First time towing with Gryphon
 

Hey Fellas

I'm going to be towing a 6x12 uhaul cargo trailer this weekend from Calgary to Saskatoon about 700km (435 miles) not sure what the final weight will be til I get to the weigh station. I was wondering what would be the best parameters to put on the display and what upper limits to look for. I would assume TFT and TSS/OSS, Load and LPD might be the ones to watch? Hoping some of you more experienced towers out there could help me out.

'06 FX4,the only mods I'm running are a MRBP catback and 285/65/18 BFG All terrain ta.
haven't got custom tunes yet so I'll be using the canned tow tune with 89 octane gas.
the temp up her in Alberta is hovering around -10c (14f) so overheating probably won't be much of an issue.

Thanks

When towing I usually monitor:
TFT
CHT
LOAD
COM GEAR
If the tranny starts to shift a lot due to hills and/or head wind I usually turn the od off.
At some points I have followed what Jack has done and just put it in second.
When pulling big trailers and loads I try to keep it at 65mph or lower depending on the speed limit. Just safer that way. 75mph is the speed limit here on the interstate and if the trailer gets outa control you really have shortened up the time needed to react.

You might be surprised regarding temperature, even if the ambient temp is pretty cold.

I monitor the TFT and CHT, because I want to know how hot the engine is getting as well as the transmission since everything is under load.

Because I have two batteries in my trailer and a refrigerator that's running off DC, I monitor the charging voltage.

Finally, I monitor Comm Gear, because I like to have a visual confirmation of how much the transmission is shifting and if the torque converter is unlocking.

I personally don't see the value of monitoring TSS and OSS. They're only equal in 3rd gear with the TC locked.

If I'm on level ground, the TFT stays pretty cool, around 155-165. The CHT stays around 200. If I'm hill climbing, like a 7+% grade for 8-10 miles at highway speeds, I've seen the TFT get up around 216. The CHT rises a bit too, to around 214-216.

As long as everything is OK, I'm used to seeing the charging voltage stay around 13.6-13.7. Once though, I noticed it was holding in the 13.8-14.0 range and sure enough, the trailer battery charging fuse had blown. So, monitoring voltage gives me early warning of possible trailer electrical failure.

I try to keep the transmission activity at a minimum, so if I see the TC unlocking a lot or the transmission doing a lot of shifting, I drop out of overdrive. On long hill climbs, I lock it in 2nd gear.

And, I'm going to move this into the towing section, since we have a forum for that subject.

Edit: I'll add to what Lars posted just before me - we were writing at the same time. Most trailer tires are speed rated to no more than 65MPH. I would not tow faster than that. Heat destroys them very quickly - they're built differently than vehicle tires.

- Jack