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My towing review. UPDATE! Now with 37s!

ShadowsPapa

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One thing I'll add to the review is the kids said the back seat was much better in the jeep because they had more room and could charge their switches while driving. The wife also preferred the jeep while we were on the trail. She said is was significantly more comfortable when offroading.
My son and his wife commented on the back seat being better than my Silverado was - and Luke is over 6' and at that time, he's lost weight since then but wasn't a tiny guy.
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dcmdon

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I had read that before and gave it a try on my ride home, but the wind was brutal so it wasn't helping much. I'll give it another try next time
If that doesn't work, then go to the next lower gear, and keep going down until you reach a gear that works.

Remember RPM aren't going to hurt anything.

There isn't any difference between 4th gear manually entered and 4th gear on a kick down. The only practical difference is that if you lift for a second or back off, its not going to try to upshift. and then downshift when you put your foot back down.

When it comes to towing, an AT in manual mode combines the best of both transmissions. A fluid drive with no clutch to burn out, and the ability to set engine RPM exactly where you want them.
 
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ShadowsPapa

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Remember RPM aren't going to hurt anything.
Exactly. The only concern is way off the map across the tach dial.
Mine hit 3,300 RPM, even 4,300 RPM and still wasn't wound as tight as my Chevy's LS would wind - 5,000 RPM was no big deal for that, so even a conservative 3-4,000 isn't going to choke this one either. The moving parts are so very light on these it's not the same forces as 2 decades ago.
 

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I tow 5900lbs with mine up and down hills and windy roads and it does fine.
just be aware that a 20amp blown fuse will kill the connection between the brake pedal and 7pin connector and make sure you carry spares
 

dcmdon

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Exactly. The only concern is way off the map across the tach dial.
Mine hit 3,300 RPM, even 4,300 RPM and still wasn't wound as tight as my Chevy's LS would wind - 5,000 RPM was no big deal for that, so even a conservative 3-4,000 isn't going to choke this one either. The moving parts are so very light on these it's not the same forces as 2 decades ago.
Roughly 35 years ago Saab did a torture test at Taladega to promote the new 9000. They used 2 cars and ran the cars flat out for 30 days. Both cars survived being at full throttle near redline for 30 days. Straight. People really don't understand that RPM (within reason) won't hurt an engine.
 

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BaliMawr

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I tow 5900lbs with mine up and down hills and windy roads and it does fine.
just be aware that a 20amp blown fuse will kill the connection between the brake pedal and 7pin connector and make sure you carry spares
THAT is good info. which fuse is this? Number/location?
 

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I am looking forward to doing a trailer with the Sport S Max Tow we have. The only weight related mod I have done after receiving it is a 72 pounce tonneau cover. We are keeping it as totally stock as possible though it is taking all my strength not to do anything to “Max”! So many mods I would love to do. Still leaves us over 1300 pounds of cargo capacity. We will use a WDH and measure everything down to axles at the local CAT scales when we get our trailer.
 

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That makes sense. I'm looking at some of the super hardcore Aussie import trailers too. The truck would be the limiting factor on those well before the camper would be. Sounds like the situation would be reversed most of the time with a GeoPro or similar.


I second this. I do miss the Tow/Haul mode of my Titan where it would do this automatically, but doing it manually isn't hard and it does control speeds very well down the grades.
I love my Geo Pro 12RK. Manual shift on the automatic makes it so much easier. The Geo pro 15TB is another great rig.
 

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Nice review!!!
A piece of information I think others would like to have is payload for a FULLY FULLY loaded Sport S Max tow when they are looking at trailering since your tongue weight goes against payload.

I built a Sport S Max tow with every single package except smokers. Also got the spray in bedliner and Freedom top and side steps which adds weight. In the end as delivered it still has 1343 pounds of payload capacity which is not bad. I thought it would be worse due to all the options. The two of us are only 300 pounds of people so that leaves 1043 for tongue weight and cargo if maxed which of course is not a great idea. We are planning to stay under that :)

Hope that helps someone out there since many wonder what their payload might be on delivery of a massively loaded Sport S Max Tow and want to tow and have not ordered yet but are thinking of campers
I just got a sport s max tow delivered to my driveway last week and my gvwr is 1,476lbs. I thought it would be more, but it has the hard top and the spray in bedliner also.
 

ShadowsPapa

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I just got a sport s max tow delivered to my driveway last week and my gvwr is 1,476lbs. I thought it would be more, but it has the hard top and the spray in bedliner also.
You mean that's your payload rating on the sticker, right?
 

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OngsterA

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Good posts, thanks OP for that feedback and others for using the auto trans in manual mode to control gearing. Here is my situation. I normally tow my light 240Z (2400 lbs) using U-haul's 2300 lb trailer behind my Xterra. No problem since under the 5k limit.

Now with the JTR and lifted 3.5", although with the Metalcloak it still corners nice and flat, I now have a 3800 lb Mustang GT to tow, so with the same trailer, would put me close to the 7k limit. We have mountain passes to go over but not winding, but I believe up to 6 deg incline.

My question is, will I need a WDH and brake controller for this setup? The JTR comes with tow pkg, trailer hitch.
 
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Good posts, thanks OP for that feedback and others for using the auto trans in manual mode to control gearing. Here is my situation. I normally tow my light 240Z (2400 lbs) using U-haul's 2300 lb trailer behind my Xterra. No problem since under the 5k limit.

Now with the JTR and lifted 3.5", although with the Metalcloak it still corners nice and flat, I now have a 3800 lb Mustang GT to tow, so with the same trailer, would put me close to the 7k limit. We have mountain passes to go over but not winding, but I believe up to 6 deg incline.

My question is, will I need a WDH and brake controller for this setup? The JTR comes with tow pkg, trailer hitch.
I've towed a few of uhauls larger trailers (car hauler and biggest cargo trailer) and they both had a 4 pin connection and surge brakes, so I don't believe a brake controller would work. If that trailer does happen to have brakes I would definitely recommend a brake controller for that weight. I towed a camper once without brakes and it was sketchy. I'm not positive if you can attach a WDH to a uhaul trailer either, but if you can I would definitely recommend it.
 

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All the U-Haul trailers I've towed. They all had surge brakes. And no way of using a WDH.
 

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All the U-Haul trailers I've towed. They all had surge brakes. And no way of using a WDH.
Yep totally true. I’ll be looking for Featherlites or other alum dual axles soon, with brake controller and WDH, for safety’s sake.
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