Towing Travel Trailer in the Rockies

[JAD]

This thread sent me looking for information for OBDII scanners. I also will be traveling over the Rockies later this summer. No trailers however. But the idea of being able to monitor engine performance/function has great appeal to me. Specifically, being able to observe tranny temps under these mountainous conditions.

Anyone have any experience with the OBD Link MX scanner? It is quite a bit more pricey than others (approx $70 on Amazon). But it gets very good reviews for reliability, Bluetooth speed, and battery management. Apparently these devices can drain a battery under many circumstances. It is also Android specific.

 

[JAD]

I forgot this unit also works well with the Torque app.

 

[monty876]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all that are giving advice and information! It is definitely appreciated.

There is no doubt that things will be going slowly with the load I have behind the 2010 TE and I know better than to push it.

What does interest me even more now, besides the air bags and tranny cooler are the apps that you guys speak of. Besides the actual apps for the iPhone, what else do I need to make this work? I would really like to monitor actual numbers not only in the passes, but on the way out there from the east as well. In July, who knows what kind of temps we're going to run into in the plains.

It seems that most of you guys feel that the gauges that we all see on the dash are basically non-functional with respect to what is actually happening, so with the recommended apps that you guys talk about, what number should I be looking for as normal and not normal? And with that, if the numbers tend to move toward the high side of normal and get into the not good type of numbers, what should I do? If I'm in the middle of a pass and the tranny number is high, will simply pulling over and letting her rest for a while help? Is there anything else that I would need to be doing in that instance?

Again, thanks all for helping out. With two young kids, wife and dogs, I want to make our trip as smooth as I can and you guys are definitely helping with that prior to even starting out. I'd rather be prepared, than not.

 

[1F7]

Is it really true that the transmission is the limiting factor when towing, and not the V6 engine torque?

And, utilizing 4th-gear lockup it great when possible, but slower roads will preclude that, yes?

So if the 14400-btu B&M 70264 isn't sufficient, why not add a 29200-btu B&M 70274? It doesn't have the low-temperature bypass, but that can be added externally if you think it necessary.

Bill

 

[dsfra]

Thanks dsfra for the informative post.

What's a reasonable maximum transmission fluid temperature? A chart posted awhile ago said 235 degrees required changing after 12000 miles. Certainly over 200 degrees is not desirable, but at what temperature do you stop and fast idle?

Bill

I generally watch how quickly the temp is increasing, and if I'm already hitting the 190's and know that I have much more uphill to go I start to ease up on the speed, and maybe look around for a slow semi to tuck in behind. We use the 4Runner pretty much just for trips, and generally can take it easy and don't feel the need to always be going at or over the limit. Yeah - I'm that old fart with the grey beard in the slow lane. If I get above 205 or so I tend to bag it and stop for a cool-down break.

There are lots of sites on the web that suggest that if you get much above 210 you're really starting to compromise the integrity of your ATF and it degrades rapidly at higher temps, with consequent harm to the transmission.

 

[Biggcrisp]

Is it really true that the transmission is the limiting factor when towing, and not the V6 engine torque?

And, utilizing 4th-gear lockup it great when possible, but slower roads will preclude that, yes?

Bill

Yes, the transmission is the limiting factor. The V6 does a good job getting up to speed and will pull a travel trailer faster than 85 mph (fact).

At slower speeds the engine is not working the transmission as hard if you keep the RPM's around 2,200 - 3,500.