pwabbott

I agree with you, dan239, the old 727 tranny design was a real workhorse. One of the weakness of the 1st overdrive equipped trannys is they didn't have an adequate supply of fluid circulating for heavy duty use. The result was the overdrive would overheat and fry. I lost an overdrive unit this way. The tech that worked on mine said some overdrive units were so bad the parts couldn't be separated. They just replaced the overdrive with up-graded unit. In Colorado in 93 saw home humongous 5th wheels being towed by Ram diesels, 36 ft triple axle jobs.

dan239

Thanks Phil, for explaining what the problem was with the 1st Gen O/Ds. They must have changed them in 94, because the problem seemed to be gone after that. I have talked to several people who were towing in O/D with 2nd Gen trucks and none had any problems so far.<br><br>I looked at one rig for sale a few years back. He had [as I recall] a 95 Reg. cab automatic with a 30 foot Hitchhiker and he said tha he had always towed in O/D and would quarantee the rig to get 16 MPG all day long. He had never had a problem of any sort. I estimated that he was towing between 12 and 13 thousand pounds.<br><br>Dan

SeaRay88

OK, Sierra Phil. I have to admit to using the shift lever and button on the end. I-5 is pretty flat and it's not a big shifting problem, but I do the controlling over the hills like I-80 and the Grapevine. Yeah, I do boating. '88 Sea Ray Weekender. About 8000 pounds dry on the trailer. Dual axles, brakes. You know it's there, but not a problem starting or stopping.

John H

[quote author=Sierra Phil link=board=11;threadid=6898;start=15#66288 date=1037207626]<br>I agree with you, dan239, the old 727 tranny design was a real workhorse. One of the weakness of the 1st overdrive equipped trannys is they didn't have an adequate supply of fluid circulating for heavy duty use. The result was the overdrive would overheat and fry. I lost an overdrive unit this way. The tech that worked on mine said some overdrive units were so bad the parts couldn't be separated. They just replaced the overdrive with up-graded unit. In Colorado in 93 saw home humongous 5th wheels being towed by Ram diesels, 36 ft triple axle jobs. <br>[/quote]<br>Thanks for that piece of info, Sierra Phil, makes more sense now. Thanks also to everyone else for all the replies.<br>My read on this now, is that the consensus seems to be it's OK to tow in overdrive so long as you don't over strain it, or let it overheat (although how you know you're doing that beats me). However, much as how the truck felt fine doing it, I guess I'll have to back off and slow down, darn, just as I was starting to enjoy myself. I just hope I haven't done any damage by making that run on the turnpike. I'll have to think a bit more about putting some gages on it, especially a tranny temp gage.<br><br>John

dan239

John<br><br>When I am talking about overheating, I am referring to the temp guage for the engine. My 92 temp guage would start climbing if I left it in O/D going up a long hill.<br><br>From what you have said, I do not think your previous method of towing is a problem, except maybe to take it out of O/D a little sooner when you start losing speed. Go by the feel of the engine. As long as it feels like it is running free, you are okay. Some have said that when you realize that you cannot accelerate, it is time to downshift, no matter what gear you are in.<br><br>Dan

pwabbott

General rule for towing long grades or in the mountains is to lock out of overdrive before you start to lose speed. If you do this you will maintain rpm on the tach and thereby have more torque to wheels for pulling grades.

95ramtough

[quote author=SeaRay88 link=board=11;threadid=6898;start=0#66104 date=1037159869]
Chit. My Ford 4.6L pulls that load with no problemo. Guess them deesels ain't so hot. Running 4.10 gears, auto. Gets 10 mpg in the hills, 11+ On the flats. 22+ on the highway solo. Just like a deesel, but I can gas her up at ANY station. Got over 105K miles on it and it still runs like new. Just like a deelsel.
[/quote]

Why do you come to a DIESEL site to brag about your gas engine and put our engines down? unless you are joking thats cool, but learn how to spell deesel correctly. And you can not compare a small ford gas engine to a cummins. We call it [censored] envy where I am from. I am not putting down your truck, your posts just make you look immature.

SeaRay88

Sorry, if I put down your engine. I'm in the market for a new truck and am trying to convince myself that a non-gas engine is the way to go. I was in Lake Havasu over the weekend and pulled into a gas station with 4 other tow vehicles. One guy says: &quot;they don't sell my kind of fuel here&quot; Yeah, that's why there called GAS stations. You need to try the truck stop down the street. <br><br>I've talked to lots of guys that tow 8-12k pound boats and they swear by those non-gas engines, but I tow a 8k+ pound boat with NO problem and I can buy gasoline ANYWHERE, at a gas station. I get 22+ mpg running solo, 11+mpg towing. And my 4.6L gas engine didn't cost any extra in my truck. Please convince me I NEED a non-gas engine. Maybe for that NEW 12K pound boat? At 104k miles, it still runs like new, uses no oil and shifts like a new truck. HELP! ??? 8)

darryl

nice boat searay now if you really want a diesel and are going to tow heavy and long miles break down and buy a cummins if you are going to stay around california and not tow long distances go buy a &lt;sorry guys ! &gt; F250 superduty v10 goes like a racecar and the supercab stays tight and rattle free and the new 5r120 trans should be out for ordering now

John H

[quote author=Sierra Phil link=board=11;threadid=6898;start=15#67417 date=1037397222]
General rule for towing long grades or in the mountains is to lock out of overdrive before you start to lose speed. If you do this you will maintain rpm on the tach and thereby have more torque to wheels for pulling grades.
[/quote]
I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, and I really do appreciate all the responses, but the problem I have in trying to work with that philosophy, is that when I try to cruise in OD at 70 mph, it appears to be a higher speed than I can run in third. So I have to wait until it slows down to about 60 mph before I can lock out the overdrive. Catch 22! Does that mean I'm stuck to towing in the hills at 60 mph? Shucks, I didn't want to have to slow down so early in life. That'll come soon enough. I guess I'll still have to curb my Andretti tendencies.

