I pull my 21 foot open bow with my ex cab 4x4 4.6. I usually only go a couplew of miles with it to the ramp and always pull it with the over drive off. I have always heard it is hard on the overdrive if you tow while on. this summer I plan on pulling it to the lake quite a bit. About 2 hours on the interstate. Wondering if I should still pull it with the overdrive off or if it would hurt to turn it back on once up to speed. Thanks for any help.

 

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong... but I believe the weaknes in the OD band is due to the material of it and the amount of friction allowed when shifting into/out of OD. Essentially it burns up the OD band when you shift in/out of it at high throttle. Also, by allowing a 4-2 down**** you are hurting the OD band. My 4R70W crown vic police interceptor had an OD band replaced at 8K miles because of 4-2 downshifts...

That being said I would see no problem in driving in OD as long as you take care to use it properly. Hit the OD off button with zero throttle to shift back into third when you plan to slow down. Also, lock OD out with the button until you are up to speed, then let off the gas and press the button. Once it shifts into OD you should be good to use the gas again... just don't let it shift in/out too much while under a heavy load and I would think it's fine.

Have you checked the user manual yet?
http://www.genuineservice.com/genuin...e&nav=glovebox

Did you check the towing guide yet?
https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...ng/default.asp

 

Per the towing guide...

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 Guide).
• If excessive shifting doesn’t occur, use
overdrive to optimize fuel economy.
• Overdrive also may be locked out to
obtain engine braking on downgrades.

 

I would assume that not only the hilly terrain but also the speeds you anticipate trying to keep have something to do with it also.

I know occasionally when we have to tow the 25' boats (9200lbs on trailer) with the SRW F250 5.4L (usually use F250 PSD DRW), we don't turn o/d off. But then again, we are also not "permitted" to go over 50mph with one in tow.

 

I was always told, by my dad that is so take it how you want, that when towing a load that is more than half of the vehicle weight to always pull in 3rd gear or in this case with the overdrive locked out (that would be 3rd). Mainly as a precautionary to prevent transmission issues. My dad looked at it as it is cheaper to buy a few more gallons of gas per trip than it is to have to have the transmission rebuilt when it was preventable.

 

Very true.

 

i tow trailers alot with my 5.4l 2wd s/c 3.55 rear end and trailer towing package, and i let the truck decide how i drive. if it shifts back and forth alot i will turn off the o/d. if it runs steady i will keep it in o/d. i have over 106k on my truck and at least 3/4 of that is with a loaded trailer. never a trans issue and regular fluid changes.(we run gncc atv races)

this is a truck built for towing, use it as such. just do the routine maintainance. that said when towing alot you should cut your maintainance intervals in half. not one problem with my 05 doing that. i have run in the mountains and every where else with mine.

when in the mountains i will use no o/d and sometimes will shift to second to use the engine braking. but i have never worried about turning off the o/d if it does not need it. i am seeing about 14 mpg all around with the trailer on. getting an average of 20 mpg with no trailer.

 

How? I have never towed a trailer with mine (yet) and the best I have ever done in mixed conditions is 15.6 and I also have a 2WD 5.4 with 45k on it. Strictly highway, I can squeeze 19 out of it if I keep it at 65-70.

 

it is not hard. i drive 70-75 and run it that way whenever i drive. i have gotten as high as 22 mpg on a trip. alot has to do with where and when you are driving. there are alot of factors that go into mpg. such as grade and wind speed and direction. if you live in a hilly area or a flat area that makes a difference. also where you are traveling has to factor in also. heading west to east you will usually get better mpg's as the wind is prevalent that way.

also heading north to south has a slight downgarde in most places. thus downhill and east is the prime direction to go.
these are my results, others may vary but this is real world results for towing and non towing with MY truck.

the only mod to mine is a flowmaster super 44 muffler with new pipe from cat back.

 

If your gonna be pulling a trailer on mostly flat highways at highway speeds then leave the OD on. If your gonna be going barely over the speed to where the OD will kick in and out, then leave it off. Like said above, you can tell if your truck is constantly shifting back and forth. If it is turn it off.