Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

Long distance driving

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by bilit66 » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:30 pm

Is it safe on my transmission to drive 425 miles with 32" tires? I have been wanting to take a long drive with my truck but not sure about this.
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by boog2006 » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:34 pm

Drove six hours on 32's and 3:42 gears pulling a popup camper 6 hours to SMORR wheeled all weekend and pulled it home. No problem
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by TBYODA » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:43 pm

bilit66 wrote:Is it safe on my transmission to drive 425 miles with 32" tires? I have been wanting to take a long drive with my truck but not sure about this.
If you are worried spend a few $$ and get a cooler for the tranny. I just put one in for around $60 very easy to install, check out my build for info.
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by HARDTRAILZ » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:50 pm

Tecore was about 1000 miles or so in a weekend on 33s and on 35s. My trans still works.

You done proper maintenance?

You have trans issue now?

Have any in past?
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by Moots1288 » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:55 pm

I drove to badlands in Attica IN for a weekend which is 800 miles each way plus wheeling on 33s and I was fine, and that was a week after I had a tranny line explode while driving on the highway.
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by bilit66 » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:07 pm

Awesome. Thanks for the information. I have a factory trans cooler also. Taken a road trip this weekend then.
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by navigator » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:15 pm

I like the peace of mind of the Scangauge II so I can keep an eye on my tranny temps.
Some guys use Torque Pro with Anrdoid devices as well as other options.
That being said, I've been running 32s on 3.42 gears and the only time I have had my tranny get over 220 was last summer pulling my bass boat in OD. Granted I am in the flat lands of NC so hilly terrain would be different.
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by galacticfuzz » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:54 pm

I've regularly ran 32" on 3,42 on 3 hr trips (for some reason Gilligan's Island theme song popped into my head). Round trip was 6 hrs. Never had any issues.
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by mikekey » Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:18 am

Hasn't Trail X been running around on that combo all these years? Add a trans-cooler, keep an eye on it and call it a day.
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by v7guy » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:21 am

mikekey wrote:Hasn't Trail X been running around on that combo all these years? Add a trans-cooler, keep an eye on it and call it a day.



essentially, yup

it should be fine on 32s, toss a cooler and a thermostat on the cooler and call it a day. Make sure you flare the hard line when you put the cooler in to ensure trouble free operation.
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by Cable810 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:42 am

I've had no issues with 4.10s and 32s driving about 120 miles one way.
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by DirtyBacon04 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:18 pm

I've got you all beat...
I drove from San Diego, CA to Orlando, FL on 33"s and 3.42 (w/o cooler)

a few months later i needed a new xmsn. But the xmsn was already slipping even before the bigger tires, so who knows if that would've killed it on it's own.
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by v7guy » Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:09 pm

Stephen, you do realize the issue is with 3.42s specifically and larger than 32s?
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by Trail X » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:31 pm

I'm not sure why length of the drive should matter. Once the engine and trans get to steady state temps, it shouldn't change things no matter how far you drive.

I don't think a factory transmission cooler is anything other than the cooler we all have on our trucks. I don't think there were any other options, unless I am mistaken.

I had some challenges keeping temps down even with a cooler. The key was getting the transgo shift kit. Otherwise my trans would heat up to about 230 steady state above 70 mph. I would tend to shift down to D3 to bring those temps under control.
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by fallen angel » Fri Oct 31, 2014 2:21 am

generally, I don't see high transmission temps unless I go on a trip longer than an hour. Up to that point, no issue. This is with 30.5's and 3.42 gears. (would surely put on a trans cooler before going to 32's. temps already reach to 209deg on steep hilly roads)
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