Drove my 98 reg cab 4x4 2.7 ~550 miles

down thru Virginia to the North Carolina Smokies yesterday towing a 16' Lund bass boat. All in all very good performance, but that thing is not made for towing up mountains. There were a couple ridges on I-26 btwn Johnson City, TN and Asheville NC where despite everything I tried, my top speed was 45 mph at the top. The temp gauge never moved, but neither 5th nor 4th gear would hold speed and I topped the mountains in 3d gear.

Later we drove an hour on a National Forest two lane road to get to the lake, and I was in 2d a good bit of the time. the truck performed well, but it was slow.

All in all pretty much I was expecting. The trucks are tough and solid, but the limits are there.