Towing with overdrive?????

[jt1970m]

I just picked up my boat. 18ft ski. Anyways while I was towing it home I was on the highway. I kept the overdrive turned off on the way home. Is this the best method if hauling it???? Or if the overdrive is not switching back and forth to often is it ok to drive with it on. Your help is appreciated.

 

[TarHeel085]

when towing our boat, 19' pleasure, just kept it off instead of worrying about it. ive been told be numerous people not to tow into overdrive, cause once it hits OD and you give it go juice again it goes back into 4th.

 

[Robb]

I also have an 18' skier I tow with my X. Where I enjoy going to the river is about 1 1/2 hours from my house. When I am on interstate, I leave my OD on. Once you get to cruisin' speed (aka 75mph), the X doesn't even know the boat is there. But half the trip is on backroads, and on them, I always have my OD off. That extra gear just screws things up when excel. and decel. on lower speed roads.

 

[jt1970m]

What about for long range trips? Is it ok to drive your X without overdrive so long? Say 8 hour trip??

 

[RTStork]

Originally posted by jt1970m
What about for long range trips? Is it ok to drive your X without overdrive so long? Say 8 hour trip??

Youll prolly be fine other than burning more gas. If the road is flat and it will stay in overdrive without shifting back and forth, Id leave it in overdrive. Or if the load is so heavy that it causes the trans to keep shifting in and out, leave overdrive off.

 

[Alec]

You have the OD pushbutton, so it's easy to turn it on and off. I agree that if it isn't shifting too much it's ok to leave it in OD.

 

[jt1970m]

OK sounds good to me. I aprreciate you guys feedback and the quick response. Thanks alot

 

[southtxexplorer]

My preference is to just leave overdrive off. I have tried both ways and I did not see any considerable change gas mileage. Plus, with overdrive on, any passing manuvers or even a slight hill would make it switch back and forth. Nonetheless, the size/weight of the boat is a major factor. Mine is a 20' Gulf Coast which weighs approx. 3,500 to 3,750 w/ trailer, motor & fuel.

 

[Henry]

I realize mine is older than your trucks, but I ran into problems towing a trailer using overdrive. I tow a 24ft travel trailer, around 3800 lb. My transmission overheated after around an hour of driving at about 50mph. Fortunately I saw the oil blowing out the back before any damage occurred. The truck had seemed to pull OK in overdrive, only shifting down for some hills.

As I understand it, the regular drive "gear" is actually a straight-through connection of the input to output shafts of the transmission and generates little heat. The overdrive, on the other hand, probably generates the most heat of all the gears since the output is turning faster than the input shaft.

The fact that the transmission isn't shifting up and down doesn't necessarily mean that its not overheating.

 

[96_explorer.com]

heres my opionion and experience.

I owned an 1992 Maxima that I towed an 500lbs jet ski and I used to run OD on and crusing up and down big hills constantly,,, I found out after about 20+ trips to the lake and back my tranny started slipping on me and was gonna cost me $1900.00 for an rebuild.

What I have found out is this.
Turn OD off when your coming to hills (up and down them).
With the OD off,, you are not straining your tanny as much as if you wherer to have OD on. Also... while on long trips and if its just constant HWY traveling or flat plains... put OD on... it will drop your RPMS lower so you get a better effecient MPG while traveling. Its really necessary to keep OD off will your in a tug mode with hills or constand up and down hills.

I used to own an 17' Runabout and tugged it with my X and I always keep OD off on the same hills as my old MAX did.... but to this day... the X runs great as for being precatious about my OD being used or not properly.

good luck!



good luck

 

[01EB5.0]

i would leave OD on unless your in hilly terrain or if your going slower then 60 MPH. Also make sure the truck has an external tranny cooler. i would highly recommend this to ANYONE who tows anything or hauls heavy loads with the X...trust me your pocket book will thank you for installing the external cooler. Also Amsoil synthetic ATF will help control the heat in the tranny and keep you running smooth for many more miles. Visit the group buy forum if your interested in Amsoil oil. In the long run it's very cost effective.

 

[Jason_25]

Originally posted by Henry
I realize mine is older than your trucks, but I ran into problems towing a trailer using overdrive. I tow a 24ft travel trailer, around 3800 lb. My transmission overheated after around an hour of driving at about 50mph. Fortunately I saw the oil blowing out the back before any damage occurred. The truck had seemed to pull OK in overdrive, only shifting down for some hills.

As I understand it, the regular drive "gear" is actually a straight-through connection of the input to output shafts of the transmission and generates little heat. The overdrive, on the other hand, probably generates the most heat of all the gears since the output is turning faster than the input shaft.

The fact that the transmission isn't shifting up and down doesn't necessarily mean that its not overheating.

