Towing RPMs???

Got a travel trailer awhile back. Weight is around 3000lb loaded.

My question is, what is a suitable RPM to be in while going up hills? Is 4-5000rpm ok for these trucks while going up long hills?

 

if you are Auto Transmission always use S mode - when it starts the monkey shift (up and down and up and down) lock it down one notch. Nothing wrong with 4K rpm pulling a hill and a little higher for short durations.

 

I always use S4 and ECT.
Good advice thank you

 

I'll be fine,,, actually that's where the be V6 makes it's power and runs best, it's just different from what most of us have been used to.

 

Let it rev.. vtec yo!

 

Ive always felt “Ahhh its above 3k, shes gunna blow!”with all the vehicles I’ve had idk why

 

Absolutely in S4/S3/S2 & GO!

 

S4, ECT on, I tow a 3500#TT up hills, 3500 RPM + and my Scan gauge never shows abnormal temps.

The racket is annoying but the truck can handle it.

 

That’s the old V8 mentality. I manage a fleet of machines all with small diesel motors. All of the machines run at full throttle 8 hours a day and they last what would equate to 500,000 miles. When they are up in the high revs their lubrication and cooling systems are all running at max.
I’m not concerned about the higher rpms at all.

 

It's got a 6k rpm redline. It has peak HP @ 6k RPM. It also has a peak torque @ 4600 RPM.

It will pull untill 6k and not break a sweat.

 

Thank you everyone for the replys. Its very enlightening to here this. After this, I will enjoy towing alittle more knowing that the truck will be ok.

 

It is ok for any motor to rev a bit when it needs to. If you are trying to go up a hill at the same pace as level ground then it will shift down and rev up. That's normal.
When pulling loads with my truck, I tend to hold the pedal and as I go up a hill, I will lose some speed but It will not down shift. I may start a hill at 65 mph but by the time I crest it, I will be at 50 mph and I'm fine with that. I put my truck in 4th and it stays in that gear most all the time. Sometimes when touring with our RV (3500 lbs loaded) my GF likes to drive and that's fine and when she goes up hills, she puts her foot into it until it drops into 3rd. So now instead of the low drone of 2500 rpm we are slammed into the 3500 , she's going to blow rpm. Not sure if you're aware but the 4.0 is not a graceful revving engine. So I ask her, ever so gently, did we really need to go up that hill so fast? lol

 

Hills here ain't huge here, but have towed my 2k lb boat, and gear using ECT S5....usually the rpm don't exceed 3k at 50 mph.

 

Using s4 on the guest seems a bit extreme to me. The whining engine would annoy me. I just put mine in drive, hit ETC, and let it do it’s job.

 

When towing? Start saving money for a new transmission.

 

Let ‘Er Rip!

 

Agreed here. It took a bit of getting used to at first, but these engines make their power around 3500 RPM. In the old days of the 3 speed transmissions the truck wouldn't ever have to shift but you'd be pretty much winding it out at 3500 RPM. Luckily today's trucks are geared a touch different, especially with direct injection demanding more RPM.

 

Same here. While i wouldn't use drive for anything over 1k lbs. Found S5 very good for that'd a bit more.