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tires/gears/towing

T

Throttle

NAXJA Forum User
Location
A tree fort
So I just recently got a 74 starcraft 10' tent trailer and a 10' fiberglass boat. I took it up into the mountains last weekend, and the Jeep did... alright I guess... but it was really hurting trying to make it up some big hills. I made it to the top of one and my tranny started to smoke, pulled over, let it cool off and the fluid was topped up and I went back on my way. My truck has 33"X12.5 MTRs and 4.56 gears in it. I'm wondering if I went to a 31"X10.5 A/T tire that it would help with towing up some of those big hills, along with an aftermarket tranny cooler??

Does anyone else run 31s with 4.56 gears??
If so, what are your RPMs on the highway??
 
Throttle said:
So I just recently got a 74 starcraft 10' tent trailer and a 10' fiberglass boat. I took it up into the mountains last weekend, and the Jeep did... alright I guess... but it was really hurting trying to make it up some big hills. I made it to the top of one and my tranny started to smoke, pulled over, let it cool off and the fluid was topped up and I went back on my way. My truck has 33"X12.5 MTRs and 4.56 gears in it. I'm wondering if I went to a 31"X10.5 A/T tire that it would help with towing up some of those big hills, along with an aftermarket tranny cooler??

Does anyone else run 31s with 4.56 gears??
If so, what are your RPMs on the highway??
Click to expand...

My XJ came with a tranny cooler, albeit a small one. I'd say you'd want a BIG one.

You didn't mention how much weight you were towing. Is it over the rating of your XJ?
 
I have 4.56 and worn 32"s and i am running about 2500 at 65 on the freeway. I checked that with a GPS last night.
 
along with an aftermarket tranny cooler??
==========================
YES do it. And change the trany fluid. If you got it to smoke your lucky it's not fried all together.
Down sizing the tires? If the hill(s) are a real problem for you, if your going to do them a lot then yes. Else force a down sift. They always make it to the top.
I tow a lot and run into bad hills myself. About 30~40 miles of grunt to the top in 3 gear hills (5 speed). I'm not changing a thing for 40 out of 12000 miles a year. But you may like the power for offing or just general better pickup to.
 
Well I knew it was a little OVER the full line, maybe slightly over the MAX line too, and when I pulled over, cooled off a bit, I started it back up, and shifted through the gears before checking the fluid again and it was bang on the FULL mark. The fluid didn't smell burnt either.

So with 31s and 4.56 gears i should be running somewhere in the range of 2600rpm right?
 
muckleroy said:
My XJ came with a tranny cooler, albeit a small one. I'd say you'd want a BIG one.

You didn't mention how much weight you were towing. Is it over the rating of your XJ?
Click to expand...

Well I would imagine that it would be weighing in fully loaded around 2300lbs maybe....
 
I tow a 21" ski boat with my xj periodically when if I go camping and don't want to take the truck, 4.56's and 33's are fine with my auto as long as I downshift on the hills, I only tow it in 3rd.

Braking is my problem, I hate towing the boat with the xj but sometimes its what I have to do. But only towing 2300lbs I would think downshifting would work, might just not be able to go 65 up the hills.
 
I would like to ask this question, how many RPM's are you turning, are you trying to get up some speed at the bottom of the hill and pegging it at 3k for the whole hill or is it bogging down?
 
Well usually I'm running 3-4krpm going uphill for a good 15 mins on a couple hills around here (Coquihalla moutain toll highway, in BC). Engine temp stays good (new rad + water pump). I'm looking at the B&M Transmission cooler. Anyone else running this?
 
Are you towing in OD?
On the hills, with that weight, you should be in 3rd.
 
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