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Old 05-03-2014, 05:00 AM   #1
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Overdrive on or off?

When pulling the TT, should the "Overdrive" be on or off? Thank you!

FYI....2003 Ford Expedition
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Old 05-03-2014, 05:58 AM   #2
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Off. OD does not allow enough torque to be used to pull your trailer. You will put a lot of strain on the transmission and engine and over heating them resulting in premature failures. OD is for everyday driving not towing. If your transmission is searching for the right gear, then you need to manually downshift and limit the use of the top gears.
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Old 05-03-2014, 07:54 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadows11 View Post
When pulling the TT, should the "Overdrive" be on or off? Thank you!

FYI....2003 Ford Expedition
If your Expedition has the tow/haul feature I would suggest using that. If not, no OD except on flat terrain with the wind at your back. The 6 speed transmission in my F-250 will shift into 6th gear on flat terrain while in tow/haul above 60mph.
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Old 05-03-2014, 11:27 AM   #4
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It depends on the vehicle, there really isn't a clear cut answer.

Since you have a gas engine, I'd have to say at least leave the OD off in hilly terrain. If you are driving on flatter terrain, you may be able to use OD. The truck will tell you to use a lower gear by wanting to 'hunt' between a lower gear and OD. If it wants to hunt, then hold it to the lower gear manually.


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Originally Posted by TCNASHVILLE View Post
If your Expedition has the tow/haul feature I would suggest using that. If not, no OD except on flat terrain with the wind at your back. The 6 speed transmission in my F-250 will shift into 6th gear on flat terrain while in tow/haul above 60mph.
The 6 speed Allison in my 2011 GMC Duramax also will not shift to and stay in 6th gear OD while in tow mode until 60 mph or so. But it will hold 6th gear OD below 60 mph while not on tow mode.

What I do is get the rig rolling in tow mode. Towing mode on my truck locks the torque converter sooner than normal. Once my Edge Insight CTS tells me the torque converter is locked (about 20 mph), I take it out of tow mode so the gears shift sooner. The engine makes gobs o' torque and has no problem pulling my 8000ish lbs loaded trailer. The Edge Insight also will monitor trans fluid temp and instantaneous mpg. The trans fluid temps stay low and the mph is better when I drop out of tow mode and use 6th gear OD at highway speed. If I encounter a uphill grade where the transmission does want to downshift or hunt between 5th & 6th, I can manually hold it in 5th gear which also is an OD gear.
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Old 05-03-2014, 11:59 AM   #5
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The bottom line is, you must be in a gear which allows the engine to be turning at sufficient RPM to avoid "lugging" or laboring the engine. Lugging will blow up your engine real quick. The tow-haul mode keeps the engine in this slightly higher rpm range. If you don't have tow-haul, then yes avoid OD.
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Old 05-03-2014, 11:02 PM   #6
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My Dodge will tow in 6th gear with tow/haul engaged. I usually tow in 5th which is also an OD gear. I get better fuel mileage in 5th gear and the engine runs cooler on the pyrometer. When towing I always use tow/haul. Unless I am going down hill, 6th gear just seems to make the engine work harder. I have 3:73 gears.
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Old 05-04-2014, 06:59 AM   #7
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Mine is off unless in the flatlands.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:07 AM   #8
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No overdrive. Ever. The little bit of fuel you save isn't going to pay for a rebuilt transmission. If your TV has a trans temp gauge keep an eye on it. If not, its a cheap mod that may save you money in the future.
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Old 05-05-2014, 09:28 AM   #9
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If you have a tow haul put it there and forget about it. That's what it is there for. If you don't have a tow/haul mode then no OD.
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:27 AM   #10
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There is no reason you can't tow in overdrive, unless it is frequently shifting in and out of overdrive.

Ford says you can tow in overdrive. It's in the owner's manual for the 99-03 4r100 tranny, others use tow/haul if available
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:29 AM   #11
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Lots of opinions on this one. So what I am gleaning from all this is OD is okay if you have it in tow/haul.

Or... is it never use OD when you are towing?? Hard on tranny.

Or...

Now I'm really confused.
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Old 05-05-2014, 10:34 AM   #12
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Use OD unless tranny is hunting for gears.
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Old 05-05-2014, 11:43 AM   #13
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When I pulled with gas I never used OD. On many newer trucks you have a transmission temp gage. If you have that gage it will help you decide how to use your rpm's to keep things cooler. When I was towing with my F150 I would program out 6'th gear and put it in tow/haul and go. Watching the trans temp in gage mode convinced me that was a good decision.
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Old 05-05-2014, 02:46 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1wayhighway View Post
If you have a tow haul put it there and forget about it. That's what it is there for. If you don't have a tow/haul mode then no OD.
This! ^^^
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Old 05-05-2014, 02:56 PM   #15
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Driving With An Automatic
Overdrive Transmission
With certain automatic overdrive transmissions,
towing – especially in hilly areas – may cause
excessive shifting between overdrive and the next
lower gear.
– To eliminate this condition and achieve steadier
performance, overdrive can be locked out (see
vehicle Owner's Manual)
– If excessive shifting does not occur, use overdrive
to optimize fuel economy
– Overdrive may also be locked out to obtain
engine braking on downgrades
– When available, select Tow/Haul Mode to
automatically eliminate unwanted gear search
and help control vehicle speed when going downhill.

Straight from the Expy manual.

http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...expedition.pdf
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Old 05-05-2014, 06:50 PM   #16
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I tow 5000# with a 5.7 ram. 5 and 6 are both overdrive gears. I will use 5 if I am on a long level or downgrade. I most often just use Tow/Haul and 4th gear.
5th gear at 62MPH I turn about 1900 RPMs, 4th gear about 2200. Rig is much more responsive in 4th at 2200.

On a recent 1800 mile trip my lie o meter gave me .2 better mileage in 4th and the tranny ran 10 to 15 degrees cooler.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:03 PM   #17
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Like I said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tail_gunner View Post
It depends on the vehicle, there really isn't a clear cut answer.

I think the closer you are to the towing limit of your tow vehicle the greater chance of having to be in tow mode or lock out OD. In my case, I am only a little more than halfway to my towing capacity. So I can tow in 6th gear/OD all day without the truck breaking a sweat. But a half ton truck truck pulling near it's towing limit will have to work harder.
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Old 05-05-2014, 08:26 PM   #18
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I had no idea how our truck was going to pull in the hills let alone on the flats. After a couple hours pulling on our first trip I figured out that 5th worked best (no shifting up or down) and this kept the tranny temp the same as if I wasn't pulling. Daytripper quoted the manual and that's the best guide, after that you just have to pull your TT and see how your vehicle does.
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Old 05-07-2014, 09:23 PM   #19
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I tow with a 2003 Expedition and it depends on the speed, hills and head winds. At 50-60 mph I turn it off. From 60-65 I turn it back on. The torque peak is at 2500 on the 5.4 so the closer you are to that the better it pulls.

Do you have the towing package? If not you may have the 3.55 gears instead of the 3.73 which means you'll definitely want it off.
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Old 05-11-2014, 06:58 PM   #20
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Use OD with tow haul engaged... IF the transmission starts to hunt for a gear.. shifting up and down.. THEN manually downshift it,
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