Pulling travel trailer concerns (1 Viewer)

[Chipmaker]

We picked up a new Travel Trailer this weekend, I’m a bit nervous, the cruise control caused erratic shifting and significant fluctuations in RPMs. I then used standard shifting to keep it in 4th gear in mountains at 3500-5000 rpms, much smoother Drive. Here are my specs and data from truck scale.

2018 LC 200 plan to pull travel trailer On I90 from Seattle to Chicago in Nov. Our 2018 LC 200 has
BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A
LT275/70R18 125/122R
Load Range E
total weight of Travel trailer and LC weigh 13380lb at Scale.
Curt 1000 lb WD hitch with tension bars installed. One tension bar is making a whining and creeping sound.

we do love driving the LC and overall it pulls well.

Aadvice and opinions?
View attachment 2471662

 

[TeCKis300]

Congrats on the trailer. Your setup and weight distribution looks good! Some noise from the hitch is completely normal. You can apply grease to most and you should be able to see where/how in the hitch manual.

It's not recommended to use cruise control or radar cruise when towing. It's stated in multiple places in the manual. Probably more as a safety issue, but it does state that it is not intended for this situation.

 

[Chipmaker]

Congrats on the trailer. Your setup and weight distribution looks good! Some noise from the hitch is completely normal. You can apply grease to most and you should be able to see where/how in the hitch manual.

It's not recommended to use cruise control or radar cruise when towing. It's stated in multiple places in the manual. Probably more as a safety issue, but it does state that it is not intended for this situation.

View attachment 2471686

Thank you for the peace of mind.

 

[afgman786]

I see you mention "4th in mountains" just wanted to add that S6 is recommended for your 8speed in case you were staying in 4th when you could've gone up to 6th and still be in power band

 

[Ratchey]

If you hook up a tranny monitor (ie Torque)and watch while you are towing, you will find that your tranny temps spike well over 240 while towing with the cruise control on. Manual shifting will help keep the temps below 220.

 

[Bendcruiser]

6 on the tranny and ECT too for towing. Should be fine.

 

[linuxgod]

If you hook up a tranny monitor (ie Torque)and watch while you are towing, you will find that your tranny temps spike well over 240 while towing with the cruise control on. Manual shifting will help keep the temps below 220.

it's not a cruise control issue if you put it in S4 (2008-2015) or S6 (2016+). I tow 6000# with cruise control at 75mph in 4th on my 2013 and it'll stay at 200F all day long. Using the top 2 overdrive gears is what heat up your transmission.

 

[gaijin]

We picked up a new Travel Trailer this weekend, I’m a bit nervous, the cruise control caused erratic shifting and significant fluctuations in RPMs. I then used standard shifting to keep it in 4th gear in mountains at 3500-5000 rpms, much smoother Drive. Here are my specs and data from truck scale.

2018 LC 200 plan to pull travel trailer On I90 from Seattle to Chicago in Nov. Our 2018 LC 200 has
BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A
LT275/70R18 125/122R
Load Range E
total weight of Travel trailer and LC weigh 13380lb at Scale.
Curt 1000 lb WD hitch with tension bars installed. One tension bar is making a whining and creeping sound.

we do love driving the LC and overall it pulls well.

Aadvice and opinions?
View attachment 2471662

You didn't mention anything about tire pressure, so...

The Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure (RCTIP) for those LT275/70R18 tires on your 2018 LC200 is 41psi Front/Rear.

HTH

 

[rscoleman]

2016 LC pulling 3500lb boat. I run with PWR button on and set for 6th gear. I am able to use radar cruise and normal cruise no issues. Done this for 235 miles multiple times. So overall weight and terrain may play a factor.

 

[Ratchey]

it's not a cruise control issue if you put it in S4 (2008-2015) or S6 (2016+). I tow 6000# with cruise control at 75mph in 4th on my 2013 and it'll stay at 200F all day long. Using the top 2 overdrive gears is what heat up your transmission.

You are probably right. I was in S5 on the way to Yellowstone. Anytime it would downshift to 4 the temps would spike and I would have to manually shift down. Coming back I had to stay in S4 as the winds were just too strong. Although even in S4 I would have to disengage cruise control and manually downshift as the temps would start to climb when cc would downshift to third. (manually shifting to 3rd kicks it out of cruise control which I suspect there is a good reason for that)

 

[linuxgod]

I know the manual says you can run in S5 on the 6 speed when towing but personally I wouldn't do it. I have an OBD2 reader and can confirm that temps are the lowest when cruising in 4th for me - as low as 196F but often running around 200-202F when I'm loaded down and above sea level.

