transmission DODGE RAM 2500 POWER WAGON 2008 3.G Owner's Guide

a1¤4turn quickly back and forth. This will provide a
fresh9bite9into the surface and will usually provide
enough traction to complete the climb. If you do not
make it to the top, place the vehicle in reverse and
back straight down the grade using engine resistance
along with the vehicle brakes.
WARNING!
Never attempt to climb a hill at an angle or turn
around on a steep grade. Driving across an incline
increases the risk of a roll over, which may result in
severe injury.
²Driving Down Hill± Before driving down a steep hill
you need to determine if it is too steep for a safe
descent. What is the surface traction? Is the grade too
steep to maintain a slow controlled descent? Are there
obstacles? Is it a straight descent? Is there plenty ofdistance at the base of the hill to regain control if the
vehicle descends to fast? If you feel confident in your
ability to proceed then make sure you are in 4L (Low)
with the transmission in 1st gear (manually select 1st
gear on automatic transmissions) and proceed with
caution. Allow engine braking to control the descent
and apply your brakes if necessary, but do not allow
the tires to lock.
WARNING!
Do not descend a steep grade in neutral. Use vehicle
brakes in conjunction with engine braking. Descend-
ing a grade too fast could cause you to lose control
and be seriously injured.
²Driving Across An Incline± If at all possible avoid
driving across an incline. If it is necessary, know your
vehicle's abilities. Driving across an incline places
292 STARTING AND OPERATING

more weight on the down hill wheels, which increases
the possibilities of a down hill slide or roll over. Make
sure the surface has good traction with firm and stable
soils. If possible transverse the incline at an angle
heading slightly up or down.
WARNING!
Driving across an incline increases the risk of a roll
over, which may result in severe injury.
²If You Stall Or Begin To Lose Headway± If you stall
or begin to lose headway while climbing a steep hill,
allow your vehicle to come to a stop and immediately
apply the brake. Restart the engine and shift to R
(Reverse). Back slowly down the hill allowing the
compression braking of the engine and transmission tohelp regulate your speed. If the brakes are required to
control vehicle speed, apply them lightly and avoid
locking or skidding the tires.
WARNING!
If the engine stalls or you lose headway or cannot
make it to the top of a steep hill or grade, never
attempt to turn around. To do so may result in
tipping and rolling the vehicle, which may result in
severe injury. Always back carefully straight down a
hill in R (Reverse) gear. Never back down a hill in N
(Neutral) or with the clutch pedal depressed using
only the vehicle brakes. Never drive diagonally
across a hill, always drive straight up or down.
STARTING AND OPERATING 293
5

Driving Through Water
Extreme care should be taken crossing any type of water.
Water crossings should be avoided if possible and only
be attempted when necessary, in a safe responsible
manner. You should only drive through areas which are
designated and approved. You should tread lightly and
avoid damage to the environment. You should know
your vehicles abilities and be able to recover it if some-
thing goes wrong. You should never stop or shut a
vehicle off when crossing deep water unless you ingested
water into the engine air intake. If the engine stalls do not
attempt to restart it. Determine if it has ingested water
first. The key to any crossing is low and slow. You want
to use 1st gear in 4L (low) and proceed very slowly with
a constant slow speed (3-5 mph maximum) and light
throttle. Keep the vehicle moving; do not try to accelerate
through the crossing. After crossing any water higherthan the bottom of the axle differentials, you should
inspect all of the vehicle fluids for signs of water inges-
tion.
CAUTION!
Water ingestion into the axles, transmission, transfer
case, engine or vehicle interior can occur if you drive
too fast or through too deep of water. Water can cause
permanent damage to engine, driveline or other
vehicle components and your brakes will be less
effective once wet and/or muddy
²Before You Cross Any Type Of Water± As you
approach any type of water you need to determine if
you can cross it safely and responsibly. If necessary, get
out and walk through the water or probe it with a
stick. You need to be sure of its depth, approach angle,
current and bottom condition. Be careful of murky or
294 STARTING AND OPERATING

