JTR 3.6 Towing Geo Pro 19bh, with AFE Scorcher GT

[MudderNuker]

Went camping this weekend to Red Canyon Campgrounds at Cibola in NM, about 2.5 hours away from my house. Before leaving I installed the AFE Scorcher GT to see if it helped a little while towing close to 4,500 lbs loaded with water, three people, food and gear. Make sure you look at the instructions and connect all connectors correctly, otherwise you'll get a CEL, like me. I corrected my mistake and cleared the code with the JSCAN app.

Initial impressions were, "is it working?" as I didn't feel much difference. Drove to the nearest gas station on the way and fueled up. Decided to turn off the Scorcher to see how the Gladiator behaved and like always it was hunting gears and downshifting to third on the slightest hint of a hill, even on manual mode it would do it. Drove like that for 10-15 miles and noticed that on most hills I had to shift into 4th to keep my set speed and the occasional shift into third by itself. Stopped on the side of the road and turned on the Scorcher. Kept driving the same road which was continuation of the same up and down hill road. This time I noticed it didn't downshift by itself like it did with the module turned off. On the same type of hills I had to shift into 4th, I was able to stay on 5th and sometimes 6th. Once the road was a little flatter I would go into 7th but it would not pick up speed as the limit was 55. When I filled up the tank on the way back I got 12.5 MPG.

So far it seems like the Scorcher did help and gave a little power where I needed it for towing.

But all was not good news. A windgust almost pushed me off the road and as I corrected the camper shoock and bounced from side to side causing the Dexter Torsion axle to bend the left drop arm. Now I have to find out if the axle is under warranty or if I need to buy one. I guess the torsion axles aren't as tough as they say.

Will continue driving around town (no towing) to see how the Gladiator handles all the hills around here.

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[916WI]

I started towing my 16' travel trailer(loaded weight is roughly 3400lbs) and my Gladiator with the 3.6 seemed to struggle considerably. That was with the stock wheels/tires. I don't know how you guys are towing heavier than that on 35" tires? Are you able to accelerate up heavy grades?

 

[Labswine]

I tow a 27', ~5,100 lb (with all we want or need) travel trailer with very few issues.

I shift manually and really have no issues maintaining highway speeds of ~65 MPH. I typically travel in 7th at around 65 MPH and ~2,100 RPMs. I encounter a grade and drop back to 6th to maintain between 58 and 65 MPH, very rarely do I have to drop back to 5th at around 3,000 RPMs, and when regaining 65 MPH or the top of the grade, it's back to 7th.


I have a '20 (ordered 5/19, delivered 7/19) Overland which is stone stock.

Except for my last trip, about two weeks ago when I had filled up at home with winter blend gas and got for the first leg of my trip 11.1 MPG (calc'd fill to fill), I typically get around 13 MPGs towing, which I got for the first leg of my trip coming home, again, calc'd fill to fill, as apparently they hadn't switched to winter blend gas where I was and filled up on my way home.

Below is what I tow...

 

[MudderNuker]

I started towing my 16' travel trailer(loaded weight is roughly 3400lbs) and my Gladiator with the 3.6 seemed to struggle considerably. That was with the stock wheels/tires. I don't know how you guys are towing heavier than that on 35" tires? Are you able to accelerate up heavy grades?

The tires and wheels I have are only 2 lbs more than the stock 33" setup with the Falkens. So additional unsprung weight is negligible. The circumference of course hurts some. When I upsized I didn't want to add size with a lot of weight on the new tires and wheels. I can climb steep hills towing with my camper but it screams going up with the 35". Now with the Scorcher it screams but slightly less. Coming home today, there is a very steep climb and normally I could merely hold 45 on 3rd. Now I can actually gain speed on 3rd going up with the Scorcher. Time will tell if the module is a keeper. What I find interesting is the fact that I got 12.5 MPG (hand calculated) with the Scorcher. I sure thought that since it is adding more fuel, I would drop MPGs. Forgot to mention that I also have a AFE Rock Basher cat back system. Not sure if that helps or does anything. Well, it adds sound and it braps between shifts. Now towing it can get a little annoying. But I still like it.

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