Towing in 3rd gear or 4th gear

[cekkk]

I'm not familiar with that vehicle, but have experience towing in mountains as we lived at 9000' elevation until recently. Generally, heat will kill a transmission long before its time. If you don't have an accurate transmission gauge you are at a disadvantage from the get go. But I'd suggest keeping in front of the situation on grades. Uphill, keep your RPMs up, guessing on your setup, 21 or 2200 minimum. I always felt if the transmission drop a gear before I did, I had not done my job.

Downgrades, low and slow. Nothing can spoil a day like fried brakes halfway down a 7% grade. Use your gears and ma ke sure your trailer brake controller is set properly for your load.

If your trailer tires are STs, max speed with recommended pressure is generally 65. If you have limited experience, that's too fast IMHO.

If you miss your ETA by an hour, I'll bet your knuckles won't be white and you enjoyed the trip.

 

[n5yzv]

I had an odd issue where a bolt backed out of my trans bell housing into my torque converter. Unsure of damage and such, I replaced it with a converter that locked up differently. It was more sold as a towing enhancement, but it really helps my hoe going up hills and such. Not near as much gear searching.
I recently picked up a new trailer to haul on vacation, so the suggestion of a trans cooler is a good Idea. I'll have to check mine for that.
One thing I have installed was in-coil rear air bags. This really helps the control of my tahoe as I typically have a bit of weight in the back causing it to feel like a rolling waterbed.

 

[MidwestMike]

On my 02 I only pulled in the snow. It wasn't all that heavy of a trailer but the wind resistance was there. Dropped the highway mileage from 15 to 7 mpg.

It would pull at 80 no problem, but would really hit the RPMs on any incline. There was no happy medium, running at 2200 RPM or popping up to 3600.

I started driving by the tach instead of the speedo. Slower up the hills and faster down.