Tip: Quick and Accurate Adjustment of Chain Bolt on Anderson Hitch

[Boilermaker Chemist]

19 hours ago, rich.dev said:

I went through the CAT scale in August when we went camping, fully loaded (like when we will go full time end of October) the numbers were:

This is very interesting data.  I made a similar comparison before and after I had the hitch put on at the factory and found a similar result.  I am surprised at how little weight "re-distribution" this "WDH"  provides.  I don't have the data, but my guess is that a hitch using spring bars would do much more than that.

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

Yes, I have.  My 2008 Tundra 5.7L with tow package has a factory transmission cooler, and I was unhappy when I learned that my 2019 5.7L with tow package did not.

Towing our Hull #1291 up a long hill on a 100-degree day in August 2023 our transmission pan temp got up to 263 F.  Although Toyota claims that up to 300 F is "o.k."

In July 2024 towing our Oliver up that same hill on a 98-degree day, the transmission pan temp maxed out at 232 degrees F.

I would think the Tundra 5.7L would be a very capable TV for a 7K LB trailer. It's easy enough to add a trans cooler. Adam and I added one to his '97 T100. Our Lexus GX has one OEM. When I replaced the trans fluid there was a procedure to get to trans up to "temp" to fill the fluid to the right level. I thought it was 180F but not sure of the number. Keep in mind this was running the trans in neutral, certainly not towing.

43 minutes ago, Boilermaker Chemist said:

The true test came when we drove N on I-17 from Phoenix towards Flagstaff on a hot day in June. There is a steady and steep (4-5%) grade for about 7 miles starting near Black Canyon City, exit 244. A sign along the way states “AVOID OVERHEATING TURN OFF AIR CONDITIONER NEXT 5 MILES”. With the ambient temperature at 100 degrees, we passed several overheated trucks and cars while towing our fully loaded trailer at 55 mph with the AC ON. The transmission temperature never exceeded 206.  So I am obviously very pleased with that modification to my truck.

You have to imagine that I'm familiar with this stretch of road. Driven it some 100 times in the last 20 years. The Ford E450 Class-C 6.8 v10 we used to have would groan or downshift and scream, barely get to 40 MPH up this stretch!

It appears you found a great cooling mod and love you gauges. I was never into gauges on vehicles past but went full route on our Ram which already had a trans cooler. I wanted to keep eye on all relevant temps while towing. Also, the 2nd gen Ram 5.9 Cummins in OEM form is quite detuned, so I also added a tuner for more power. Program #1 adds MPG efficiency when around town. Program #2 adds power for towing (amazing climb on this mountain road), and programs 3-5 are for the crazies that run at tractor pulls (I never use the extreme programs).

The Edge Juice w/ Attitude included the tuner and all the gauges and a quality 7" display. TFT stands for Trans Fluid Temp, IAT is Intake Air Temp, ECT is Engine Coolant Temp, and EGT is Exhaust Temp (important to be <1200F when running hard or on tune programs). First need on a Cummins Diesel is to maintain 14 PSI in fuel pressure. Love this setup for towing power and monitoring vitals.

This picture was captured towing our Oliver (I asked Chris while I was driving), a mild climb just south of Hoover Dam on N Hwy 93. It was high 90s outside and at 1728 RPM, I was likely driving about 65 MPH in OD. I have never seen numbers over 200F. Obviously, these are different designs in transmissions. The highest temp I've seen was 193F. Not while towing but due to the climb from Parowan UT up to Cedar Breaks NP, a 4000+ FT climb in 20 minutes.

Edited September 21 by jd1923