In my search for a trailer hitch I saw this statement referring to automatic trannies on the Uhaul site: "Never tow in overdrive." Is this true?? Opinions please...

This has been beat to death more than once here--do a search and you'll have more opinions than you will know what to do with. Alot has to do with the weight you will be towing, the terrain or wind conditions and weather, and also the vehicle and/or gearing and tires you run.

Jason :)

Ya Newbie W/posts search!

Big torque + heavy tow in OD = BOOM


go for it isn't mine:nuke:

Originally posted by BigOrangeIH
Big torque + heavy tow in OD = BOOM


go for it isn't mine:nuke:

bullshit

I tow in overdrive all the time with my tow rig...7200 LB f250 turbodiesel towing a trailer that's 4100 lbs empty, and often loaded with 11,000 lbs of trucks for a total of about 22,300 lbs weight. The truck has 4.11's and the 5 speed in it.

I pull 50K with my truck and gross 80K but its not a 5 speed

It may be a generality but your 5 speed isn't built like my RTLO18918B

sorry just my opinion plenty others share it and plenty others share yours

as long as you tow safe and legal do it the way you want:)

Originally posted by BigOrangeIH
I pull 50K with my truck and gross 80K but its not a 5 speed
:eek: what the heck are you pulling/driving?

Originally posted by robert stone
:eek: what the heck are you pulling/driving?

It's a 4-banger Yota pulling three mobile homes :D :D :rasta:

a little 16 Liter kitty in a pete 379 pulling a 53' reefer when Im not wheeling im driving ;) or sittin in a damn truck stop :rolleyes:

:D

Originally posted by BigOrangeIH
It may be a generality but your 5 speed isn't built like my RTLO18918B


I never said it was:D I've helped a friend on the restoration of his '57 oshkosh, and now he's telling me that I need to put something along the lines of an eaton 9 speed in my truck, like they do in the vocational size trucks with my motor...

if you have a light duty tranny you may want to avoid od going up hills and such, if you have a heavy duty truck then don't worry about it.
if in doubt phone the local dealer for your truck and get the factory recommended towing procedure. that will always be on the paranoid side anyways.

go for a Road Ranger 7 speed mega low 1st and OD twice as strong as a NV 5600 . Road rangers are easy to find in mid size trucks like Kodiaks and F850s ind suck

The truck has 4.11's and the 5 speed in it Yeah dude, thats a 5 speed, not an auto!)

You can use OD when towing if your on mostly flat highway and going at least 60mph or so. Whats bad for the tranny is when it starts downshifting/ upshifting between 3rd and 4th with a big load on it.

Jeff

Only time my truck even begins to like towing in OD is on flat ground, at least 70mph. Otherwise its in 3rd gear.

Originally posted by BigOrangeIH
a little 16 Liter kitty in a pete 379 pulling a 53' reefer when Im not wheeling im driving ;) or sittin in a damn truck stop :rolleyes:

:D <FONT COLOR="Yellow"><FONT size="2">you dont work for forilli do you?</FONT s></FONT c>

Thanks everybody. :beer:

Hey if you are talking about towing with an automatic toyota then
I don't think I would want to with that transmission for sure. It might be ok with 1500 lbs or less if you have 5.29 gears otherwise I don't think I'd risk it. I would not even try OD on any auto unless I had a large aftermarket cooler. Also I have ruined 3 Toyota 5 speed manuels toying in overdrive. They would still work but got progresively noisier after towing 7000lbs to Pismo and back (400 miles round trip). My trans would start making a little bit of noise in 5th gear. I never noticed it right away as I tend to run the stereo a bit on the loud side so the whining was never heard right away! So I kind of wrecked three toyota 5 speeds before I realized what was going on!

Jason :)