I agree with Henry completely. O/D builds tranny heat plain and simple. Also, with engine RPM lower with o/d on, the pumps in the tranny aren't spraying as fast, there-by giving it less cooling and lubrication.

 

[MikeTEC]

Folks: Do a search under "towing" and you will find several posts which will give you additional information on towing. Been towing around thirty years, last nine of which have been with my Explorer. Good luck! MikeTEC

 

[Robert]

Leave OD off when towing regardless of speed or hills. It isn't just a matter of your transmission shifting in and out of OD. With a heavy load strapped to your hind end, your torque converter will constantly unlock and lock on all increases in grade or when going into a head wind. When your torque converter is unlocked, your transmission is building up heat. Without a trailer, it isn't a problem since your torque converter isn't unlocked for long enough to matter.

I towed a 3,000 lb. trailer from Toledo, OH to Phoenix, AZ four years ago with my '97. The first two tanks of gas I left the OD on. I only got 10 MPG. Also, every time I came to an overpass or slight increase ingrade my torque converter would unlock and stay unlocked for too long unless it downshifted into 4th. I drove the first two tanks with the cruise set at 70 MPH. On my third tank of gas I left OD off and got a little over 12 MPG with the trailer. The torque converter didn't unlock nearly as often and didn't need to downshift until I started getting in to the mountain areas. I drove the last 1600 miles with OD off at speeds ranging from 65-75 MPH and got better mileage than I did the first 400 miles at 70 MPH with OD on. This may not be totally applicable on an OHV though since it doesn't like to be revved as much as my SOHC does. My SOHC was running about 3200-3500 RPM with OD off at the speeds I was driving.

 

[X24]

My torque converter doesnt lock up until 4th gear under normal driving conditions. Is that normal? Robert, when you say that the torque converter stayed unlocked for a long time, how long is long?

 

[MikeTEC]

You are absolutely right, Robert. I have talked to a lot of campers who towed in overdrive and ultimately wished they had not. There is hardly any difference, if any, in gas milage but the transmission runs cooler and the engine strains less.Gasoline is still fairly cheap compared to a new or rebuilt transmission. Too, breaking,when out of overdrive in the hills or mountains is also lessen, saving on brakes. Mike

 

[Robert]

Yes, the torque converter supposedly only locks in 4th and 5th gear (on the 5-speed auto). That is normal. Maybe it does lock up in the first three gears (I don't know for sure) but I do know that you can tell in 4th and 5th when it does lock up (especially 5th). It fells like an extra shift. Once letting off the gas when reaching cruising speed, about a second later, the RPMs will drop by a few hundred RPM once it locks up.

By long I meant probably 5 to sometimes 10 seconds. The type of grade that didn't quite require the transmission to downshift but without the torque converter unlocking, the vehicle would loose speed. Without the trailer my torque converter doesn't unlock for more than a second or two. The reason being is that without the added weight from the trailer it takes a much steaper grade to cause my torque converter to unlock. I remember some very mild grades of a mile or two that normally wouldn't cause my torque converter to unlock, but with the trailer I went about half way up them with the converter unlocked before it would lock up for a few seconds and then unlock again for several seconds. That is bad, it cause heat and stress on the transmission. Once OD was turned off, the RPMs went up by several hundred which put the engine more in its torque curve so it could hold the required speed without having to unlock the torque converter.

Originally posted by 98FordX24
My torque converter doesnt lock up until 4th gear under normal driving conditions. Is that normal? Robert, when you say that the torque converter stayed unlocked for a long time, how long is long?

 

[MikeTEC]

Also by towing out of overdrive, I believe one can come closer to utilizing the engine's entire maximum torque. As RPMs increase, more torque is achieved until the top of the torque curve is reached, then maximum pulling power is achieved. Torque pulls, not necessarily horsepower; as evidenced by 18 wheelers and other diesals. They achieve a hugh amount of maximum pulling torque at a low 1800 RPMs or less with comparitively low horsepower.

That is why higher RPM engines are not always good tow vehicles. Plus, out of overdrive, as has been mentioned, overall better lubrication and cooling probably occurs. Mike

 

[MikeTEC]

When towing with my 96 5.0 liter with the OD off, the engine makes about 3000 RPms at 65 MPH. You can really hear the 5.0 engine. It is loud compared to my 93 4.0 liter, which is quieter at 65 MPH, pulling the same load. Wonder why the 5.0 is louder? Both have 3.73 LSD axles. Mike

 

[Jason_25]

Originally posted by MikeTEC
When towing with my 96 5.0 liter with the OD off, the engine makes about 3000 RPms at 65 MPH. You can really hear the 5.0 engine. It is loud compared to my 93 4.0 liter, which is quieter at 65 MPH, pulling the same load. Wonder why the 5.0 is louder? Both have 3.73 LSD axles. Mike

Possibly because it has 2 more cylinders and 1 more liter of displacement?