Towing 2000lb with manual transmission in the mountains

[bd100]

Pentastar 3.6L, 3.73 gears, 6-speed manual. 2000lb popup trailer.

In the mountains west of Denver, Glenwood Canyon, many times I could wind out second gear up to 50mph no problem but then would have to shift to 3rd and it couldn't pull any more. The big jump from 2-3 leaves it around 3000 rpm, only half of its available horsepower at 6000rpm. If I shift back to 2nd it's still 50mph and the engine is screaming.

Thanks EPA. Two overdrives but wide gaps in the gears for towing.

And of course reverse is a smoking pain.

So maybe 4.10 or better gears if I do this often. 10% better gearing may get me to around 55mph instead of 50mph, and improve reverse a bit.

On the other hand, it has decent engine braking for the downhills, and the engine coolant and oil never got up to the half way in temperature. 236 degs is the most I saw. And the manual trans of course stays cool, and doesn't even have a temperature sensor.

Of course an 8-speed auto or a diesel would have pulled up the hills faster.

And the manual is nice for steady forward progress while 4-wheeling.

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[TheRealGinjaNinja]

Had the manual on my JLUR and yes the gearing sucks in the tranny. I am a die hard manual guy but went with the auto in my gladiator for this reason and happy I did. Get yourself some 5.13 or 5.38 gears…about the only solution other than trading in.

 

[bd100]

I forgot to mention that it also squats a bit from the weight of the cap, trailer hitch, and cargo. I had to turn the headlights down. My old leaf-sprung truck held the weight better.

 

[Jefe1018]

If the manual trans didn’t have such awful gearing and a weak clutch (hence the nerfed towing numbers) I probably would have ended up with one.

Regarding the squat, if your trailer has a 200lb tongue weight (10%) plus another 200lbs for the cap, plus food, water, clothes, fuel, tools, etc another 300ish lbs you are at 700lbs in the bed. Most JTs on the high end have a payload of roughly 1,500lbs with many being well below that. With my rough guesstimate you are at 700lbs before loading people in. I would say you’re almost right on the edge of payload limit right? You might need to get some stiffer or taller springs for the rear.

 

[bd100]

Yea and I had to raise the load range E LT tires to 55-60psi because the back tires were running warmer at 75mph than I'd like. Much happier when I added the air.

The trailer has load range C LT truck tires at 50psi, and those tires were fine.

Some of the cargo was Moab back roads survival stuff like 12 gallons water and canned food for three people. Monster hand winch, land anchor. Etc.

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