overdrive or not!

[walter]

I have heard conflicting comments on this. Some say yes others no. Just curious what everyone does. Thanks

[Grey Wolf]

I am curious too. I've heard both ways. I currently have a F350 V10 Super Duty and tow a Ranger 620T in overdrive. I was told that Ford had a smart Transmission and could do this. Does anybody know, am I killing my transmission? Now when I tow the Ranger with my Suburban I do not use overdrive. Ideas?

[Brad]

Everything I've ever read (including the owners manual for my Dodge Ram) says that you should turn overdrive off when towing. If your vehicle is equiped with a mechanism for turning off overdrive, it is probably because there are situations in which you should not be in overdrive. Let your owner's manual be your guide.

[Jigging 5]

I am a fleet mechanic for a utility company and will say your doing the right thing by not pulling in overdrive with your Suburban. But as far as your f350 it will handle anything you can dish out. It doesn't hurt to shift out of overdrive on hills though. My company has went to all ford pickups for this reason. The other manufacturers drivetrains do not compare to the fords for durability. All the engines are comparable but ford transmissions out preform most. The Allison in the chevy is a nice combo. You will have no problem with your f350 but I still would shift out of overdrive on hills. Just my opinion as a fleet mechanic.

[rebs]

I had a 1993 Ford conversion van and towed my boat in over-drive and after about 2 years the over-drive went out and I had to have the tranny rebuilt
after the fact I found out Ford had a weak over drive system and recommende not towing in over drive

I now have a Chevy Tahoe and it says in the owners manuel that it is recommende to tow in over drive and I have been doing so for about 3.5 years with no problem
I guess Chevy has a better over drive system in their transmissions

rebs

[fishhunter]

I highly dought that your manual says to pull in overdrive, better check it again.

[Hookem_9]

With the "newer" Gm fullsizes with the "Tow/Haul" you can tow in overdrive with the "Tow/Haul" on. have been doing it for 3 years, that's what I was told at too do at least. If the vehicle doesn't have a "towing/hualing" button to change the trans shift pattern, then Yes, I would tow in drive, not overdrive.

[JohnF]

For F350:

Towing in overdrive is OK. Shift out of OD when transmission hunts for a gear, ie shifts up, then down, then up, ... you'll feel it.

Big winds/hills could do this.

On a long upgrade it should shift out of OD on its own and stay there until topping the hill. I've found that by watching the speedo/tach I can predict the downshift and if I make it, rather than letting the tranny do it, it a lot smoother.

John

[matt]

I have a 97 Chevy P\U and the story i got on this subject is that when you pull in drive the torque converter stays locked up and pumps the fluid through the cooler all the time. If you pull in overdrive you can feel the transmission shift into overdrive but the torque converter is not locked up. You can feel what feels like the transmission shifts one more time and you lose about 400 or 500 more RPMs, and that is when the convertor locks up and starts pumping fluid again. Pulling in overdrive you lose about 85% of your cooling and burn up your transmission. Don't know if this is the whole truth but it makes sense to me. I have over 100,000 miles on my truck with no problems out of the transmission.

[Jigging 5]

Thats how it works you will loose cooling in overdrive. Some transmissions are better than others. If there is a hill take it out of overdrive. Chevy/Dodge I would never tow in overdrive you will regret it.

[Jigging 5]

Is this the 6 speed manual with overdrive?

[curt quesnell]

I always pull the boat without overdrive. I have had trannys quit
on me for whatever reason and it costs alot to fix them. If staying
out of overdrive MIGHT save me a tranny job, then thats what I will
do.

Once I tried to calculate the difference in gas mileage against
the cost of repairs and eventually got dizzy and quit trying.

Curt Quesnell

[J.P.]

You do not loose cooling in overdrive. G.M. says you can tow in OD but if it downshifts alot use 3rd gear instead of OD. Using the cruise control in OD will cause them to shift alot so it is better to not use the cruise in OD while towing.

[TRAP]

I have a 95 Chevy 1 ton. I pull a 17ft 7in. glass boat in overdrive. With a big block do I need to pull in drive? My rpm's are 5 or 600 higher in drive and I think that would waste feul. I drive 90 miles up to go fishing and my tranny only downshifts twice all the way there when I have the cruise on. Am I killing my truck's tranny? I don't get very good gas milage the way it is, I have to think it would be worse in drive. I will definitely pull in drive if enough people think my tranny will drop.

[Paul Wright]

I can only speak for the F350. I have had four, all automatic and all with the overdrive trans. I pull a 7'x24' goose-neck trailer as well as my boat (not at the same time) and I always pull in overdrive. I put approximately 100,000 miles on each vehicle and never had any trans problems. All were set up with the towing package, two gas, two diesel.

Paul Wright
www.geocities.com/wrightkennels/

[Tom (mich)]

I'm with Curt on this one. This subject has been debated ad naeseaum before but, to me, there's simply downside to towing with the overdrive off - with the exception of mileage. I'm personally not willing to take the chance of ruining a tranny to save a few bucks at the pump.

[steve_heath]

If you are like me, I only tow a boat/trailer about 3,000 miles a year, it makes little sense to use overdrive to save a little gas. One tranmission rebuild will cost more than probably a lifetime of gas savings if you were to use overdrive.

I don't know about you, but nothing I hate worse is a equipment failure that could ruin a fishing trip. Follow your owners manual
or use a little more caution and avoid using the overdrive altogether.

