Towing with a 4L60E

[OR VietVet]

I have used the WDH many times when I was off roading. I also had an anti sway device as well. I have seen, in a drunken bet that it could be done, where a light enough camper was attached and the WDH was set at max lift on the chains, had to use a floor jack to be able to get to those last chain links, and that lifted the tow rig enough to allow for both rear tires to be removed and the pull rig had FWD and pulled the camper with no rear tires on the ground. The camper was very small but the drunk won the bet. Amazing what entertains a bunch of drunk 4 wheelers at the camp fire after wheelin' all day and getting drunk for the next day hangover.

 

[B-train]

I just did cottonwood pass and it is nice and smooth, speed limit of around 35 mph.....which means about 50 for native Colorado peeps. LOL

I had the same truck years back and I concur with most of the advice here. 4k isn't terribly heavy, but you will feel it back there. Use tow/haul and put it in 3rd via shift lever. The LS motors are RPM motors and can hang out in or near peak power curve without issues for quite some time.

Just take it easy and sensible with the skinny pedal and it will do what it needs to. You probably will end up in 2nd gear at around 3500 rpm for some of it and that's OK. You want a gear and speed to be as constant as possible. Up/down shifting continuously will overheat and kill a trans.

 

[Fless]

Although the camper he brought had the WDH brackets on the tongue, he didn't bring the bars. No problem. All went well; it's not that heavy of a camper, I think 3900# GVWR. I used a 2-1/2" rise ball hitch and the Nivomat shocks brought everything up to level. I locked out OD with the shift lever and towed in either 3rd (most of the time) or selected 2nd for steeper uphills and engine braking on the way down the passes. Here's what it looked like when I pulled back into town at the end:

 

[OR VietVet]

That single axle trailer would have been light enough for your rig to handle easily and appears that it has. Good job.

 

[Fless]

As a final note, the transmission gauge never hit 200° even during the uphill climbs to as high as 11,600 ft AMSL. So glad that I had that added to the cluster. Ambient temps were typically not too hot, though, as much of the pass travel was through rain and clouds, and high altitude fall temps.

 

[RAMurphy]

I tow a camper pretty regularly and this post has taught me something, that quite frankly I never heard before, that towing in 3rd gear is healthier for the transmission than utilizing over drive. Will definitely try this later this month on our fall trip through the mountains.

 

[OR VietVet]

Yea, when you think about it, keeping the transmission in third while towing allows the transmission to not hunt for that OD gear and that allows it to run cooler and that is better for that transmission. That works with the thought of the bigger additional transmission cooler than just the radiator mounted transmission cooler.

 

[rockola1971]

Cooling is just a small part of the equation when towing in 3rd instead of 4th. The biggest problem is that there is only 1 band in a 4L60/E and that band is used for 2nd and 4th(OD). All that shifting back and forth from 3rd to 4th causes excessive wear on the band and towing causes extra pressure on the band while in 4th which can lead to slipping and failure of the band. When that band gets burnt from excesive heat it will turn your sunshell blue and all the material on the band which is similar to clutch material ends up distributed through your torque converter, tranny cooler and transmission which is not good at all. Plus when you loose the band, you lose 2nd and 4th. Then the vehicle will start off in 1st then shift to 2nd but 2nd isnt there and after a little while eventually shift to 3rd. If it shifts to 4th then 4th wont be there. You can get home in 3rd so at that point manually shift it to 3rd and keep it there. If you are going up large hills or mountains when the band goes out and towing a fair load then its gonna be a white knuckle ride and that tranny is gonna get really hot! Remember.... during that shift from 1st to 2nd and 2nd is not there....well that is when the band is slipping and when it is slipping it is causing a huge amount of heat buildup and things are gonna run hot....real hot.

Who wants me to make a thread on the 4L60/E with pics of the 2-4 band, 2-4 servo and the sunshell along with how all the magic happens?

 

[Fless]

Who wants me to make a thread on the 4L60/E with pics of the 2-4 band, 2-4 servo and the sunshell along with how all the magic happens?

I would!

 

[RAMurphy]

I'm always willing to learn more.