High oil temps while towing

[colosimj]

I just got my Durango Hellcat last month, and wanted to tow the boat up to the mountains before it was fully broken in (850miles on it). I'm in Colorado, and the I-70 corridor isn't very forgiving, so I took my 6k boat in tow at night, vs during the day. My previous towing truck was a GMC sierra with a 408 and an undersized blower, so the blower would get hot on extended mountain runs - I used meth injection to keep the temps down --> I am always watching temperature. The hellcat has some great gauges, and although I expected my intake temp to go up, it pretty much didn't. In fact nothing really moved much at all besides my oil temperature. And boy did that move. I saw more time about 260F than I expected, with a brief peak of 271F leaving Denver and 275F (even briefer) at the top of Berthoud pass. I never went past 1/4 throttle (mainly under 1/8), the temps were 48F for the 275F spike (don't remember the other one) and was manually shifting at the time...not lugging the engine. These seem insanely hot to me, and I don't like seeing that. The same drive back (sans towing, and warmer ambient temps netted 237F max), and I plan to change the oil right away before I tow again. I know the SRT oil is rated for these types of things, and that I am still in the break in period and this could be extra friction, but still makes me uncomfortable. Calling Dodge was no help at all as you can't even talk to anyone that knows anything unless you have your car at a dealer. Looking for others experiences.

 

[SilverBillet]

The good thing is that the full synthetic oil resists breaking down and will maintain it’s viscosity under high temperatures

 

[colosimj]

Yes, that is a good thing. Oil pressure remained consistent at 67psi during that run. I think the SRT oil is rated to like 300F.

 

[1971demon]

I just got my Durango Hellcat last month, and wanted to tow the boat up to the mountains before it was fully broken in (850miles on it). I'm in Colorado, and the I-70 corridor isn't very forgiving, so I took my 6k boat in tow at night, vs during the day. My previous towing truck was a GMC sierra with a 408 and an undersized blower, so the blower would get hot on extended mountain runs - I used meth injection to keep the temps down --> I am always watching temperature. The hellcat has some great gauges, and although I expected my intake temp to go up, it pretty much didn't. In fact nothing really moved much at all besides my oil temperature. And boy did that move. I saw more time about 260F than I expected, with a brief peak of 271F leaving Denver and 275F (even briefer) at the top of Berthoud pass. I never went past 1/4 throttle (mainly under 1/8), the temps were 48F for the 275F spike (don't remember the other one) and was manually shifting at the time...not lugging the engine. These seem insanely hot to me, and I don't like seeing that. The same drive back (sans towing, and warmer ambient temps netted 237F max), and I plan to change the oil right away before I tow again. I know the SRT oil is rated for these types of things, and that I am still in the break in period and this could be extra friction, but still makes me uncomfortable. Calling Dodge was no help at all as you can't even talk to anyone that knows anything unless you have your car at a dealer. Looking for others experiences.

Not up on Durangos as some on here are....6000lbs lbs doesnt seem that heavy...does it have a towing package with oil coolers

 

[colosimj]

Pretty good size oil cooler, and no oil cooler thermostat that I am aware of. One I went down from the summit, I was seeing pretty large drops in temperature; which tells me that it still might be undersized