SSwest

I wanted to give an update after the long, towing, road trip. Round trip took us 3200 miles, what a long ass drive. Out west there is nothing but elevation changes, especially when you leave sea level and are heading into the Rockies. Besides the terrible fuel mileage of 10-14 mpg the car handled the trip, elevation changes and heat like a champ. Using the bump shift is the only way to tow, letting the car climb into the revs when needed. Only had to let the car cool down once over the thousands of feet of elevation changes, but it also happened to over 90 degrees on that climb. Otherwise the coolant, oil and trans temps stayed well within reason. Don't expect to use the cruise control a whole lot, but I guess it depends on your road and elevation changes. My car does not have the tow package, but I can see where the oil cooler would come in handy when the temps get into the 80's-90's.

Later this week the Journey heads out on its toughest drive yet. Southern California to Sturgis, SD. Plenty of elevation changes but the temps are looking much cooler. I'll keep this thread posted on how it goes.

I called my local dealer and they said 220-230 is Hot, and if it goes to 240 the car will most likely overheat and go into its safety mode. With that said I towed my rig yesterday out to the track, 100 degrees outside. I kept the trans in manual and this significantly helped keep the trans temps down, didn't see anything over 204. It really helps when the car doesn't have to think for itself. Oil temp tho saw a steady 230. After temps cooled on the way home trans was down at 175 and oil at 215.

Outside temps were anywhere from 85 to 105 at one point, trans temp was 215-235 and the oil and coolant about 230. I worry about the trans at high temps over long trips. I'm choosing my drive times more carefully now to keep the temps down.

Hi Byron, I recently picked up a 6x12 v-nose enclosed trailer as well and I had a few questions for you. What were your trans temps running through your elevation changes? My oil stayed cool as long as I kept the coolant temps cool, but my trans temps were a bit toasty on several of my grades. I do not have the tow prep package. I was averaging 12mpg so your mpg sounds right. It's not so much the weight as it's pushing so much wind. Here's mine. First post by the way. Hello.