Tow with OD or not

[4.0SOHC]

I want to tow a Polaris 700 from West Virginia to Alabama and back with my 02 X it has 3.55 gears. I figure the total weight of my tow will be around 900 to 1000 lbs. not much. but on the interstate I want to use my OD Due to the high speeds. 75 MPH +. Since the pull is light, I am thinking I could. OH yeah it has the V6. Would this be a bad Idea since the trailer shouldn't have much drag.

 

[410Fortune]

You will be fine. that is a light load, on the higway you may not even notice it;s there, until it;s time to slow down. OD is okay, you can searchon this board. When you get up to 3500# then you gotta start thinking about brakes, using D, and so on./..

 

[4.0SOHC]

It's funny, I posted this same thing over at the ranger station, and man what a ton of useless info I got.
One guy tried telling me that his 90 areostar had the same engine and tranny that my 02 X has.

The way I look at it is If I had the 4wheeler in the back of my ranger, I would put it into 5th gear and drive. whats the difference it pulling it in a light trailer.

the rangerstation guys told me not to even think about it.

so what, I have an extended War. all it will cost me is $150 for a new tranny.

I kind of want to get one right before my ext. war. goes out anyways.

Thanks guys

 

[410Fortune]

Wow I went 800 miles with a #3000 loaded up boat and trailerwith my 220# buddy and my truck full of camping gear for a week, I averaged 75 MPH the whole trip in OD and switched to D anytime we stopped for gas, or were off the highway. No problems and I do this all the time..........

 

[Positive Vibes]

I wouldn't worry about pulling 1000#'s but I would consider how much pay load I have in the X. Are you hauling 5 grown adults and camping equipment? If its not a full load your fine I just wouldn't use it on the long up hills.

 

[410Fortune]

Hell on those uphills the tranny should be in 2nd or 3rd anyways....the OD is fine when you are cruising and on flat or downhills, I control the OD with the gas pedal and kick down more then the shifter.

 

[Xplodor]

Whenever I tow anything I keep the OD off using the little button on the shifter until my speed has stablized at around 65mph. If you're getting into hill climbs or traffic, kick it off again. The OD burns out when your pulling a load and keep it on, because then it's constantly turning off and on, and switching gears. Just my opinion.

 

[410Fortune]

The less you use OD on your truck the longer your auto tranny will last, period. But obviously at anything over 70 MPH 3rd gear just doesnt cut it (especailly with 4.10's).

So yes I use OD when I am cruising across states with t boat in tow, but I figure I make up for it by usinf D only 99% of the time (around town, daily commute, etc)

The OD on our auto's is usually the first thing to go, so again, the less you use it the better, but I havent found it hurts anythingt o use it when towing, of course I;m on my 5th tranny in 3 years so I dont mind replacing them (1st auto tranny however.........I plan for this tranny to last 200K miles)

 

[Xplodor]

My X has a 5 gear auto trans. =)

 

[Robert]

For 1000 lbs at 75 MPH on flat ground I would just leave OD on. Watch your tach. If you see your RPMs rising and falling frequently without your transmission shifting it is your torque converter unlocking. If it unlocks frequently it will build heat which is detrimental to an automatic. Since you only have 3.55 gears that leads me to believe that you do not have the towing package so you might not have a tranny cooler. If that is the case then pay even more attention to how the transmision is behaving. Without the added cooling from the auxillary cooler your transmission will heat up even more.

The advantage to turning OD off is the torque converter will lock up in 3rd and 4th gear. The transmission will stay cooler with the torque converter locked as opposed to unlocked. With OD on the torque converter will only lock in 4th and 5th but not 3rd. At 75 MPH and a relatively light load your RPMs should be high enough that using OD shoudln't be a problem.

I towed an enclosed 5x8 trailer weighing in at about 3000 lbs. from Ohio to Arizona a few summers ago. I started off leaving it in OD. Every time I went over an overpass my torque converter unlocked. By the time I made it to Missouri my torque converter spent more time unlocked than it did locked. My CEL came on in Missouri but I don't know why. I never had the codes scanned and disconnected the battery in New Mexico when I got tired of looking at the CEL. Once the CEL came on I started turning OD off. I picked up 2 MPG with the OD off as opposed to on. I went from 12 MPG to 14 MPG. I don't know if the CEL had anything to do with towing in OD or not but I did notice my torque converter constantly unlocking right before the CEL came on. A transmission error should have resulted in a flashing OD light though.

 

[410Fortune]

If you dont have a tranny cooler dont tow anything until you add one, at least a small factory one, they work quite well!!!

 

[SaleenEXP]

you'll be fine, I tow our 2 waverunners to our lakehouse 2hrs away and with the cruise set on 75 with no prob. I'll floor it till 80-85 when I have to pass someone on the one way roads there and I haven't had any problems with the tranny. I have almost 100,000 miles and my tranny shows no signs of slipping at all and I'm also on the orginal tranny, maybe I just got lucky

 

[4.0SOHC]

yes I have a trans. Cooler. and just had the Trans fluid changed. man it holds like 13 qts.

Anyways. I will keep my eye on it, but I think it will do fine. and thanks for the info on the OD Robert. I always wondered what that little flux in the tach when I know it didn't change gears.