Might be a no brainer, but I would like some input on this. Towing with previous GM trannies, overdrive and cruise control were known tranny killers. Can the Allison handle these two luxuries (provided with our expensive machines) without unnecessary damage? Understandably, I realize cruise control is not a good idea on certain terrain, but I'm talking central FL, nothing steeper than an overpass. Also, I have purchased a superchips downloader (still in transit), and was wondering if this will cure some of the downshifting while towing with a headwind?

Thank you in advance.

I ran the Ohio Turnpike at 70MPH (in overdrive) with my edge/attitude on level 3 pulling a 40ft fifth wheel... it pulled great and never downshifted.

Dan

Ditto. The tranny killer is typically the frequent downshifting and TC unlocking and the accompanying heat.
Some tranny's simply have weak OD planetaries, which was the problem with the '00-'02 Tundra.

I use cruise all the time. Make sure you run your superchips in the recommeneded tow setting.

Did a 9500 cross country trip year ago when I retired.

Most of it was on highway/interstates towing the 5th.

YES, I used cruise, and never had a problem.

With the Allison, you can run in OD and in cruise and it will not hurt the tranny.

As a side note, the '06 does not have an OD control.
We have tow-haul and the manual mode where we can lock it down to any gear (or less), but no actual "OD" lockout.

And you probably would tow in 5th with an 06, not 6th.

With the Ally the TC will stay locked up in all gears from 2 and up provided the tow haul button is on. The Ally was designed for towing just hit the tow haul button and forget about it.

If your towing with a tuner watch your EGT's. They can get very high, very quickly just before the tranny down shifts.

And you probably would tow in 5th with an 06, not 6th.

Actually tows just fine in 6th. :cool: In tow/haul mode it will shift into 6th at about 63 or 64mph and doesn't downshift back to 5th too often with the cruise set. Your speed has to drop a good 4mph below your set speed to force a downshift. Ran into a nasty headwind once and then it decided to just stay in 5th for 20 miles or so until the engine load decreased.

With the Ally the TC will stay locked up in all gears from 2 and up provided the tow haul button is on. The Ally was designed for towing just hit the tow haul button and forget about it.

I read somewhere that the TC is only locked in 2-4, not in 1 and 5.

In tow haul it will lock in 2,3,4,5 it will not lock in 1. It definately locks in 5th.

My dad tows 20000lb with edge on 4.(gotta love the tranny protection)

I do it allmost everyday, no problem! The 3 or 4 mile per hour "designed in droop" can be a bit of a pain though!:rolleyes:

After having a Tundra with a hyperactive cruise, I would much rather have a slight drop before downshift.

At the slightest HINT of a grade, the Tundra would drop out of OD, but then it would immediately slam down into 2nd, revving the engine to redline (5500).
Then, the thing would accelerate to 4mph ABOVE the preset (which got hairy if there was a curve on the grade... or other cars), would drop out of 2nd, through 3rd, back into OD... then repeat the whole mess all over again all the way to the top of the hill.

The "Fix" was to manually pop out of OD before the cruise did. If I did that, it was usually enough to maintain the whole grade with maybe one short downshift to 2nd.

The thing tried too hard to avoid dropping below the set speed, but wasn't sensitive enough to overspeed, nor intelligent with engine load.

After having a Tundra with a hyperactive cruise, I would much rather have a slight drop before downshift.

At the slightest HINT of a grade, the Tundra would drop out of OD, but then it would immediately slam down into 2nd, revving the engine to redline (5500).
Then, the thing would accelerate to 4mph ABOVE the preset (which got hairy if there was a curve on the grade... or other cars), would drop out of 2nd, through 3rd, back into OD... then repeat the whole mess all over again all the way to the top of the hill.

The "Fix" was to manually pop out of OD before the cruise did. If I did that, it was usually enough to maintain the whole grade with maybe one short downshift to 2nd.

The thing tried too hard to avoid dropping below the set speed, but wasn't sensitive enough to overspeed, nor intelligent with engine load.

I had a very similar situation with my old Silverado 5.3 gasser. I found that when I was towing my 5vr, (about 6K#) leaving it in 3rd worked best for me. Ironically, my fuel mileage improved sllghtly, even though the engine was running faster. I used cruise all the time, and if I was approaching a small hill, I would hit the accelerator to speed up a few MPH to lessen the chances of the cruise kicking down into 2nd. On any long hills, I'd release the cruise, because it would rev the engine up to 5K plus and that never gave me warm and fuzzy feelings. With our new D/A, I don't think we'll need to worry about that problem any more.

I Put Mine In Tow Mode And Set The Cruise. The D/a Does't Know The 31 Footer Is Back There. I Could Not Do That With My Old Gasser. Even With The Edge Installed It Run Fine In Cruise..

Arm