stevegutch
San Diego, CA
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Joined: 07/24/2006
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I am trying to figure out if I am OK with the TV that I use. I am towing a Fleetwood Victory (GVWR - 3,000 lbs UVW - 2,160 lbs, Hitch Weight - 160 lbs) with a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country. The towing capacity is #3800. I’ve added a transmission cooler and Prodigy brake control. It seems to tow and brake well but I do have a little sway. I have bought WDH and anti-sway bars but haven’t put them on yet. I’ve only been out on 4 trips (2 trips involved some mountain driving in So. Cal.), it’s been about a year since I was last out camping. My transmission went out this week and I need have it rebuilt. I am trying to determine if the tranny problem may have been caused by using the van as a TV. Also, will the WDH ease strain on the transmission. Thanks,
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cada
Tavares, FL
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Joined: 08/28/2007
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Chrysler Transmissions, bad news. ask any mechanic. Not sure what year they fixed them, but I think it was after 2003. I used to have a 2001 Grand Caravan, traded it for this reason.
If you kept it in overdrive as oppossed to Drive, yes, you probably killed it. Otherwise, probably would have happened eventually, just sped up the process by pulling. Unless of course you loaded up both the trailer and the van with loads of extra weight.
Unless you have thrusters installed on the WDH, should make much differnce on the tranny.
Dave
2004 Fleetwood Hemlock
2007 Toyota Tacoma
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Road Ruler
Canada
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Joined: 09/11/2003
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The new T & C's are much better and more capable.
There is quite a bit of info on the forum about the older automatics. Do a search on forum member "Caddywhompus". He is a Chrysler mechanic and had talked a lot about them.
Airstreams.... the best towing trailers on the planet!
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red31
Bryan
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Joined: 08/04/2008
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You can certainly stay within all manufacturer ratings with that combo.
Use a properly adjusted WDH, it doesn't add any mass to the combination - no additional load on the transmission.
Use the trailer brakes.
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Guest
USA
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Joined: 08/02/2004
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After the rebuild, make 100% positive sure that nobody ever puts anything other than the proper Chrysler spec ATF in there. (IIRC ATF+4, but don't trust me, VERIFY).
Those trannies WILL so south sooner rather than later if some Iffy Lube jamoche adds generic Dexron fluid.
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Caddywhompus
Southeast WI
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Joined: 06/27/2001
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Guest wrote:After the rebuild, make 100% positive sure that nobody ever puts anything other than the proper Chrysler spec ATF in there. (IIRC ATF+4, but don't trust me, VERIFY). Actually, the correct fluid is Mopar part number 7176. 
Guest wrote:Those trannies WILL so south sooner rather than later if some Iffy Lube jamoche adds generic Dexron fluid. 100% correct. The A604 UltraDrive transmission, and all it's later variants, are not known for longevity. However, towing is rarely the cause of failure. The two most common causes of failure are incorrect fluid as mentioned above, and multiple drivers with vastly different driving styles. Mechanically the transmissions are actually pretty stout, and can handle the torque (same transmission was used in Dodge Stealth RT Turbo) but often they fail because of one of the two reasons listed above.
As for the trailer handling issues, it's not the van it's the trailer. Fleetwood (Coleman) trailers are notoriously poor handling especially the ones with front storage. They aren't designed with enough tongue weight up front to stabilize the trailer, and if the owner isn't loading the trailer to get as much weight on the tongue as possible you will have problems.
For reference, a 3000 pound trailer should have ideally 360 pounds of tongue weight (plus/minus 50 pounds) to have good stability behind the trailer. Your unloaded tongue weight of 160 pounds isn't even close. You need to load another 400 pounds of gear IN FRONT of the axle to start getting the tongue weight back into the right range.
And HERE is where the Weight Distributing hitch comes in. Once you get the tongue weight where it belongs, the trailer will tow like it's welded to the van, which solves one problem but creates another. By increasing the tongue weight up to around 350 pounds, you are gonna sag the rear of the van pretty bad. The Weight Distributing hitch is the solution. It uses springs and leverage to distribute that 350 pounds across all axles, rather than sitting behind the rear axle and overloading it. With the WD hitch installed and adjusted properly, the trailer and van will both be dead-level and the towing experience will greatly improve.
-Jimmy
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle)
'05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle)
'65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!)
Looking for a tow vehicle
Minivan towing
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springoflife
Butler, PA
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Joined: 06/15/2005
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For the smoothest shifts, I found that Amsoil synthetic ATF is best. It's a little pricey (about $9 per quart), but has actually extended the life of a couple transmissions that were on their way out.
http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/atf.aspx
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Gman22
Burlington, Ontario
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Joined: 07/03/2008
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Some causes of sway are unavoidable e.g. strong cross winds but most are user induced. Fleetwood's (and I had an '05 Resolute) are well known for light tongue weights, especially the units like the Victory with a front storage trunk. Heck the dry numbers provided give a 7.4 % tongue weight. A low tongue weight i.e. under 10% of the trailer's weight can be a cause of sway.
Sway control is a good thing to have - for the things you can't prevent. But fix the known causes first, sway control is not intended to mask underlying problems like poor tire inflation or trailer loading.
2009 KZ Spree 324BHS (LX)
2003 Ford Expedition 5.4L V8, 3.73
Hensley Arrow HD, McKesh, Prodigy, Champion
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MattC
Missouri
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Joined: 05/18/2005
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We tow with an 03 Grand Caravan, which is similar to your T&C. Ours has the 3.3 not the 3.8 like your van does. So far we have done really well with our combo. I do not pull in OD and do have a transmission cooler as well. I also only take it to a Dodge dealer for my service work for the tranny. As to how long this will last who knows but we hope it holds up for a couple more years. Although we do have an 06 Escape we can tow with if we need to. The van does get better gas mileage though. Like others have said the WDH will help with the ride and how your van handles the weight of the pup. It will not do much for the transmission. Our pup does not weigh in as much as yours either although it is in the ball park and I am sure that helps some too.
MattC from MO
2003 Grand Caravan
2008 Palomino Yearling 4102
Wife and 4 kids
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Guest
USA
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Joined: 08/02/2004
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I've noticed that Coleman/FW trailers front trunk trailers take a lot of heat for their low dry tongue weight.
But how often are you guys really towing DRY? Don't you put a tongue battery on and fill that trunk full of stuff? I don't have a front trunk model, but if I DID, that sucker would have a load of firewood, my outside stove and grill, my extra white gas tanks, pie irons, tool box, etc. That's GOTTA be 100+ pounds right there, plus a 70# battery, plus 20# of LP in the tank.... Are these trailers REALLY under 11% tongue weight when they hit the road???
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