[VAC] Re: Toyota towing

[Patrick Ewing <pre52@xxxxxxx>]

An automatic transmission that is shifting back and forth in the hills or when going
into a head wind is a sign that the driver needs to pull it down into a lower gear.
Constant shifting back and forth will probably cause a premature failure of the
transmission.
When shifting an automatic down when climbing a good sized hill I start my shift down at
5/10 mph over my comfortable towing speed for the lower gear. I'll let up slightly on
the throttle to take the load off the transmission and slip it into the next lower gear.
Then at the proper time I'll apply more throttle. I'm not drastic on the throttle
........... just enough to take the major load off the trans. when down shifting the
automatic. When my shift is complete I'm usually right at the comfortable engine RPM's
for max torque for the need. If one waits too long before shifting and you lose the
momentum and speed you might end up struggling until you're at the top of the hill.

My Suburban has around 180,000 heavily used miles on it. ............... I've never
touched the transmission other than to have it regularly serviced. It does have a good
cooler installed for the transmission. Heat can be a killer of an automatic, ...........
as well as constant back & forth shifting. This is why we have a shift lever,
............. to keep it from back & forth shifting when certain condition arrise.

Sometime ago there was someone on this list that had the same automatic transmission as
I have in my Suburban that had constant transmission failures. If I remember right he
had 3 or 4 different failures. Either he isn't driving right, or there is an internal
problem that the rebuilder isn't catching. I feel that he sadly had the rare situation,
......... and an expensive one at that.

As for premature failures of various mechanical components .............. I've seen many
rigs, ............... including 3/4 ton Dodge diesels that have had major problems. Even
transmission failures when new. I feel that Toyota, and others build a great rig
............... however even the good ones can have the occasional problems. A fact of
life is that anything mechanical could fail at anytime.

Pat