TOWING IN THE MOUNTAINS

[CanDo]

We will begin fulltiming in the Spring of 2007 and plan to travel throughout this beautiful country, hopefully without regard for the steepness of the roads that will take us where we want to go. Herein lies the problem: overheating on uphill grades and burning up brakes on long steep downhill grades is a reality if care is not taken.

We have a 2004 Dodge RAM 3500 4X4 QUAD CAB SLT with a 5.9L Cummins HO Turbo Diesel, 4-speed automatic transmission, and a 4.10 rearend. We will be pulling our 2004 3670RL.

I have talked to the technical "gurus" from Dodge, Cummins, MOPAR, and the local dealer and when I ask them about authorized turbobrake and transcooler info they all give me the same answer: there aren't any that are authorized. And they say that installing aftermarket parts will void the warranty.

I have never towed the Monty, or anything else for that matter, in mountains, so I'm looking for a little help here, especially from you Dodge 3500 owners! Of course, any advice (from you Ford & Chevy folks too!) would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[skypilot]

Chris and Dave: You are in the same 'boat' as I; have a 2004.5 Dodge 3500 -- dealer I purchased from 'swore' that Dodge was coming out with an authorized exhaust brake -- even as late as middle of last year got the same story. Just 6 months ago changed and now getting the same story as you - nothing coming - if I add one it will void my 'entire' drive train warranty. His (their) recommendation was 'tough it out until I got over 70K miles' and then upgrade to aftermarket transmission / torque converter that could handle the stress and add the exhaust brake. The alternative is to purchase a new 2006 with auto that can handle the upgrade, or find a manual transmission Dodge. Not a lot of help but figured I'd let you know that you are getting the same answers as at least one other. Really 'torques' me off that they (Dodge) are leaving us hanging out here like this - I'm seriously looking at trading but just can't afford it. However, as the wife has said, can we afford not to!!!! (Can't answer that unfortunately). Oh well, off my soap box, crumbling as it is.

[kwbosch]

CanDo,

We drive mountains quite a bit (up to 14% grades). So far my truck hasn't had any overheating issues. I have the 3.73 rear end.
I replaced the front brake pads at 35K miles.
I think you'll find your Dodge will pull your Monty just fine the way it is.

Ken

[ram01bigal]

Chris and Dave,
I am far from an expert on the situation but here is a link from Cummins about the exhaust brakes.

http://www.cummins.com/na/pages/en/p...haustbrake.cfm

Here is part of it:

Don’t Compromise Exhaust Brake Performance. Or Your Warranty.

When you’re considering an exhaust brake for your 2004-1/2 Dodge Ram, you need the genuine Jacobs Exhaust Brake. It’s built by the same people who make the famous Jake Brake® engine brake for big rigs. And it’s the only factory-approved exhaust brake built for the Cummins Turbo Diesel. There’s no better way to get the retarding control you need for tough downhill runs without risking your engine or your powertrain warranty.

When I picked up my 06 they wanted to put a Jacobs exhaust brake on it. (I should have done it)

I hope this helps,

al

[PowellsMonty]

I live in the mountains of western NC. Not as high as the Rockies, but we have no problem either. Never in OD while in them, down shift when needed, whatever gear got you up will probably be needed going down. Take your time, a little common sense and you will be fine with what you have I would bet.

[skypilot]

Al (Ram01Bigal): 2006 is the earliest with auto trans that can accept the exhaust brake and keep warranty. Manual trans - no problem -- in fact recommended highly; I again, today, called and spoke with tech here who told me that 2 problems exist for me - the main shaft into the trans won't take the stress placed on it by the exhaust brake and the 2nd is that the main computer doesn't have enough memory to hold the program needed to do the lockup etc.... the 06 models come with upgrades to both that allow for them to have an exhaust brake installed for the 48RE transmissions. Once again, mentioned that I could trade to a newer truck -- but given dealer incentives / employee pricing going on right now, no way can they give me anywhere what I think I deserve for my O4.5. Life is rough but almost time to go camping

[H. John Kohl]

CanDo,
You have already received the same advise I have. The two most import things is do not "range" the automatic pulling the hills and down shift when going down a hill using the same gear you would have to use to go up it. Now going down you will not get as much breaking from the engine like you would with an exhaust break but there will be some. The big things is you will already be slow if you select the correct gear at the top (meaning you have already slowed down) and hopefully will not have to use the brakes as much.
Since I had the manual I was luck and had the Jordan exhaust brake installed by the dealer.
Hope this helps.
Good luck and tow safe.

[Cat320]

At least you won't have to worry about climbing the hills. Since all truck diesels are "turbo" they do not lose power when climbing the mountains. Gassers lose about 3% of their power for every 1000' of altitude.

[CanDo]

Thanks to all for your confirmation and advice. I had heard the "use the same gear going down as you used to go up" advice before and that certainly does make sense. Validation is a wonderful thing! Thanks again!

[sreigle]

Chris and Dave, your Dodge will handle the upgrades just fine. If you do serious downgrades you might want to look seriously at the exhaust brake. My Ford has the tow/haul and the exhaust backpressure from the closing turbo vanes like we discussed the other night.

The worst grade we've done was two miles long at 14% on both the up and the down sides. No problem going up, although we held speed at 35 (speed limit in those curves was also 35) as when I let it climb to 40 I saw egt temperatures higher than I liked. On the downside I did have to apply 3 or 4 seconds of braking every quarter mile or so. 14% is steep and those curves come up quickly.

We also did a 17 mile grade in Death Valley at 112 degrees F. I don't know the percentage but the truck did fine going up that one.

Your Dodge will do just fine. I'd recommend the exhaust brake if you're going to do some serious grades. Just my opinion.