Greetings fellow Dodge owners
I just bought a new 2004 Dodge 2500 SLT 4x4 short bed powered with the CTD. I just put two hundred miles on her today. I had a F350 with a V-10 that I pulled my boat with. My question is my boat and trailer combined scale aout around 3700 pounds. When towing, should I always tow with the tow/haul button on or just push it when towing up steep hills? I am brand new to towing with a diesel and with the new trannies in the 04 models, they seem pretty beefy. Also, should I wait until I have 500 miles on the motor before I tow or do you guys think it will be ok to pull my boat before?

I appreciate any help I can get and I look forward to many years driving this cool machine

 

3700 pounds? Shoot, your Cummins won't even know it is there. I see no reason to take it out of O/D when you are pulling that boat. If by chance you are at a lower speed and the tranny starts to hunt, then I would push the button.
Tom

 

tacklebuster i would put the thing in the tow mode even if it is only 3700# then "drive it like you stole it" as they say.change the oil at 2k i think it ,i did that on mine when it was new.you don't have to baby it you want to work it hard to break it in right.its a cummins, enjoy

 

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for the break-in period.

 

You won't have any problems towing yhat load. I tow 6300lbs of boat on a regular basis and then pull 11,000 a couple of times a year to and from a marina. One thing I had to get used to is the torque. It is weird when you take off some times I break the rear wheels loose in the rain. These trucks have a lot more torque down low so use it with some care untill you get used to it.

 

My boat weighs 3,400 pounds on the trailer. Feels about like a bale of hay in the bed. Mine is a six-shooter, but I have had slushboxes in the past. If your transmission is "hunting" or going in and out of overdrive (I seriously doubt that it will) use tow mode. If the trans is willing to stay in overdrive without hunting, leave it out of tow mode.

If you don't absolutely love your diesel yet, you will after pulling your boat up a 10% grade just above idle at 70 mph.

 

Hey Tacklebuster!

This is Jet from I-fish. You will just love that thing. If you have any questions send me an email. Like I said on I-fish I tow every weekend, the 6000lb boat or the 10k 5er. I use tow haul only in the hills and on the flat land I do kick it off when running at 65.

This new truck is so much nicer than my 2002 stroker.

We'll see you out on the river.

Jet~~~

 

Thanks for the replies guys

Jet, it's good to see another Ifisher not Ifishing
I'll shoot you some mail soon

 

With a boat weighing in at 3700lbs you need 1 required accessory. Signs on the rear view mirror reminding you it is back there! We made a night time run on the interstate with a 3000lb boat/trailer and I kept wondering why the cars I passed always slowed down as I pulled back in to the slow lane. Couldn't feel the boat at highway speed and forgot the thing was there! To made it worse, the dually fendors blocked the trailer marker lights as well. Must have waved that shiny SS prop in a few windshields before I figured it out....