do you think so many miles got put on the truck? Just cruising it around town and back and forth to work? LOL. Most of them got put on it with that trailer going drag racing around the country! It's sitting at 470k now.
Maybe you should come give the truck a detailed inspection yourself. It's kept up very well and in better shape than a lot of 100k mile trucks. Every 10k miles the oil is changed and all suspension, driveline, and brake components are checked by me. If it needs anything, it gets replaced by me. The truck has all poly bushings in the control arms and leaf springs, all Moog ball joints and steering parts, air bags, Bilsteins, turbo brake, etc. It's a very well kept truck that 95% of the time needs nothing. I promise you there's no used trucks out on the road that are in any better mechanical condition. By the things you say, I'd have to assume you wouldn't even know how to make that determination if the truck were sitting right in front of you. If you couldn't see the odometer you'd probably think it had 85-125k.
There's thousands of semis out there with a million miles on them. I suppose those guys are irresponsible and stupid too. Or maybe they are kept up and not all ragged out, kinda like how I do with my truck?
For the rest of you... onto the gears. I did rebuild my rear end and put AAM 4.10 gears in it a while back. It was a great switch and feels and runs just like it was meant to be. I would say a little more would be even better. It holds speed on hills a little better, accelerates better (both to be expected) and isn't singing at 75mph. I'm very happy with the 4.10s with my size tire.
Here's one of that super dangerous trailer. Funny if you pay attention they are all over. Haven't personally seen one crashed in my travels yet and mine isn't any heavyweight special compared to the rest. People towed these trailers with duallies from the mid 90s that weren't half the truck an 07 LBZ is
That was just a local scrap run when I was clearing out the junkyard before I moved to SC. 45-60mph roads. I've seen people haul a lot heavier than I have with these trucks, but maybe not long distance
This weight ticket was from my last trip down to SC from PA when I moved. It was the race trailer but with lots of extra tools and stuff. If you go by truck GVWR and trailer GVWR I actually wasn't over weight by much
Good to see some folks are serious about maintaining their trucks.
Not clear why one of these guys think I would "spin out". We do get ice on our roads on occasion up here in northern Arizona; I don't care what kind of tires you have...if you are on REAL ice on anything but absolutely level ground, you aren't going anywhere. As for normal winter driving, I stay out of the way in the far right lane, substantially below the normal flow of traffic, so I personally have never spun out in my vehicles.
I remain very unhappy to learn some folks think it is cute to operate a truck and trailer, loaded to max or near it, going at 80 mph, and/or significantly over the speed limit. One need for a panic stop, and/or equipment failure, and you become a menace to yourself as well as the folks around you. Speed limits are not recommendations, nor are they posted for your entertainment.
Well...with this qualification....for example - I-40 from its start in Barstow, California, east to the Calif/Arizona state line. Posted at frequent intervals for us towing, not to go over 55 mph. Given the road conditions, and assuming decent weather & properly maintained equipment, I believe 60-65 mph is at the upper limits of a safe towing speed for our type of vehicle.
Yeah speed limits are pretty clearly just recommendations.
Proof? Highway Patrol's typical grace is 10-15mph over the limit before they bother to stop you.
A Kansas Highway Patrol came right out and stated one time that their grace was 15mph over.
Of course some municipalities won't give you 15 over, but that's not the point.
And as far as the Left Coast goes, just don't go there. Myself nor any of the other haulers I work with want to go there and only do so if we must. Last time I musted was almost 2 years ago. And I didn't go very far in that time.
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