Towing

[Wendell]

How do you tow? I found manual shifts better suit towing and fuel mileage.

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[WILDHOBO]

It entirely depends on the load and the terrain. But fuel economy is the furthest thing from my mind when towing. Just listen to the engine and don’t push it past what’s reasonable. But up shifting to decrease rpms will just decrease power.

 

[MudderNuker]

Depends on the load and road speed limits. With a 3,500 lbs. (more loaded with gear) camper on flats I could manually shift to 6th gear and maintain speed and possibly gain some. Now after the Scorcher I can upshift to seven and maintain speed. On a 60MPH road, I shift manually to keep it on 6th gear and downshift accordingly for hills down to fourth if necessary, and the JTR responds well, and the engine isn't lugged. If I leave the transmission on "D" it will rev the daylights out the engine to maintain speed if on cruise control. That is why unless, I'm on a long stretch of flat highway, I no longer use cruise control. What I do, is just let it lose a few MPHs going up and recover once over the hill. Better MPG and less stressful for us, not having to hear the engine screaming. I do make sure I don't lug the engine, so I keep my RPMs somewhere between 2,200 and 2,500 IIRC. I also have a AFE Rock Basher exhaust, and it can get a little annoying if the rpms are lower than that. Only when necessary, I let it rev on its own when climbing steep uphills.

 

[Janster]

I would prefer Automatic for towing. Let the engine & the ’programming within’ decide when to shift, etc. If you’re using cruise control…..you might have to adjust it 1-2mph accordingly if you find the transmission is ‘hunting’. The hunting can occur depending on the circumstances and conditions you’re in.

Previous trucks I’ve owned……had ‘Tow Haul Mode’. I was surprised the JT didn’t have that. So, obviously….the engineers figured that out. The Tow Haul mode (in other vehicles) always ran better than regular mode - as these companies put a choke hold on the throttle to save MPG.

 

[HorsesRear]

I just put it in drive and take off. Have not had any problems yet.

 

[yoda13]

I have never had any issues towing, but I found that shifting manually improves mpg by a bit.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I would prefer Automatic for towing. Let the engine & the ’programming within’ decide when to shift, etc. If you’re using cruise control…..you might have to adjust it 1-2mph accordingly if you find the transmission is ‘hunting’. The hunting can occur depending on the circumstances and conditions you’re in.

Previous trucks I’ve owned……had ‘Tow Haul Mode’. I was surprised the JT didn’t have that. So, obviously….the engineers figured that out. The Tow Haul mode (in other vehicles) always ran better than regular mode - as these companies put a choke hold on the throttle to save MPG.

Automatic, but without cruise, unless it’s completely flat. I can see the hills coming. Cruise cannot.

 

[MudderNuker]

Automatic, but without cruise, unless it’s completely flat. I can see the hills coming. Cruise cannot.

Exactly why I don't use cruise when towing unless I'm on flat highways. Since we live in the mountains, those don't exist here.

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