Towed it home yesterday, and I'm really glad I set my weight limit to #5000-#5500 MAX weight! And, kept my tire size to only a 31" tall ones!

It's a 22' 2003 Prowler Lynx model 722F and while it is empty as far as supplies goes, the dealer, for some reason, filled the 30 gallon water tank to full?? Anyway, I guess that's ok, for now, as it did give me a more "real world" weight to go by. I have not gotten it weighed (yet), but it's supposed to weigh ~#3300 dry, and it does have most options and with the full water tank, I'd estimate it at ~#3900-#4000 now. It does have a MAX GVW of only #5000 too.

It towed great and handled wonderful. Hardly knew it was there, while on flat land. Hit a pretty good sized hill, and man, bogged down to 30 mph, had the pedal to the floor and the shifter set on 2nd. Now, the rpm's were only at 2000, so I don't think it was actually in 2nd. Just before I shifted it to 2nd, it shifted, or actually felt like it did the "converter lockup" thing. I had a car right on my a$$, so didn't want to shift it into 1st and have him slam into me.

I guess I should just keep the gear selector in Drive and let the tranny decide what gear to go in. I did have the OD off, but I do that all the time anyway.

Thanks, and let me know what "gear" you guys normally keep it when when going up hills.

 

Hi Mitch

Congrats. on new TT. Glad to see you matched TT to your truck.

Got my light wt. 4700# GVWR TT...2 yrs ago...First TT for me. They filled water tank..30gal...plus the 2-20# propane tanks.

Towing home...like you...found out real quick what my truck towing...would/wouldnt do.

I did weigh it right away at local truck stop with cat. scales. Was glad to see that TT wt. was within posted factory specs. not always the case. Later i weighed..loaded. Even weighed my loaded truck (solo) Sure took the guess work out for me.

My truck different...engine/gears 3.73/etc...For me on long, FLAT stretches...towing in OD seems to work OK. But with a slight grade dosent take long for my 4R70W/4.6L a/t to shift. Seems to me the TC is unlocking (acts like a gear between 3-4) Then shortly, depending on grade, it will shift to 3rd, 2nd and have been in low and slow!

The first time i was maxed in 2nd..and the a/t shifted to low...oops.. I dont know if that hurts the a/t, engine sure revs fast. I try to avoid that now.

Since then when i see the grade coming, i shift to 3rd and try to get a little run on that grade.

Good luck...OT

 

I've only been towing for a few months but I learned a few techniques. On flat land I will use cruise control but when I get to any decent hill I take it off and allow my speed to drop around 10 mph. while pulling the hill. That way it doesn't downshift to 2nd.

I am @ 5000 ft altitude and up so my power is sapped more than lowlanders. We just went from Albuquerque to Silverton, Co which is a pretty good tow. I never resorted to 1st gear or had it floored.

BTW my 5er is around 5K loaded.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Geeky, got a question for you. Noticed you got a tranny temp guage. Do you ever find that you are pushing the tranny temp up and then, because of the guage, back off to let the tranny cool down?

I've got the factory Tow Package, and therefore the tranny cooler, but have been curious of what the actual tranny temp is. Especially when going up a hill.

 

MitchF150, I go the tt gauge because I am under the impression that my tranny is the weakest link. If you get too hot and don't know or realize it then keep using that fluid the tranny will fail.

In the above-mentioned tow to Silverton I found that ambient temp made a BIG difference. We were scouting for campgrounds without the 5er hooked up. It was 90ish degrees and the tranny got to 185. The next morning we took the same route towing at about 55-65 degrees ambient. The tranny stayed 15-20 degrees cooler.

Yes, I was suprised too. Needless to say, I will be tackling any big pulls in the cool part of the day and not in the heat of the afternoon.

I had made my mind up to pull over if 200 degrees was eminent But it never happened.

BTW I installed the sending unit in the pan. I have the inline tee but dummy me bought for the wrong size tubing. I change it over later. Hope this helps.

 

Also, in the morning we weren't using the AC. I don't know if that made the difference or not..... Later

 

We have a 93, 24 foot TT (fifth wheel) that weighs about 6500 lb loaded. When I am on flat land, I too use the cruise control. When pulling up a hill of any significance I will keep the engine at 3500 RPM's regardless of speed and gear. What ever gear I need in order to get 3500 RPM's is what I use.

 

I have a temp gauge on mine with the sensor in the test port (don't know if the 4R70 has a test port, I have the 4R100).

Anyway, the highest temp I have seen is 195 uphill under boost. This seemed a bit high, so I added an extra cooler this week. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Geeky - the trans cooler is in front of the AC, so I don't think that would make much difference.

Ian

 

That's interesting about the test port on the 4r100. I've got that tranny too. So did the sensor threads match the ports threads?

That'll be cool if it does, then I won't have to worry about cutting the line, putting in the T fitting..........

I've been under the impression that 185 for the tranny temp is ok. (Sure, cooler is always better) But it's not until it gets over 220 when it'll start to burn?

Also, on the factory cooler, I'm not sure what it's called, "Cross Flow" maybe?? But I understand it's kinda like a normal radiator, in that all the fluid goes in one end and then is pushed thru the all of the fins at the same time, then collects on the other end and back to the tranny. Is this correct? To me, this seems like a pretty good way to cool the fluid. Splits up the volume going in, spreads it out over a larger area, cools it, and then combines it back again to start the trip all over. On the aftermarket coolers, the same line just goes back and forth the entire time. I'm sure they cool just fine too, and that's why they are physically larger then the factory units......?

I guess the thing to do is get the temp guage, see what the factory one does, than get an aftermarket one and see what it does......

Thanks again!

 

Sounds like a great TT now go use it on the weekends and Vacations and have fun with it for many years to come.

 

What is a TT?

 

A TT is short for Travel Trailer

 

Water weighs 8.5 lbs per gallon... thus a full 30 lb tank weighs in at 255 lbs... about 5 percent of total empty weight.