NOTE: How to choose an anchor point:A secure
anchor is critical to winching operations. An anchor must
be strong enough to hold while winching. Natural an-
chors include trees, stumps and rocks. Hook the cable as
low as possible. If no natural anchors are available when
recovering another vehicle, your vehicle becomes the
anchor point. In this case, be sure to put the transmission
in neutral, apply the hand brake and block its wheels to
prevent your vehicle from moving. Ideally, you'll want
an anchor point that will enable you to pull straight in the
direction the vehicle will move. This allows the wire rope
to wind tightly and evenly onto the spooling drum. An
anchor point as far away as possible will provide the
winch with its greatest pulling power.
7. Attach the Clevis/D-shackle and Tree Trunk Protector.
Attach the shackle to the two ends of the strap or chain
and through the hook loop, being careful not to over
tighten (tighten and back-off 1/2 turn).8. Lock the clutch. Lock the winch drum by rotating the
clutch lever on the winch to engage.
NOTE:Always ensure the clutch is fully engaged or
disengaged.
Clevis/D-Shackles
312 STARTING AND OPERATING

NOTE:Avoid overheating the winch motor. For ex-
tended winching, stop at reasonable intervals to allow
the winch motor to cool down.
NOTE: What to look for under load:The wire rope
must always spool onto the drum as indicated by the
drum rotation decal on the winch. As you power-in,
make sure the wire rope winds evenly and tightly on the
drum. This prevents the outer wire wraps from drawing
into the inner wraps, binding and damaging the wire
rope. Avoid shock loads by using the control switch
intermittently to take up wire rope slack. Shock loads can
momentarily far exceed the winch and wire rope ratings.
During side pulls the wire rope tends to stack up at one
end of the drum. This stack can become large enough to
cause serious damage to the winch. So, line up pulls as
straight ahead as possible and stop winching if the wire
rope comes close to the tie rods or mounting plate. To fixan uneven stack, spool out that section of the rope and
reposition it to the opposite end of the drum, which will
free up space for continued winching.
16. Secure vehicle. Once recovery of the vehicle is com-
plete, be sure to secure the vehicle's brakes and put the
transmission in9park9(automatic) or9low9gear for
9manual9transmissions. Release tension in the wire rope.
17. Disconnect wire rope. Disconnect from the anchor.
18. Rewind wire rope. The person handling the wire
rope should walk the rope in and not let it slide through
the hand, control the winch at all times.
316 STARTING AND OPERATING

vehicle's frame/tow hook and run the wire rope through
a snatch block. Disengage the clutch and, using the
snatch block, pull out enough wire to reach your anchor
point. Do not attach hook to mounting kit. Secure to the
anchor point with a tree trunk protector or choker chain.
Attach the clevis/shackle. Attach the shackle to the two
ends of the strap/chain, being careful not to over tighten
(tighten and back-off 1/2 turn).
PARKING BRAKE
The foot operated parking brake is positioned below the
lower left corner of the instrument panel. To release the
parking brake, pull the parking brake release handle.
NOTE:The instrument cluster red brake warning light
will come on and flash to indicate that the parking brake
is applied. You must be sure that the parking brake is
fully applied before leaving the vehicle.Be sure the parking brake is firmly set when parked and
the gear shift lever is in the PARK position. When
parking on a hill you should apply the parking brake
before placing the gear shift lever in PARK, otherwise the
load on the transmission locking mechanism may make it
difficult to move the selector out of PARK.
Parking Brake Release
STARTING AND OPERATING 321
5

WARNING!
²Always fully apply the parking brake when leav-
ing your vehicle, or it may roll and cause damage
or injury. Also be certain to leave an automatic
transmission in Park, a manual transmission in
Reverse or First gear. Failure to do so may allow
the vehicle to roll and cause damage or injury.
²Never leave children alone in a vehicle. Leaving
children in a vehicle unattended is dangerous for a
number of reasons. A child or others could be
seriously or fatally injured. Don't leave the keys in
the ignition. A child could operate power win-
dows, other controls, or move the vehicle.
²Be sure the parking brake is fully disengaged
before driving, failure to do so can lead to brake
problems due to excessive heating of the rear
brakes.When parking on a hill, turn the front wheels toward the
curb on a downhill grade and away from the curb on an
uphill grade.
The parking brake should always be applied whenever
the driver is not in the vehicle.
BRAKE SYSTEM
If power assist is lost for any reason (for example,
repeated brake applications with the engine off), the
brakes will still function. However, you will experience a
substantial increase in braking effort to stop the vehicle.
If either the front or rear hydraulic systems lose normal
capability, the remaining system will still function with
some loss of overall braking effectiveness. This will be
evident by increased pedal travel during application,
greater pedal force required to slow or stop, and activa-
tion of the BRAKE warning lamp and the ABS lamp (if
equipped) during brake use.
322 STARTING AND OPERATING

