Nah no problem. I understand where you're coming from b/c alot of guys dont read. Its just that this is my first truck and I just want to be %100 absolutely sure that I can tow in O/D with 1000lbs, thats all.

 

I know this is not a O/D on off question so sorry for the highjack. My question is, I tow two honda foreman 500 from cleveland ohio to beachfork (wayne co.) w.v. about 3-4 times a year with my father. I jump on 71 south get up to 70mpg and set my cruise (O/D on) until I have to stop for gas, my dad is always yelling at me that you "never tow with cruise on". Now of course he does not have a reason why, he just says that you should never do that. So in short, does it hurt anything to tow with cruise control on? By the way my dad is one of those "when I was your age" kind of guys.

 

Hey 'butt',

Personally, I don't like towing with CC on, but that's with a #5000 TT... Too many road variables and I just like that 'feel and control' with controlling the pedal on my own while towing...

Your load is probably in the #2000 range, so probably not that big of a deal, plus you don't have anywhere near as much wind resistance to deal with.. So, you will probably be fine for the most part.

Like was said in all the above posts.... If it ain't shifting back and forth between gears and you don't see your tach raising or lowering a couple hundred rpms then you are fine... Once you start 'feeling' it shift a lot or notice the tach rising or lowering, but you are NOT going any faster or slower, then you should 'lock out of od'.....

It's all a 'feel' kinda thing.... You just have to know your rig and know what it's doing... If you can't or don't know what that 'feeling' is, then 'reading' about it ain't gonna help you much either... I mean that in the most respectful way too... You just have to 'experience' it and know and learn what to 'feel' for...

Good luck!

Mitch

 

I'm just guessing on this one. Maybe this has something to do with electric trailer brakes?
On the small trailers with no brakes, I don't see how cruise/no cruise comes into play.

That said, I never advise anyone to cross their dad.
Set it when he ain't looking and keep your foot hovered over the pedal.

I don't think you're giving us the whole story anyways.
He probably told you, "...never tow with cruise on and hang both your feet out the damn window!"

 

I don't think you're giving us the whole story anyways.
He probably told you, "...never tow with cruise on and hang both your feet out the damn window!"[/QUOTE]

 

I'm done with this thread. I have no idea why you people even want to tow in OD anyway. Overdrive is a less than 1:1 ratio. IE the engine turns 1 rev, the wheels turn more. The slower the gears in the tranny turn, the less lubricated they are. Go ahead tow in OD all you want, but it isn't going to be a overnight thing that causes your tranny to fail. Itll be on down the road. But go ahead, knock yourselves out.

 

I installed a scan guageII. Here is there website:
http://www.scangauge.com/

It plugs into the OBDII port that sits at the bottom of your dash below the steering wheel. I mounted it all the way at the base of the steering wheel column in front of the gauge cluster. It sits just low enough that I can still see all the cluster gauges.

It took me a grand total of 30 minutes to setup. Mostly just kind of playing around with where I wanted it. The actual install took about 15 to 20 seconds (you just plug it in).

You have to enter some code numbers in the scan gauge to get the tranny temp to be read. It is all clearly documented in the instructions though and very straightforward.

I think you can get it for like $10 cheaper on ebay than they sell it on their site.

 

that looks like a sweet piece. I should pick one of those up

 

The only thing it doesn't do, and I really wish it did, was read oil temperature. I just called Scan Guage and they said our trucks don't process the temp in deg through the OBDII so they can't do it. The engine does take oil temps but it just pops up the idiot light when the temp is ouside of a certain parameter. So, no oil temps available.


Right now when I tow I have it show tranny fluid temp, water temp, real time mpg (so I know what its doing at that moment -like going up a hill) and distance to empty.

100% its definitely worth the $150 I paid for it. Very nice having all that valuable info.

 

From personal experience. The truck handles my 21ft 6000lb boat no problems with overdrive on except on really steep grade or long grades like the grape vine here in socal. I also tow a 28ft 9000lb trailer when loaded and on flat ground tows no problems but the slightest, and i mean slightest, grade overdrive goes off. Got to love the roar of the engine as soon as it goes off and you see the rpms rise as you hit that incline!! Thats when you know your driving a TRUCK!!!

 

I had a extra gear added to my tranny so I could tow in double overdrive.

 

Robert thanks for the info and I really like the way that looks. I think I am definately going to have to get one. Sounds like you found a great place to mount it as well. Any chance you have some pics of what it looks like installed in your cab? Sorry to be a nag.

 

I will take some with my phone tonight and post them tomorrow.

 

Here you go. These were taken during the day, obviously, but the gauge looks pretty cool at night too. You can make the back lighting on it any color you want. I have it set to a shade of green that perfectly matches my green instrument lights.

 

Thanks alot Robert. I think that looks good where you put it.