i was towing for the first time with the new truck and started thinking about the auto transmission. i was up to speed (70mph) before i thought of it but i didn't have the transmission in tow/haul mode. i was only towing about 5000lbs (load of cross ties). the truck didn't act any different and i could hardly tell the trailer was there.

i guess this will be a stupid question but i will ask it anyway. is it okay to tow once you are up to crusing speed in O.D. ? i realize that going up an incline you would need to take it out of O.D. but is it okay on flat land with that amount of weight? if i take it out of O.D. at 70 the rpms jump to 2500 as opposed to 1900 in overdrive.

i just traded in a 03 H.O. 6 speed and towed in 6th all the time unless going up a steep hill.


what do you guys think/do?


thanks in advance


britt

 

In the flats I let the computer do the thinking. On any kind of incline, I hit the tow/haul button. If I burn something up in 70K miles I may change my mind.

Tom

 

I pretty much always tow with OD on. Unless I'm hitting the hills and the speed drops to around sixty, I will engage the button (tow/haul). The manual says if the tranny starts hunting between 3rd and 4th to disable OD. Hope this helps.

 

yeah....i really should read that manual some time huh?


thanks for the responses.

 

If it's running in OD without hunting then let it go. I always tow in O/D with the Cruz set. The computer runs things just great. The only time I intervine is when it won't shift back into O/D on the downhill. Then all I do is take cruz off, let it shift and srt the cruz again

 

My .02 is to do what you need to do to keep the trans from shifting too much.

So interstate at 70 in OD is FINE.
But along the same lines, hilly back roads I manually selected "2" to avoid the 2-3 shifts as well.

 

Tow in OD......it will take care of itself...........also read your manual.....explains all in there

 

We tow our 10,400 lb high profile 5th wheel with O/D enabled unless we're coming up to an incline I know will slow us down to less than 60mph in O/D. When that's the case I slow to 60 before the incline and lock out O/D. I just did a fluid and filter change at 38,000 for the first time and all looked great in my 47RE. Here in Florida, the only time I lock out O/D in on the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

 

I tow frequently and heavy. There are those who say to lock out OD when starting out, and then unlock it when you are up to speed. I never do this, and I tow in OD most of the time. I NEVER let the tranny hunt however, and I change the fluids in the diffs, xfer case, and tranny every 15k, just to be on the safe side. The tranny fluid looks good so far with no burnt odor or color.

And even though our friends with the stir-sticks hate to hear us say it...67500 trouble free, heavy haulin, no shifting, coffe drinking, trouble free 48RE miles so far and counting.

 

I tow in OD all the time... the only time I shut it out is if I'm on a slow twisty road where it'd spend time hunting.

Locking it out to start seems silly beacause OD is 4th gear, not 1st. The transmission is going to act the same with OD turned on vs. off in 1st gear.

One note... not sure how many are aware of this, but if you're towing on a really slow, curvy road (20-ish mph), move the trans lever down into 2 and you'll get lockup in 2nd gear. It won't happen otherwise.

Rob

 

RobG, great tip about using 2nd, but I thought locking out OD also changes the shift points somewhat (earlier). If so this would make some difference on surface streets.