Dialtone
Ozark,Alabama
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Joined: 04/27/2009
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My wife and I have been Rv'ing since 1997 with a travel trailer and a Chevy Silverado with a large gas engine and have traveled all over the US. Now we have just traded our old truck in for a new Silverado 3500 Dully with a Duramax engine and Allison Transmission. We are making our first trip with this truck from Alabama to Yellowstone in two weeks. Being a “newbie” with his first Diesel engine, I am unsure about how it will handle on the steep grades that we will be going down.I have heard that the engine braking will be a lot different than with a gas engine. I need some tips on how to drive this truck down the mountain roads that we will be on. Do I need to add “Banks “ braking system or something similar to this truck?
We would also like info from anyone who has traveled on “Snowy range road” #130 in Wyoming going from east to west and in
Colorado on highway # 149 going from north to south.
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wantsalife
FULL-TIMERS (Has a Life Now!)
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Joined: 10/03/2008
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Your Allison tranny will help you handle your load down hill.
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GSS0816
Chestertown MD
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Joined: 10/09/2007
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If you activate the tow haul, the Allison with grade brake automatically slowing the truck down on steep grades.
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hotbyte
Barnesville GA
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Joined: 08/31/2004
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Biggest thing to be aware of is the RPMs can go pretty high when the engine & tranny are doing their thing. There is a point where, if RPMs get too high, the breaking will let go. There's a red (IIRC it's red) band in the higher RPM range to indicate the breaking range.
Feeling the tranny shift down and control your speed is a really cool feeling.
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MadMav
Colorado Springs, CO
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Yeah, just start slow and let the toy haul and tranny work it's magic. Apply the brakes sparenly and you should be fine.
Mav
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Wanderin fool
Woodland Park, Colo.
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I love my Max/Allison. In the tow/haul mod it "learns" to downshift. It can actually rev over the redline, because there is no power being applied to the motor. The drivetrain is smarter than we are!. I always use a combo of brakes and engine braking so it never gets out of hand. Just go slow, and be safe!
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donn0128
Pronounced Ore-gun
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GSS0816 wrote:If you activate the tow haul, the Allison with grade brake automatically slowing the truck down on steep grades.
Not quite. You first need to tap the brakes to make the automatic downshift. Use the Tow/haul feature and when you start down a hill, just tap the brake pedal and the automatic will take over and downshift one gear. read all about how to properly use grade braking in the owners manual.
Donn
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sl4ever
Sacramento,CA
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I have a 04 duramax/allison combo and have pulled my trailer on many mountain passes and downgrades. When you are at the top and start going down use your brakes a little the truck will automatically down shift. If it is steep and not holding you back use your brakes again and it will shift again. You don't need to manually down shift the Allison it is smart. Not sure of the newer trucks but my tach has a dotted red line up to almost 5000 RPM then a solid line. It is ok to go into the dotted red line going down hill just don't go into the solid. My truck holds 4000 RPM with a load very well.
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dmax lover
Portland,Oregon, USA
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Joined: 08/27/2005
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To answer your question - you don't need an exhaust brake. The allison transmission is an engineering marvel that has fantastic "grade braking". Just put it in tow/haul and let it do the thinking for you...
You don't say how heavy your trailer is - assuming it's brakes are in good condition and you have a good trailer brake controller you should be fine. (is the brake controller integrated into your new truck?). I have the prodigy and it is great towing horses - nice and smooth.
jeff
2005 Chevrolet Duramax 3500 SRW Crewcab Longbed (KYB Monomax Shocks, Michelins,Pacbrake Airbags,Hellwig Rear Swaybar)
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Dialtone
Ozark,Alabama
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I am sorry that the info about my truck and 5th wheel did not appear in the post. I thought that the info in my profile would appear in the side bar next to my name.
1.Truck is: 2007 Chevy Silverado 3500 Classic Dullie with D/A combo with 7,000 miles on it.
2. 5th wheel is: 2006 Holiday Rambler Alumascape at about 12,000 lbs.
Thanks for all the good info. When you use your new truck for the first time going down a mountain grade you sort of don't know how good or bad it will handle. I know lots of you have been there and done that and have learned how it handles so I do appreicate all the post. I really like my new truck so far. Will get back with ya'll to let let you know how the trip went.
Thanks, Tony & Charlotte
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