[Capt. Paul]

I tow a 24 foot Lund Sportcabin with a hardtop. 1994 3/4 ton Suburban with a big block. No way would I ever tow in OD, you are asking for trouble no matter how small your boat is. A little more gas in drive with higher RPM is cheaper than a rebuilt tranny.

[tj1n]

I have a 96' K1500 5.7 Vortec and tow a 1950 Sportfish.

If I tow in Drive I get 11-13 mpg. If I tow in OD I get 14-17 mpg. If there's no wind or hills I tow in OD and the engine never shifts down. The unit has 110k on it without incident....but if your tranny is shifting up and down at all, I agree "drive" is the gear for you.

TJ

[Jeremy]

I dont think I would want to pull a heavy load behind a K1500 in OD, with the gear ratio of OD(0.7:1) with a TC lockup puts a lot of stress on the clutches and chances are you will find a lot of greasy substance in your pan when you change your tranny fluid. Too many reports on the internet about the 4l60e trannies going bad. The K2500(94 to present) with auto trans should have the 4l80e that is supposed to be build well enough to tow in OD. A lot of chevy's(exc Z71) don't have a real tranny cooler they just hook into the radiator and aren't able to keep the trans cool as needed when pulling a load in OD.

[Goldenboy]

Well this subject hits very timely for me. I have a 98 K1500 5.7 Vortec, 3.73 rear end. I only pull a 17' Alumacraft, about 3-4,000 miles each season. According to my owners manual and dealer I pulled in OD. Well last weekend my trip to Madison, WI was extended three days and $1,800 to get transmission replaced. Technician pulled out old transmission and first thing he said was "You do much pulling? It sure looks like indicative of towing." I guess the mileage tradeoff of not towin in OD is minimal in lieu of new transmission.

[boat nut]

The common theme that keeps coming up in this thread is this: If your transmission is hunting (shifting in and out of OD), shift out of overdrive. If it stays in OD, don't worry about it. All you have to do is stay alert. Look at you tach often, on long inclines or towing into strong headwinds, go to drive.
The best thing you can do to prolong the life of your transmission is to change the fluid and filter according to your owners manual's recommendations. Careful where you have it serviced though, a new trend has developed in which service centers are sucking the fluid out of the dipstick hole, and not removing the pan to change the filter. Saves them time and money, but you don't get the service that you need.

[Jeremy]

If you're going to do a lot of towing, I'd recomend a aux trans cooler and a trans fluid temp gauge, which are both standard on the new duramax/allison combos now. If you're towing enough weight, even if the transmission isn't hunting, you could be damaging the torque converter clutch on the 4l60e due to a worn cylinder in the valve body that applies the TCC.

[shadowman]

i tow with a 97 tahoe with the 5.7 vortec about 7000 miles a year and always use OD so far no problems and i have never noticed the trans looking for another gear, seems to me that all is fine this way but thats just my truck, i have a 17 ft deep vee thats loaded down, i,m not sure of weight but it is on the heavy side, after reading some of the posts i,m gonna try in 3rd and see if i can tell the difference in the way the truck acts and mpg, right now while towing i,m getting around 17 to 19 i,m curios as to what i,ll get in 3rd, talked to a few service techs in the local chevy dealership and while they say tow in 3rd both agreed that for my useage i would be fine the way it is, thats just opinions and i am now going to pay close attention.

[moreyes]

I have Ford F150 with auto and the 5.4 l, I have to talked to 2 different Ford dealers and the mechanics that do their tranny work, and on a Ford they say towind in OD is fine but if starts hunting back and forth alot such as hills and head wind, to switch OD off.

klh

[Rod Holder]

I pulled my Yar-craft to northern Michigan with my half ton Suburban and used Drive exclusively. When making this same trip pulling nothing, there are times that the trans. will downshift when going up hills. I would not try to pull my boat in OD in the Suburban. My F250 diesel truck, however, is another story. I agree with the poster above who mentioned Ford transmissions being more rugged. My truck is a manual five speed and I pull the boat in OD and that's even with 3.55 differentials. Just don't lug the engine. With a tachometer, that is easy to tell. I'd do it with an automatic in the Ford if it had one. I have talked to the guys who make a living pulling travel trailers out of the factories in Elkhart, Indina. You mostly see them driving Ford and Dodge diesels but the guys with the Dodges go through transmissions faster and usually end up getting a replacement that's beefed up. Even the new Duramax Chevy diesels with the Allison transmissions: I would thing long and hard about whether you really want to pull a heavy boat in OD.

[jet&jig]

I have a 96 chev 3/4 ton 350 with 410 rear. Manual says can pull in overdive. I tow a 26 ft 5th wheel ans some times a boat behind it. I pull in overdrive except when there are lots of hills which is a lot of the time in Montana. However the truck will pull the camper and/or camper and boat just fine in overdrive when not climbing hills.

[WAeyes]

It sounds like the main theme is "if your transmission is shifting alot in and out of OD then put it in drive".

My question is what do you consider to be alot? On a 10 minute incline and your tranny shifts an average of once per minute, is that too much? What if it shifts every 2 minutes or every 3 minutes?

Where is the line where you just say put it in drive and leave it there?

[TimnIowa]

I pull with a 01 Chevy 5.3 half ton and I pull a 620. I think it all boils down to if it shifts going up hills then I put it in drive. I very seldom pull with it in OD. I've got use to just putting it in drive/tow haul and the way I go. I go to Kentucky and several trips to South Dakota a year with no problems. I think if you look at what you are pulling that will decide what you should do.