I towed a camper for the first time with my '97 LX and had a couple of questions...
Specs-
'97 LX
315k miles
33" tires
2" OME lift
under 3k lb camper, but standard big square front (little aerodynamic, but not like a casita or r-pod or pop-up)
overdrive was turned off for the entire trip.
I've towed pretty heavy items (I towed a car on a flat bed trailer half way across the country), but this is the first time I've towed a billboard of a camper. I really don't feel like it was the weight of the camper, but the aerodynamics that was stressing the truck. I could barely maintain 65 on flat ground (overdrive off) and slowed down up hills. On the way back, it was pretty windy and if I was headed into the wind, I could barely maintain 60.
After about 3 hours of towing without stopping, I noticed that just the passenger side of the transmission tunnel was pretty hot. (driver's side was just warm). The temp gauge stayed in it's normal spot right below the middle, so the cooling system wasn't being taxed.
I need to get a transmission temp gauge to see how hot the transmission gets. (need to see if my ultraguage would have shown the transmission temp)
I was driving it with the gas pedal right on the kick-down switch (floored, but not kicking down), overdrive off. This made me think that maybe it was the catalytic converters getting really hot. Maybe they are getting clogged? (LX has 315k miles) How do you determine if the catalytic converters are healthy?
I am considering changing to 4.56 differential gears, to compensate for the tires, is that worth it to compensate for the tire height difference?
Thoughts?
Specs-
'97 LX
315k miles
33" tires
2" OME lift
under 3k lb camper, but standard big square front (little aerodynamic, but not like a casita or r-pod or pop-up)
overdrive was turned off for the entire trip.
I've towed pretty heavy items (I towed a car on a flat bed trailer half way across the country), but this is the first time I've towed a billboard of a camper. I really don't feel like it was the weight of the camper, but the aerodynamics that was stressing the truck. I could barely maintain 65 on flat ground (overdrive off) and slowed down up hills. On the way back, it was pretty windy and if I was headed into the wind, I could barely maintain 60.
After about 3 hours of towing without stopping, I noticed that just the passenger side of the transmission tunnel was pretty hot. (driver's side was just warm). The temp gauge stayed in it's normal spot right below the middle, so the cooling system wasn't being taxed.
I need to get a transmission temp gauge to see how hot the transmission gets. (need to see if my ultraguage would have shown the transmission temp)
I was driving it with the gas pedal right on the kick-down switch (floored, but not kicking down), overdrive off. This made me think that maybe it was the catalytic converters getting really hot. Maybe they are getting clogged? (LX has 315k miles) How do you determine if the catalytic converters are healthy?
I am considering changing to 4.56 differential gears, to compensate for the tires, is that worth it to compensate for the tire height difference?
Thoughts?