Rebuild 4th trans or go Duramax?

[jmcgmc03]

My buddy hauls a horse trailer with his 1997 Ford diesel. Whenever he pulls the trailer into the mountains, about 12 miles in, with alot of switchbacks and top speed of 15 mph, his trans over heats and fluid comes out. He has had it rebuilt 3 times and it is going out again! He is thinking about buying a Duramax. He was asking me if I knew any Duramax owners that were pulling heavy loads at low speeds who have had the transmission overheat or fail? I told him I would ask the experts! I pull a 25' FW with my Duramax and love it, no problems, but I'm not going 15 mph up steep switchbacks in 90

[markrinker]

How much does the trailer, gear and horses weigh? Is he hauling gear and/or people in the truck as well?

A total weight of truck, trailer, gear, people would help get you a better answer. The Allison is a good unit, but if he is overloaded in those conditions, ANY truck can shred a tranny.

[Tough Guy]

It sounds like your pal needs to invest in a manual tranny....the six speed is nice too.

For a Ford forum like this one try: www.thedieselstop.com (http://www.thedieselstop.com)

Cheers

[Jim Brzozowski]

I think the Allison pumps a much larger volume of fluid thru the cooler than that ole 97 and with the fan on pulling air thru it the way GM's fan does, I don't think he will have a problem. Keeping the trans in low will help to keep the rpm's up and pumping the coolants faster, Yes engine and transmission oil are coolants.

[chipper]

jmcgmc03,
I have pulled in a similar situation with a 12,000 5er on 3 or 4 times in 90 degree temp with no heat problems.

[jmcgmc03]

Mark R. ... I think he said his CGVWR is about 20000 lbs. totally loaded. He is really at his wits end with this truck but he is skeptical about being able to make the payments for a new Duramax.

Tough Guy - Thanks for the Ford forum address. Maybe some of the Ford guys can help!

[DmaxMaverick]

jmcgmc03

I tow my (now sold) 5'er about a half dozen times a year up serious mountain roads. One of them, 15 miles of 12-20% with switchbacks and a max speed of about 20 MPH (probably 15 for most ppl) through most of it. Even with the T/C unlocked (won't lock below 20) and flogging it the whole way, it won't get into the red. My friend with a 2003 D/A, same equipment as mine, up the same road, and same weight, will get up to the red pulling his TT toy hauler, but it never ****d out any fluid or slowed him down. Both trucks are stock, the only differences are tires (mine are 285's, his are 265's)and the fluids. I use synthetic fluids (ATF, engine), he uses dino's. His also has CA emissions, cat and EGR. Ambient temps, starting at the bottom, are usually 95-105

[oyazi]

Yes your friends experience w/towing lite loads at low speeds is common w/fords. At low speed & lite/modess loads it doesn't warm up enuff to accuate the fan clutch and not fast enuff to forced sufficient air thru the trans cooler. So the trannys is seeing hot temps w/o ones knowlege. Surely, there would be some kind of fix on the ford forums. I would look at electric radiator fan w/override or bypass switch or something like that. A good temperature gauge would be essential also. Have a couple of friends having the same experience w/their fords. Happened to my son also.

[ 09-03-2005, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: oyazi ]

[Tough Guy]

A fairly popular mod for the Ford auto's is to add the V-10 tranny cooler and install a switch that allows you to lock up the T/C when ever you need to, this would probably solve his troubles....Does your friend have a tranny temp gauge?

Cheers

[rjschoolcraft]

DmaxMaverick,

Where is this hill you're talking about? The pull up to Whitney Portal in Southern California is very similar to what you describe.

[DmaxMaverick]

Originally posted by ronniejoe:
DmaxMaverick,

Where is this hill you're talking about? The pull up to Whitney Portal in Southern California is very similar to what you describe. Close. Actually, the Whitney Portal road is almost a mirror image to Bear Creek Dr. in the Balch Park area, which is the road I'm refering to. I've been up the Whitney Portal road on a couple SAR opp's years ago. Both roads go to the same moutain range, only on opposite sides. Balch Park is S/W, in the Moses Mtn & Dennison Pk areas. Most roads in these areas are very similar. Steep, narrow, and winding.

[Jim H.]

US Gear makes an electro-magnetic clutch fan for the V10 and Powerstroke (Cyclone??). The unit is automatic but there is a switch to engage the fan whenever desired. If I recall it also monitors transmission oil temperature and engages if it gets too how. I was thinking about one to help the A/C in the summer (cooling down a hot Excursion puts a pretty good load on the A/C.) If the issue is air flow through the cooler this might help.

[madmatt]

My uncle and I have tried every trick in the book to keep an E4OD alive w/o going to full aftermarket setup to no avail. 7 of them in two years between the two of us has changed both of our tunes. I went GM he went Manual.

[Albee]

We recently bought a toy hauler 5'er. She weighs about 17,000 loaded. I seen a tranny temp increase while pulling up a dirt road, from about 7,500-10,000 feet in a 5 mile stretch. Running at about 15-20 MPH. The temp did go up, not into the red but up from normal. Once I got to the top, the temp came down within normal range within a couple of minutes. This was with my 02 2500HD. Our previous trailer was a 10,000lb travel trailer and I would haul two 650 lb ATV's on an ATV rack in the bed of the pickup. Rack and ATV's weighed about 1,700 lbs, plus I had 49 gallons of water, 20 gallons of gas, two coolers and a small generator in the bed under the rack. I never had any problems with temps pulling this load in the same road. Good luck.

[BlackMaxAlly]

Well as the Ford/Chevy debate can go on forever, I can say this.....The Primary reason we chose G.M over Ford was the tranny! I am sorely tired of getting my 3 Fords new, or rebuilt Transmissions. You can count on them going out around the 50K mark, at least thats been my experience!

I have driven Allisons on the big boys....Luxury Motorhomes, and that SOLD me!

Do go to a few tranny shops, don't let them see your vehicle, (Park around the corner) and ask a seasoned mech., what brand of transmissions they repair most? Overwhelmingly they will tell you that Ford is their Bread and Butter. Please don't take my word for it, do your own research. If you ask me, the company should have a class action against them!

My new addage of Ford is~
F...Our Ride Died.......Again!