CAUTION!
²Avoid towing a trailer for the first 500 miles (805
km) of vehicle operation. Doing so may damage
your axles, driveline and vehicle.
²During the first 500 miles (805 km) of trailer
towing, limit your speed to 50 mph (80 km/h).
Perform the maintenance listed in Section 8 of this
manual. When towing a trailer, never exceed the GAWR,
or GCWR, ratings.
WARNING!
Improper towing can lead to an injury accident.
Follow these guidelines to make your trailer towing
as safe as possible:
Make certain that the load is secured in the trailer
and will not shift during travel. When trailering
cargo that is not fully secured, dynamic load shifts
can occur that may be difficult for the driver to
control. You could lose control of your vehicle and
have an accident.
²When hauling cargo or towing a trailer, do not over-
load your vehicle or trailer. Overloading can cause a
loss of control, poor performance or damage to brakes,
axle, engine, transmission, steering, suspension, chas-
sis structure or tires.
374 STARTING AND OPERATING

²Safety chains must always be used between your
vehicle and trailer. Always connect the chains to the
frame or hook retainers of the vehicle hitch. Cross the
chains under the trailer tongue and allow enough
slack for turning corners.
²Vehicles with trailers should not be parked on a grade.
When parking, apply the parking brake on the tow
vehicle. Put the tow vehicle automatic transmission in
P for Park. With a manual transmission, shift the
transmission into reverse. And with four-wheel-drive
vehicles, make sure the transfer case is not in neutral.
Always, block or9chock9the trailer wheels.
²GCWR must not be exceeded.
²Total weight must be distributed between the tow
vehicle and the trailer such that the following four
ratings are not exceeded:
1. GVWR2. GTW
3. GAWR
4. Tongue weight rating for the trailer hitch utilized
(This requirement may limit the ability to always
achieve the 10% to 15% range of tongue weight as a
percentage of total trailer weight).
Towing Requirements Ð Tires
þ
Do not attempt to tow a trailer while using a compact
spare tire.
þProper tire inflation pressures are essential to the safe
and satisfactory operation of your vehicle. Refer to the
Tires±General Information section of this manual on
Tire Pressures for proper tire inflation procedures.
þAlso, check the trailer tires for proper tire inflation
pressures before trailer usage.
STARTING AND OPERATING 375
5

Towing Tips
Before setting out on a trip, practice turning, stopping
and backing the trailer in an area away from heavy
traffic.
If using a manual transmission vehicle for trailer towing,
all starts must be in FIRST gear to avoid excessive clutch
slippage.
Towing Tips Ð Automatic Transmission
The ªDº range can be selected when towing. However, if
frequent shifting occurs while in this range, the ªTOW
HAULº or ªOD/OFFº range should be selected.
NOTE:Using the ªTOW HAULº or ªOD/OFFº range
while operating the vehicle under heavy operating con-
ditions will improve performance and extend transmis-
sion life by reducing excessive shifting and heat build up.
This action will also provide better engine braking.The automatic transmission fluid and filter should be
changed if you REGULARLY tow a trailer for more than
45 minutes of continuous operation. See the Maintenance
Schedule in section 8 of this manual for transmission
fluid change intervals.
NOTE:Check the automatic transmission fluid level
before towing.
Towing Tips Ð Tow/Haul (If Equipped)
To reduce potential for automatic transmission overheat-
ing, turn the ªTOW HAUL OD/OFFº feature ON when
driving in hilly areas or shift the transmission to Drive
position 2 on more severe grades.
380 STARTING AND OPERATING