towing in overdrive ???

[jherman]

I was wondering do any of you guys pull with your excursion in overdrive???
This is for my wifes excursion it is an 01 4 wheel drive motor has a 40HP edge tune, 4" exhaust no cat. other than it is stock. the tires are 265's so almost stock size.
I had to put a new tranny in last year at 135K miles and the tranny guy said dont pull in OD. So this weekend was the first time i ever pulled with it. I had the 12K toy hauler on it and at 60mph with the OD off it was spinning the motor at 2500 rpm and i dont like that.

I put it in OD and the RPM dropped to about 1900 rpm and at 2200 rpm i was able to go 72 mph. the tranny gauge showed an increase in temperature but it was only 5 degrees more than before. So can i pull in OD? what do you guys think.

Quick stats: The air temp outside was 97 degrees the tranny temp in OD was 178 degrees and when the OD was turned off it would run 170-172 degrees. the temp gauge reads from a sender in the pan.

 

[trackspeeder]

You can tow in OD with the 4R100.

The only time you should lock it out is when the tranny hunts between gears.

You can lock OD out when more engine braking is desired.

 

[Dogman]

Small trailer would not be a big deal, but if it more the haft the weight of your truck or more I would not tow in OD the clutches are smaller and can burn out faster. Me it just not worth the chance in damage. I could think of a lot more things to do with 4K then buying a trans. for my truck. Just my 2 cents plus to many year rebuilding them.

 

[jherman]

thanks to both answers, but now i have to decide if a 12K rv is too heavy for the tranny>

 

[WD40]

I would tell you the same thing that Trackspeeder told you. Call this man and see waht he tells you and then do what he says.
http://www.brianstruckshop.com/index.html

Doug

 

[trackspeeder]

12k is fine. Most important thing is to watch your temps. Heat is what kills a 4R100.

 

[jherman]

thanks to you guys for the information i really appreciate it i will start pulling in OD, i don't want to go uphill doing it just on the flats and downhill that way i'm not spinning the motor so high. thanks again.

 

[A/Ox4]

You can tow in OD with the 4R100.

The only time you should lock it out is when the tranny hunts between gears.

You can lock OD out when more engine braking is desired.

He has hit it. You should only lock out OD when it is searching, or if you need some braking. But I would argue that you might want to consider your weight to brake ratio if that is the case.

 

[Hansel]

Ive read that the Edge tuners are tough on transmissions, I tow in OD and before I added my PHP hydra I would sometimes have it hunting so I would take it out of OD, but now with the extra 65hp tow tune it just steams up grades without having too drop out of OD.

 

[willie "D"]

I like to use the cruise control method, obtain desired speed with OD enaged, engage cruise. The truck will tell you quickly weather or not it likes the conditions. If it holds speed your ok. If it falls off and down shifts, you probably need to leave OD off. We compensate for a lot of things with the pedal, but the computer only runs the numbers.

The numbers also say a 12K trailer a little heavy for the excursion so I'de really watch the temps.