Driving an auto trans in the mountains

I just wondered how most people drive while in the mountains. It seems like my truck can struggle but depending on where I am at with speed I can shift into 3rd or 2nd and it helps when going up.
Do I run the risk of damaging the trans if I do that? Or should I just press the pedal to the floor?

Thanks for the driving tips.. After Ive been driving it for a long time....lol

 

My truck is a heavy pig so I just let it roll up hill at it's own pace.......slow. Your truck is built to push on so unless you are redlining it up every hill, I think it will be fine.

 

Just get in the right lane and take your time.

But I wouldn’t be worried about a taking the RPMs a little high every once in awhile, to a point obviously.

 

I am not redlinein

I am not redlining it, but it seems like when I am cruising along at 70 or so then start to ascend the truck has a hard time maintaining and so I need to floor the gas to pick up speed just to keep with the flow.. Its an 09 with 180K miles on it.

 

I think it's probably better to just leave it in 3rd or whatever gear gets you up the hill instead of it hunting back and forth between gears.

 

If you're not redlining, you're fine. 3rd gear to maintain 55mph ish is fine on steep climbs.

Going downhill properly is more important than going uphill properly. Use 3rd gear tops, engine braking is a must! Nothing worse than riding your brakes then really needing them just as they overheat and fade. It's easy to tell who knows what they're doing in the mountain passes, those who ride the brake don't know the first thing about how cars work.

 

Never had issues with driving my auto trans in the mountains. I only ever swap between drive and 4. Unless I'm on trails then limit it to 3 or below. The supercharger helps on i-70

 

I should say the 3rd gen taco auto trans I owned SUCKED in the mountains

 

If you don't have a tow package with transmission cooler you definitely want to shift back into higher gears when not needed. Good way to burn up a transmission

 

High RPMs/lower gear is much better for the engine/trans than low RPMs with higher gear and lugging it up the mountain. That will overheat and cook it quick

Keep it out of overdrive especially