I have a 2002 F350 4x4 Dually SD, and I was told by a friend that when I am towing my 26' toyhauler that I should pull of in low gear then when I get up to around 45-50mph to shift back to drive. I was doing this for about a year before my tranny decided to quit on me one night while not towing. I not sure what caused the problem but after spending $2000 to rebuild it, I hesitant to tow using this method again. Is this the correct way to tow or what should I do?
Does your truck have a tow/haul mode? If so, I would just use that feature, stick it in Drive and go. I have heard that you don't want to tow in overdrive with automatics... but I haven't heard anything about staying in low gear until you get up to 45-50. Seems like that would put a bunch of un-needed wear on your motor and drivetrain. just my 0.02
These newer automatics are all electronically controlled. They can shift alot better than the older TH400s and such. Just put it in drive and let it do its job. The overdrive problem stems more from "hunting" between 3rd and overdrive causing increased wear and heat. If you notice the tranny hunting just take it out of overdrive until you crest the hill.
4054X4, No my truck dosen't come with a tow/haul mode, but I can program it for towing with my Predetor/Diablo programmer. Thanks for the replys .
My brother in law has this exact same(white) truck. He doesn't tow his trailer any more(poor fuel mileage he said) so he put everything in the bed. With over 200k his trans is getting weak. I told him to put a better torque converter in it to beef it up. Did you do that? His turbo is getting close to replacement as well. Garrett has a new one they are touting.
I have an '08 Yukon with the electronically controled transmission. I was towing my Jeep on a trailer across Iowa in 15 degree F. weather and thought I would try overdrive just to see if it would do it. I was quite suprised to find that it did fine in OD with no gear hunting at all. I was very disturbed to see the digital trans temp gage go from 135 degrees to 215 within five minutes of hitting overdrive. This is with the tow/haul button engaged. Don't think that these new transmissions are nearly smart enough to take care of themselves. Unless you have a diesel with a very heavy duty trans. stay far away from OD and monitor your trans. temps closely.
