I have a 2002 f150 with the 5.4. 35" tires with 4.56 Gears. Love the gear, but have one question about towing with it on the Interstate. @ 65 MPH with O/D off I am turning 2900-3000 RPM. Is this bad for a long haul of say 300 miles, with stopping for fuel, Bathroom brakes for my Son/Wife. 2500 Would not bother me at all, Just wondering if 3,000 Is all that bad. I am towing a 5,000 pound camper (Loaded about 5,600-5,800). Is 3,000 RPM bad? Thanks

 

You're fine I tow a 6k boat all the time at 70 ish turning 3k. I have never had a problem. 148k miles been towing it about every weekend since about 28k miles

 

Short trip would not bother me at all, It is the long trips, and even then I don't think it will be a problem, just wanting to make sure. Also How far do you tow yours at a time, and what kind of boat do you have that ways 6K? Something like a wake setter?

 

Redline on that engine is over 6k, so 3k is nothing.

 

i wouldnt think so. getting the motor wound up just makes power and makes towing easier vs struggling at 2k. do you have any way to monitor exhaust, coolant, oil temps? tranny cooler? hows the cooling system in the truck?

 

Like everyone else said .... I think you would be fine. I towed a U-Haul trailer with everything I own from Texas to Pennsylvania with my 5.4 and didnt have any problems. It stayed wrapped up around 3k pretty much the whole time. Not the most economical but thats to be expected. Just so you know that is a 2,000 mile trip and I drove it over three days.

 

the truck has the stock trans cooler, I am getting ready to install Oil temp, trans temp, and oil pressure gauges, or either the scan gauge unit to keep an eye on those temps, but I think I will be fine with just the trans temp gauge, the others are to feel up the 3 pod pillar

 

With your loading, use OD and let it do it's own shifting.
By the way, you may hear about trans hunting! There is no such thing. The PCM controls all shifting according to load. The word Hunting implies uncontrolled action. There is noting out of control in these systems.
.
Case for running OD is you allow the transmission fluid to cool under ligher loads when the transmission is in lockup.
When your out of lockup the fluid heat rises from the slip that is present.
Otherwise the higher the RPM the shorter life the motor will have over the long term plus oil usage etc.
You may remember the max torque is above 3000 rpm as well as max HP over 4000 rpm.

It's a trade-off either way but it's what you do to live life.
Good luck.

 

I agree with Bluegrass. Use OD and let it be. 35s with 4.56 gears is close to stock final drive ratio so it will be like towing with a stock set up.

 

Another vote for keeping it in OD and letting it do its thing. If you feel you need to keep it off do it where needed and let it go back into OD after the hill or whatever. Sometime just the converter unlocking will be enough change where turning OD off is still not needed.

 

its a 21 ft four winns. With trailer and just a hull weighs about 3300 than BBC Full 50gal of gas seats radio. yadda yadda. Roughly 6k.

Most of the time 30 miles but a few times a year over a 4 hour drive. Truck has never even hiccuped. Some of the times I will hit over 80. this is with a 5.4 and 3.55's BTW

 

A 5.4 will safely wind out over 6K? That's pretty awesome, I didn't know that.

 

One more question, When I am in overdrive on flat ground the rpms are close to 2k at 55 mph. If I hit a hill it don't shift down to 3rd, but the rpms rise about 200 rpm, so when I hit the hill and the rpm rise to 2,200 RPm that is the Tq converter locking up for the hill right, will that not heat up the trans?

 

Thats your torque converter locking up... Stall ratio is 1.9 for the 4r70, so don't be alarmed. Its locking in somewhere from 1 through 1.9 to pull the added load. Just a little added torque multiplication.

And max torque is around 2500 with the 5.4 2V, so I agree with the members voting to cruise 70 with the OD on. Unless you encounter it constantly downshifting. Get a feel for it once your own the road and make your own assesment.

 

The engine is good to 6k+ but the torque converter can balloon over 5400. That's your practical redline.

I'm going to go against the flow here. Your goal here is to keep the TC locked as much as possible. It will lock in both 3rd and OD. You are correct, an unlocked TC will heat up the trans. If you do choose to tow in OD, the minute the TC unlocks, hit the OD off button and feather the throttle till the TC relocks. When the RPM rises, it's the TC unlocking.

Your torque peak on a 2002 5.4 is at 2500 rpm.