towing in overdrive

cm cows

cm cows

Here by the owl
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Oct 10, 2006
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i have thought about this for a while and really never worried much about it. i tow the sammy in over drive all the time and dont think that it is worth it to run the high rpms from runnin in 3rd and gettin terriable milage, but if i am pullin something heavy i could see runnin in 3rd for a short distance but if i am on interstate i would rather run in o/d and get on down the road and get better milage. so the question is what do yall think about towing and over drive? i need some input on this one
 
Stock tranny? What RPM's are you turning at 70?
 
really dont matter but if the truck keeps shift up and down turn the over drive off and just keep an eye on the tranny temp if you have a gauge
 
well my tranny is still stock, but i will get a new one when this one goes out. the other day i had it up to like 200* on the tranny temp pullin the sammy on interstate. and drivin with out anything on interstate its about 150-160. at 70 it runs between 21-2200rpms and i have a 3.55 rearend. the reason it is so high is because of the tranny not being able to hold the power that i got. the main reason i ask is, has anyone had a tranny fall from towing in overdrive. this dude told me that running in overdrive is what kills the dodge tranny's. i figure it aint th best thing for them but if it doesnt get hot then i wouldnt think any thing is wrong, right? i figure it cant be any harder than a boosted launch or sled pullin, but what do i know?
 
i have had a dodge tranny fail cause of towing in overdrive. they will get really hot in overdrive if you are pulling a heavy load and it is constantly searching for gears. even without it searching for gears my last truck would get really hot then it decided to stop working and leaking everywhere and it was on flat ground. with mine if i remeber right it burned up the clutches and blew the seals but it was a year or two ago. From now on i turn OD off and cools things down just takes longer to get there.
 
Towing in OD creates major heat in the trans, trans worst enemy. Besides Major HP.
 
200* is pretty hot for maintaining speed. Although I'd figure that above 70mph on flat ground you shouldn't have a problem. It's when you get to lugging it that it hurts it.
 
you can tow in od, but if you pull something heavy you want to take off with od off until you are up to 55 60 mph, and then let it go into od and run at highway speed 65 70 mph. The trans should run cooler in od then not in od if you are running a steady speed that is part of its purpose. I allways pull in od, if you don't you rev the piss out of your truck because they can't run highway speed and keep rpm's low, in 3rd like older chevy tranny's can not sure if the new chevy's are the same, but you could run 70 mph in 3rd and still have normal rpm's unlike are dodge's you get to 55 60 and the motor is about reved out.
 
depending on how heavy the load is you can't always keep it in od even on flat ground. just watch your tranny temp gauge 200 is pretty hot but not causing alot of damage now when it gets into the 250 range that is a different story. i know with mine when i would get into the 7,000-10,000 lbs overdrive just stayed off even at highway speed it would not hold it there in overdrive without dropping out so i would slow down take OD off and the tranny temp would drop around 20-40 degrees. just my 2 cents
 
Issue with towing in OD is low line pressure when the engine starts to drop down in RPM. Pump output can drop, and line pressures go down, torque is going up cause the RPM is dropping and clutches start to slip. BD towloc or something helps with this. Basically anytime your locked up, the TV valve is shoved full on, which brings the line pressures up.
 
IN OD make sure rps are @ 1600 or more, there sould be enough line pressue at that point. The real kicker is the 650 or 700 rpm difference between the two gears.
 
My trans is a DTT and I tow everything in overdrive. Don't think I would tow real heavy with a stocker in od.
 
I tow in overdrive all the time! The one thing my tranny is good for! I hate my manual, wish I had a fast tranny!
 
Does anyone run a secondary trans cooler (with elec. fan) and see a big difference in towing temps in OD...?

I bought one a couple of months ago and haven't installed it yet. Next week I'll be towing a 9600# travel trailer for about 100 miles. It would be nice to know that this type of mod would make a significant difference in trans towing temps.
 
I read somewhere that one of the major problems is leaving it in od when you are going down a hill.I heard that is when you are supposed to put it back in
3rd gear
 
as long as you are paying attention you shouldnt have any problems towing in overdrive. If it starts to hunt then shift down to 3rd. I have a 37 foot 5er and towed with my dodge lots before I went crazy with it, never a problem

Kevin
 
I tow every weekend in OD. Not heavy mind you.

I have towed very heavy loads in OD as well. No issues. As long as I keep the RPMs up, I don't give it much thought.

Dave
 
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