Now if I'm climbing or descending a mountain pass that might not be true as you need the engine revving to move fluid (i.e. I saw better temps at 5k RPMs in 2nd going over Monarch Pass than I was seeing in 3rd), but generally speaking the 1:1 ratio (S4 or S6 depending on MY) is the optimal gear to tow in. Note that "better" in the MP example was something like 232F vs 240F.

Note if you're cruising in your 1:1 gear both your torque converter and your pan temp will be the same. They only vary in 4th if you unlock the TC. However in OD (5/6) they will vary and the TC will usually be hotter, even when going downhill because in that case your engine isn't pumping fluid through the AT fast enough. (you can test this by coasting downhill in N, which will be hotter than in 4th). To my knowledge the TC does not lock up in lower gears (e.g. 3rd), at least in the 6 speed.

 

[Chipmaker]

Thank you, each of you, for the excellent info on how all this works. It gives me much more confidence when heading out in two weeks.

 

[Romer]

My 200 is pretty loaded and with my fully loaded 4400lb Karavan, I do fine over the mtn passes

 

[stonepa]

Congrats on the trailer. Your setup and weight distribution looks good! Some noise from the hitch is completely normal. You can apply grease to most and you should be able to see where/how in the hitch manual.

It's not recommended to use cruise control or radar cruise when towing. It's stated in multiple places in the manual. Probably more as a safety issue, but it does state that it is not intended for this situation.

View attachment 2471686

Crazy. I use my cruise all the time pulling my camper. Could not imaging driving 2,000 miles with my foot on the go pedal. Probably just the lawyers talking.

 

[stonepa]

If you hook up a tranny monitor (ie Torque)and watch while you are towing, you will find that your tranny temps spike well over 240 while towing with the cruise control on. Manual shifting will help keep the temps below 220.

Does 240 degrees matter at all? Sounds hot to me but i am not a transmission so have no idea what a transmission thinks.

 

[Romer]

Crazy. I use my cruise all the time pulling my camper. Could not imaging driving 2,000 miles with my foot on the go pedal. Probably just the lawyers talking.

I do as well. I do take it out of D though

 

[Ratchey]

Does 240 degrees matter at all? Sounds hot to me but i am not a transmission so have no idea what a transmission thinks.

The optimal temperature range for transmission fluid is 175 to 220 degrees. Above that, for every 20 degrees bad things happen, starting with formation of varnish at 240 degrees, followed by seals hardening, plates slipping, seals and clutches burn out, carbon is formed, and, ultimately, failure.

What to Do When Your Transmission Overheats

It is estimated that close to 90% of automatic transmission failures are caused by overheating, primarily from overworked transmission fluid.

advancedtransmission.com

.

 

[terrapin]

I also use cruise control and S4 on my 2010 LX. Just be sure to put your foot on the gas if you decide to shift into 3rd going uphill as the cruise control will automatically disengage and you will lose your momentum. You cannot set cruise control in 3rd or lower.

 

[stonepa]

I do as well. I do take it out of D though

I just put it in D and hit the ECT Power button.

 

[linuxgod]

The optimal temperature range for transmission fluid is 175 to 220 degrees. Above that, for every 20 degrees bad things happen, starting with formation of varnish at 240 degrees, followed by seals hardening, plates slipping, seals and clutches burn out, carbon is formed, and, ultimately, failure.

What to Do When Your Transmission Overheats

It is estimated that close to 90% of automatic transmission failures are caused by overheating, primarily from overworked transmission fluid.

advancedtransmission.com

.

Yep that's why Toyota recommends inspecting and changing the AT fluid if you tow ("severe conditions") every 30-60k miles.

240F is in my experience about the top of the temp range, which you only see climbing steep mountain passes. If you stay in your 1:1 gear you'll rarely see 220F any other time.

It's actually more interesting to me that the AT Temp light doesn't come on until the post-torque converter temp sensor (AT temp #2) reached 305F, and will shut off once it drops to 270F. That makes me think the Toyota ATF WS is designed to withstand higher temperatures