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Old 05-01-2019, 01:40 PM   #1
vipermanden
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M.O.C. #18510
RAM 3500 AISIN tranny shifting

Dumb question here. I got my new SOB 5th wheel, and it is 4,000 pounds heavier than my Montana 3820FK was, and coming up to my house in Tahoe, is a 11% grade for about 3 miles going over the Brockway summit, which is 7,200 feet. Usually in the Monty, I could keep 50 mph over the summit, but now this first time I went over the summit, it kept slowing down to 40 mph, and did not down shift for the longest time, when it was too late. I ended up going 35 mph over the summit. Do any of you take it out of Tow Haul mode when you know you will be going over a mountain pass, and you want the tranny to be more responsive? Also, what about that + - button on the shift column? I read about using that, and it is confusing? It says tap the minus button once to activate it, and tap it again to control the top gear you want the tranny to go in. To turn it off, it says to hold in the + button, until the "D" appears in your dash? Any of you use this to manually downshift??? Thanks
 
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Old 05-01-2019, 02:40 PM   #2
mhs4771
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If in hilly road conditions, I will leave it in Tow Haul, but put the shift selector into Manual. Then using the +/- will hit the minus to manually down shift before the revs get out of the power curve. As smart as these new Trucks, some times they seem to wait too long before a down shift.
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Old 05-01-2019, 03:02 PM   #3
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I know Brockway well. That last curve after the passing lane ends is steep until you hit the summit. It could be the difference between the Monty and your 4k heavier rig slowing you down. I usually use manually when I want to force the tranny to shift. If you get after market tuning, many tuners can fix the factory issues in all platforms.
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Old 05-01-2019, 03:50 PM   #4
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I do the same as, Michelle and Ann, always leave it in tow haul going up a steep hill I will manually down shift to keep the rpm's up and keep moving. When in this towing mode I keep a watchful eye on temp, trans temp and rpm. Never had a problem....so far..

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Old 05-01-2019, 08:18 PM   #5
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So what you guys are saying, is I need to touch the minus button once, to turn it on, and then touch it again to downshift one gear etc.? If it is that easy, then I will be doing that from now on. I don't think I will over heat the tranny in that short of a time? :-)
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Old 05-01-2019, 08:51 PM   #6
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Not sure about dodge but for my Chevy I need to shift to “M” and from there I can use the plus and minus. I keep an eye on when I’m climbing hills. The water temp doesn’t move and my trans temp goes up a little depending on the hill but nothing I had to worry about.
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Old 05-01-2019, 08:59 PM   #7
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I down shift mine all the time when towing up long grades. You wont hurt the Aisin trans at all it made for that that's Y Ram uses it!
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Old 05-01-2019, 09:10 PM   #8
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My old Dodge would do what you're describing. My new one seems to have solved that problem, but I'm not sure exactly what they did.
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