Safe RPM's Traveling up a 7-10% Grade

[RRlover55]

Hi All,
New to the forum, but been reading for 6 months. Hoping this is in the correct area and not towing??

Question/Problem: A sales manager at a Travel Trailer place said I "should be towing" over 5000 RPM's, so I can go faster up a mountain AND buy this new trailer that weighs an additional 1500 pounds. This is not a "Can I or should I tow" because all the numbers say I technically can with a 23% cushion in the numbers. My question is about the RPM's and how high you can actually travel for 10-20 minutes at a time while climbing. Is 4200 the max or should it be 5000 RPMS?

Truck- I have a 2021 1500 Limited. 3.92 and the towing package.

Background- I have been towing my fully loaded 4900# travel trailer for 9 years total and 3 of those years with my 1500. Very easy to tow, however going up 7% grades at elevation of 4000-7200ft, I keep my RPMS are at 4000-4200 and I am at 52-54 miles per hour and I don't rev higher because of the sound.

Prior to 3 years ago, I had never owned a truck. I am open to all comments because I know the manager does not care about me or my truck. thank you in advance.

 

[desdinova70]

Your truck knows better than some sales manager on which gear to be in during various towing situations. You should just let the truck decide what gear to be in while towing up the steep grades and use towing mode via the dash button. In this mode, it upshifts later and downshifts earlier than usual, keeping the engine in its power band.

 

[Alter Ego Trip]

Honestly, there is more than one answer. Easy answer, higher rpms burn more fuel. Deeper answer, higher rpms create more heat and strain on the motor and could shorten life span depending on how often it occurs.

There are always trade offs to everything. Semis could pull grades faster than they do, but longevity suffers, so it's give and take.

 

[LITTLEREBEL]

Low speed and low RPM's. When I towed my camper through the mountains of Mt. Magazine I kept the RPM's in the 3-4k range.

 

[Rick3478]

My tach has no redline, so it must all be okay, right?

But really, I try to keep the revs under 4,000, and I'm okay with slowing down a little, AFAIK 45MPH is still legal most places.

And sure it will make more power if it absolutely has to.

 

[JF19Longhorn]

On steeper grade I'll sit a bit north of 4k but I do not let it 'sit' there very long.

Also, with a Limited, watch your door sticker Payload number vs actual tongue weight, hitch, & everything not factory in the truck.

 

[aprez]

My last truck (Jeep Gladiator) 4K was just getting into the power band. 7K wasn't out of the question going up steeper inclines. It had a better transmission cooler than the non Max Tow Jeeps.

 

[Threesuns1]

Hi All,
New to the forum, but been reading for 6 months. Hoping this is in the correct area and not towing??

Question/Problem: A sales manager at a Travel Trailer place said I "should be towing" over 5000 RPM's, so I can go faster up a mountain AND buy this new trailer that weighs an additional 1500 pounds. This is not a "Can I or should I tow" because all the numbers say I technically can with a 23% cushion in the numbers. My question is about the RPM's and how high you can actually travel for 10-20 minutes at a time while climbing. Is 4200 the max or should it be 5000 RPMS?

Truck- I have a 2021 1500 Limited. 3.92 and the towing package.

Background- I have been towing my fully loaded 4900# travel trailer for 9 years total and 3 of those years with my 1500. Very easy to tow, however going up 7% grades at elevation of 4000-7200ft, I keep my RPMS are at 4000-4200 and I am at 52-54 miles per hour and I don't rev higher because of the sound.

Prior to 3 years ago, I had never owned a truck. I am open to all comments because I know the manager does not care about me or my truck. thank you in advance.

What engine does your truck have?

 

[RRlover55]

What engine does your truck have?

I have the 8 cylinder Hemi Etorque.

 

[RRlover55]

On steeper grade I'll sit a bit north of 4k but I do not let it 'sit' there very long.

Also, with a Limited, watch your door sticker Payload number vs actual tongue weight, hitch, & everything not factory in the truck.

Good advice. I actually created a spreadsheet to calculate all my weights and I am right up to the payload limit. My wife jokes I may need to lose 20 pounds to make sure we stay under the limit.

 

[RRlover55]

Thinking about Going to a larger trailer (Cougar 22RBS) which is about 5700 dry and then add another 1000 pounds of stuff, equals an additional 1700 pounds to tow up the mountains. The sales manager said towing should be no problem and that trucks today are meant to run for extended periods near the red line with no mechanical issues. Considering I only go on 3-5 trips per year where i climb these steep grades, it is not a frequent event.

thanks for all the feedback so far!

 

[Oldphart]

It used to be that the torque peak was where you wanted to be when towing uphill. I used to go 2-300 RPM above it in case the engine pulled down a bit. Many moons ago, I had a motorhome with a 460 Ford. Gross weight was 18,000+- lbs. The advertised torque peak was 2,800 rpm. When pulling a hill, it would sometimes pull down to 2,800 but no lower. You could really tell the engine was working at that RPM.

The torque peak is 3,950 on the 5.7, that's where I would start. Over 5k seems a bit aggressive.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I run about 1800-2000.