John

John H

[quote author=dan239 link=board=11;threadid=6898;start=15#67313 date=1037384482]<br>John<br><br>When I am talking about overheating, I am referring to the temp guage for the engine. My 92 temp guage would start climbing if I left it in O/D going up a long hill.<br><br>From what you have said, I do not think your previous method of towing is a problem, except maybe to take it out of O/D a little sooner when you start losing speed. Go by the feel of the engine. As long as it feels like it is running free, you are okay. Some have said that when you realize that you cannot accelerate, it is time to downshift, no matter what gear you are in.<br><br>Dan<br>[/quote]<br>The engine temperature was the one thing I took care to watch, it never climbed at all. In fact all that happened was that the slow oscillation of the temperature gage, you know the slow rise and fall of the gage needle, about one division on the gage, disappeared and the temperature stabilized.<br><br>So, maybe I haven't hurt the transmission after all. But that criteria about changing down if you are not able to accelerate means I can never run WOT. That's no fun. I kind of enjoyed passing everybody.<br><br>Actually being serious for once, that 10 mph makes a big difference to a long trip. I'm used to running for 10-12 hours straight, only stopping for fuel and jettisoning ballast, and over that length of time, 10 mph adds a lot of miles. But there again, if I can't run at 70 mph, maybe I can still run at 65 mph. I might even stay within the speed limit and avoid a ticket that way. ;D<br><br>Thanks<br>John<br>

bulabula

Searay, 4.6l? Whatcha pullin' that big ol' boat with, an F150? If my lil' ol F350 CC/7.5l could perform like that lil one of yours, I'd still be pulling my lil 8500# Formula with it. <br><br>The cool thing about my new truck here, is that now I can pull the boat faster while its sitting on the trailer than it can go all by isself thru the water.

pwabbott

SeaRay88, The Lake Havasu story, some people may call them &quot;gas stations&quot;, however that is an incorrect term for any liquid fuel. &quot;Filling Station&quot;, &quot;Service Station&quot;, or &quot;Fueling Station&quot; are correct terms. Gas is the vapor state not a liquid fuel. True not all fueling stations sell liquid petrol called Diesel or Fuel Oil, as not all stations sell liquid petrol the liquid motor vehicle fuel you call gasoline. Some are limited to selling LPG as a motor vehicle fuel. Other are limited to selling CNG as a motor vehicle fuel. If a fueling station chooses to limit the products they sell, that is their business, however, they should post the products they sell in a visible manner for drivers to see. Frankly I prefer to fuel at a large Travel Center as their product is fresh.<br><br>John H, Towing at 70 in the mountains is risky business, not so much going up but coming down. Speed limit when towing in OR and CA is 55. In CA you won't be served a ticket if you don't go over 60 mph. You can tell when &quot;Smokey Bear&quot; is on the prowl, most 18 wheelers going right at 60 mph. It doesn't matter how good a driver you are its the other guy you can't count on. Hunter had a close encounter with a little old lady, if he had been towin no telling what would have happened. :'(

dan239

John<br><br>You may want to check to see if your truck is hitting the governer limit before it should. As I recall, I could tow my 10,000# 5th wheel with my 92 [O/D locked out] and hitting the wide open position was never a problem. Most of the time I was running 65 MPH and had some speed left. I do not recall ever hitting the wide open position when towing in 3rd gear.<br><br>You have indicated that your truck runs wide open at 70 in O/D. What rear end do you have in your truck?<br><br>My truck would run 80 to 85 MPH easy. I had the 3.54 rear end.<br><br>Just something to consider.<br><br>Dan

John H

[quote author=dan239 link=board=11;threadid=6898;start=15#68062 date=1037499644]<br>John<br><br>You may want to check to see if your truck is hitting the governer limit before it should. As I recall, I could tow my 10,000# 5th wheel with my 92 [O/D locked out] and hitting the wide open position was never a problem. Most of the time I was running 65 MPH and had some speed left. I do not recall ever hitting the wide open position when towing in 3rd gear.<br><br>You have indicated that your truck runs wide open at 70 in O/D. What rear end do you have in your truck?<br><br>My truck would run 80 to 85 MPH easy. I had the 3.54 rear end.<br><br>Just something to consider.<br><br>Dan<br>[/quote]<br>Dan, I too have the 3.54 rear end in my truck.<br><br>However, if I lock out O/D the most I can seem to do is about 65 mph, admittedly this is while towing in the hills, I have never tried to do it on the flat. I guess I should do that to see if I'm governed.<br><br>I originally mentioned running in O/D at 70 mph, with wide open throttle, but that was because I was trying to pull up the 5% grades on the West Virginia Turnpike. I know I can run much faster than this on the flat, because I've occasionally had to pass someone who should have been charged with loitering, and didn't want to expose myself in the left lane too long.<br><br>I'm going to take the trailer to South Carolina on the 27th, Thanksgiving, so I'll get to try it all again. This time, maybe I'll do it right.<br><br>Thanks<br>John