Over drive or Drive and 2 zuks behind Suburban

[flexlarson]

Ok heres the Qs.
I was told that I shouldnt tow in overdrive with my 94 3/4 ton 4x4 suburban . Is this recomended or doesnt it matter ?

When pulling in drive the temp goes up slightly and you can hear the engine rapping up at 75 mph .


I generally pull a 16 foot car trailer and a Zuk around.


One other Qs .
Do you think the Suburban with a throttle body injected 5.7 litre 350 would be capable of pulling two samuris on a 20'' trailer without damaging anything?

One sammi runs 33s and all yota running gear and the other is pretty much stock.

[Bones]

Not the best comparison, but my dad had a couple tranny problems with a half ton from pulling boats in OD. The sencond tranny shop told him to NOT tow in OD and it's still going strong after at least 10 years since the last rebuild. Granted the sencond rebuild could have been done by a more compitent mechanic as well?

[85 rocrnr]

i would tow two rigs with that set up but that is just me

[Tusker]

Two Sami's on a 20ft trailer ought to be right at 7,000 lbs. I have towed a little over 10,000 without a problem in my f-250 psd. I only go into O.D. when the ground is flat and I am really moving out. I watch the tranny temp and pyrometer (not stock equipment on a Suburban!) and if they climb much, I kick her out of O.D. I have 140,000 on my auto tranny, and she is still :)

[flexlarson]

any recomendations for a tranny temp guage?
Whats a piro Whatever you said?

Thanks for the info. I guess Ill use OD when its flat and Im haulin A$$.

[mike]

Originally posted by Tusker
I only go into O.D. when the ground is flat and I am really moving out. I watch the tranny temp and pyrometer (not stock equipment on a Suburban!) and if they climb much, I kick her out of O.D. I have 140,000 on my auto tranny, and she is still :)

Likewise, cept he dont need a pyrometer .. hard to watch the exhaust gas temps ;) I voted for drive, but only cause there wasnt an OD in flat ground option.

[RE:Todd]

I tow in OD all the time, except when it starts kicking down in the hills. I'm flat towing a 4Runner (probably 4K) with a C3500 dually, with 454.

[Tusker]

Originally posted by flexlarson
any recomendations for a tranny temp guage?
Whats a piro Whatever you said?

I got my tranny temperature sending unit and gauge from Diesel Injection Service (don't have their website address handy). They have a lot of non-diesel stuff. A pyrometer is a probe placed in the exhaust stream of a diesel to measure exhaust temperatures. It is necessary because your aluminum turbo will melt at around 1,200 degrees, so you gotta know when to take your foot out of it.

BTW, I also got two extra large tranny coolers from the same place. At $55 or so each, they are cheap insurance. Going up Ice House Road with a heavy load on a hot day can ruin a tranny. My buddy was flat towing a Samurai (and nothing else) up Ice House Rd in OD last month and boiled out 8 quarts of fluid and was DOA. The knucklehead he bought it from took out the stock tranny cooler to put in an intercooler. I had my 11 ft Lance camper, car trailer, and rig and did just fine @180 degrees max temp. His tranny was probably WELL over 300 degrees :eek: