2000 F150 Harley Model and towing a single axle 6 x 10 enclosed motorcycle trailor with two Harleys. I would say about 2500 pds. Do I use overdrive or drive? I noticed that in drive at 70mph I am running about 2900-3000 rpm in drive and about 1800 in overdrive. Is this healthy for the 5.4 over a 3500 mile trip?

Thanks.

 

Use the overdrive unless it starts shifting back and fourth between 3rd and 4th. It will not hurt it using OD. I used to tow a 17'6" fiberglass boat using overdrive. The only times I had to take it out of OD was on hills. Then it wanted to hunt for the right gear.

 

You can definitely use o/d. Only turn it off if it shifts in and out of o/d or pulling a long grade. Correct me anyone if I'm wrong, but I didn't see anything in the owner's manual that states that you cannot tow in o/d? Am I right?

 

I always tow in OD but I am beginning to wonder if I should. Some people have written that it hinders gas mileage greatly but we will see.

 

There is no actual "yes" or "no" answer to this.... It's a "depends"....

it depends on the load, the road conditions, how much of the trailer sticks up in the air, what speed you are going, weather......

When I load up my truck bed with #1000 of firewood and have my utility trailer filled with another #1000 of firewood, I can run in OD when it's level. Once I need start on a hill, it'll downshift and that's when I turn OD off to get over the hill. Once I'm over and it looks like I can stay in OD for at least another 5 minutes, I'll turn OD on and let it do it's thing, until it downshifts again.

The thing you DON'T want it doing is shifting, downshifting back and forth several times within a couple minutes time frame... All that does is cause additional heat in the trans and that's not good anytime!

When I'm towing my #4500 travel trailer, that also has about 60 sq feet of frontal surface area that needs to break thru the air as well, I just turn OD off and don't even worry about it! The rare times I can use OD with the TT is when I'm going downhill, but not coasting, then it'll go into OD. Sometimes on a level road, it'll go into OD, if I let it, but then I find I have to press the gas pedal a bit more to maintain speed.... Too much wind resistance is my own theory......

So, to sum it up, the truck will tell you if it can handle OD or not.... Let it go into it on it's own and let it shift out on it's own.... If it does this alot, it's better to just leave it off and run in 3rd.....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

If RPM's is what scares you then SLOW THE F**K DOWN!!! I THINK that legally you aren't supposed to tow a trailer faster than 65.

Who cares if you are going 60 in a 65... sure the people behind you may get mad, but at least you know you won't be getting pulled over for speeding!

 

The engine will hold up to 3k RPM's all day long, but with your load, I suspect that you can use the overdrive as others suggested and save some fuel and maybe a little wear.

 

I pull an Ultralight TT (Loaded: about 3500lbs) and it still tends to downshift more than I like (I tried it once for a short while). So I side with MitchF150 on this one. I also think it has to do with all that air your pushing with a TT and not as much to do with weight.

Several years ago, my father was towing a small 18ft TT with his Pontiac Bonneville. He had been towing with the same setup for about 4 years and never ever use OD. When he told this to his "Mechanic", the "Mechanic" told him "Well, Why the hell not? The transmission will decide on it's own if it needs to downshift or not. Your just paying more for gas for nothing." So My father thought, well It sorta makes sense. So on his very next trip, he decided to follow up on the wise words of his mechanic. He only got about an hour away when the transmission blew from over heating. It may have been coincidence.

Needless to say, I never use OD anymore when towing. 1 or 2 MPG less (If that much) will go a long way twards paying for a new tranny.

I think that a faster turning tranny in D will circulate fluid faster through the Tranny cooler and run cooler that a slower turning tranny in OD and with a lot less TC Locking and Unlocking and downshifting, all of witch creates a lot of heat and friction.

There's a lot of my 2 cents


Dpostman

 

I'll tow a 2200lb. 18' open car hauler between Cincinnati and Chicago. For instance, I just made the trip with a Buick Park Avenue and 500lbs of tools on board. That's what, maybe 6000lbs or so? Pulling the hills and in traffic I'll keep the OD off. On the flat open interstate in Indiana and Illinois I'll keep the cruise and the OD on, and everything is just fine. Once I get into city traffic however, the OD comes off to provide more engine braking.

MR

 

I agree with MitchF150 and Dpostman. I've taken our truck & trailer out on two holidays in the past 2 months, and I found it a lot easier to just keep it in third.

The trailer weighs 3400 lbs dry, and I had it up to about 4000 lbs loaded up; on the flats, I could probably do O/D while maintaining 63-65 mph, but I felt I had better control keeping things in 3rd.

I was still getting around 10-12 mpg on my trips, which included towing through the Rockies in NW Montana.

 

I have a 6" lift and 33's and was wondering if I should tow my boat in D or OD. I think the boat and trailer with gear and gas weighs around 4000-4500 lbs. I towed it to the lake and back this past weekend in D (overdrive disengaged) 160 miles and it took a full tank of gas.

What's the concensus on this? I just bought this truck used and don't know if it has gears in it or not, but I'm guessing it has 4.10's cause it feels like a stocker.....need to jack up the rear and spin the tires and count the drive shaft rotation.

 

issanni,

The truck will tell you if it likes OD or not...... Best thing to do is let it go into OD on it's own and if you can maintain speed without having to press the gas pedal any harder, then you should be good to go.

If, it goes into OD and you find you have to press the gas pedal more just to maintain your current speed, then you're not going to be saving much gas anyway...... You're just lugging the engine at that point and dumping in more fuel then is needed to move your load.

Also, you don't want it shifting back and forth from D to OD and back to D a bunch of times within a short period of time.... Not gaining anything there either... Just heating up and wearing out the trans faster.

I've tried the above and the only time my rig will ride in OD without having to press the gas pedal any harder is on very flat, if not a little down slope and zero head wind..... Does not happen all that much, so I just keep it in third for the most part....

I start thinking about getting gas at the half tank mark..... Seems I can go over 150 miles on the first half, but only about 75 on the second half! Stupid gauges in all Fords SUCK!!!

What's your rpms running say, 60 mph, in third?? If it's under 2500 then you probably don't have 4.10's. My truck with 3.55 and ~31" tires runs around 2400 @ 60 mph, in third.

Good luck!

Mitch