You all know I am a newbie, and I am/will have many questions down the line.. With that said, I don't want to make any mistakes when I hook up my 6x12 enclosed trailer with 2 500 lb bikes and gear. The trailer weighs 1350lbs, both bikes with some gear weighs about 1200, I will be pulling something like 2600 lbs. My 06 F150 is equipped with the towing package, 3.73 axle, and 18 inch wheels and tires.

Do I have to turn the OverDrive OFF? or can I just leave it like it is? and just drive the truck normally? I have been getting conflicting info from my buddies. Some tell me the truck won't even know it is back there leave the OD on. Some say turn off the OD right away.

Thanks in advance..

ceh
06 F150 XLT SC
(64,old,dirty,fast)

 

2600#, thats it

Leave OD on.

Granted that is a lightweight ammount but i suggest use your gears to slow down, your brakes will thank you.

 

Okay, that means just drive off with it, OD is default..Good. Now, when you say use the gears to slow down, don't understand that one. I don't think I am going to be going that fast, and I will be just slowing down gradulaly.

Explain what using the gears to slow down means..

Thanks again,

ceh
06 F150 XLT SC
(64,old,dirty,fast)

 

i turn off overdrive whenever i haul something around town, even if i have a riding mower in the bed, makes driving so much easier around town.

 

If you want to save your transmission i recomend you haul it out of over drive. Unless traveling at speeds well above 70 where your rpms are over 2200 or so. Your truck may pull it but it lugs it and puts alot of strain on the drivetrain, thus heating up your fluids. With out the engine pushing more rpms, the fluids are not cooled down as well since the fan wont be running as hard and mainly i should say its hardest probably on your torque converter.

I guess what ive been told when hauling simple things like that, if it will pull it with no problem, not even shifting when going up hills than you should be ok. But if it shifts alot then you need to kick it out of overdrive. Shifting often like that also heats up the fluid quickly.

I was pulling our car trailer which weighs #3,000 doing around 70 and when i would run in over drive i would get about 10-11 miles to the gallon. When i kicked it out of overdrive i would get about 9.5-10.5. So i concluded that it would pull it in over drive but it was lugging the chit out of the engine so as far as gas mileage goes it wasnt much of a difference.

 

I don't know about yours, but my Ford truck manuals all say to turn the over-drive off when towing. If it's a little bitty trailer, I'd probably leave OD on if I was just driving through town.

With OD on, you'll lose speed when going up hills. The transmission will start to slip in and out of OD. You will have to step on it hard to keep it going in OD. Disengaging the OD will give you constant power at the rear wheels.

When going down a mountain or steep grade, you can shift the transmission down into 2nd to slow you down and save your brakes. You'll be using your engine and transmission to slow you down. It saves on gas and keeps your brakes from failing due to heat build up.

 

i dont understand how downshifting going down a hill would save gas, it would use more gas because of the higher rpms, and could put a lot of strain on the drivetrain holding second gear.

around town OD off will work much better, much less strain on the powertrain. If youre going down a hill, use a combination of the brakes and leaving it out of OD, the transmission will slow itself down some on its own, your brake pedal switch doesnt just control the taillights

 

When I'm towing something, it depends. If I'm on flat ground with little or no grade at highway speeds, I'll leave the overdrive on. Around town or someplace with a lot of grades to go up and down, I'll leave it off so the transmission won't hunt as often for the right gear for the right situation.

 

Heat is the enemy of transmissions. It shortens the life of the transmission and causes the fluid to break down prematurely. That is why I tow with OD locked out. It increases the transmission fluid flow to the cooler. I would rather lose a mile per gallon or so to better take care of my transmission. Besides, how many miles do you tow at a time? The extra cost in gasoline is very minimal.

 

leave the OD off for towing.

You will have more power plus some engine braking.


As far as RPMs... it wasnt too long ago that pickups didnt have OD and towed on the highway just fine in 3rd.

 

In this instance, the engine is turning higher RPMs, but gravity, is the energy source that is turning those RPMs, not gas. You will not spend any more gas in 2nd while going downhill than if you had it in neutral while going downhill or if you were idling on level ground. But, you also shouldn't be saving any more gas than if you left it in "Drive" and rode your brakes all the way down the mountain. The difference isn't in gas saving, but in brake system wear. Your brakes will certainly suffer if they are the only method you are using to control an increase in speed when traveling down steep grade. Further, I do not believe that any more strain would be put on the drivetrain than that generated by using gasoline other than gravity to generate the equal amount of RPMs. Strain on the drivetrain generated by 3000 RPMs worth of force moving downhill should be equivalent to the strain on the drivetrain generated by 3000 RPMs while moving uphill.

Oh.. leave O/D off when towing. The engineers at Ford suggest this for a reason. In making your decision, keep in mind that should you have major transmission failure, Ford can look at the vehicle driving history stored in the PCM to get an idea of what was taking place when the transmission failed. By looking at engine load numbers and the O/D data, they would likely be able to determine whether the vehicle was used outside the scope of manufacturer's operating instructions. These PCMs store a lot of data. My colleague's office has subpoenaed this information from a number of new Ford vehicles (including the F150) in accident reconstruction situations, and data encompassing everything from speed, pressure applied to brake - even steering wheel movements - is recorded.

 

Use OD unless it causes excessive shifting. As stated in the owners manual.

Use when driving conditions cause excessive shifting from O/D to other gears.
Examples: city traffic, hilly terrain, heavy loads, trailer
towing and when engine braking is required.

 

Did you mean "Do not use" instead of "Use"? As in "Do not use O/D"...

 

Only lock out OD if the tranny is hunting between 3rd and 4th. This usually occurs when REALLY loaded for bear, driving at 45-55, or on a big hill up or down.

These trannys make nearly the same amount of heat in 3rd and 4th with a locked TC. If you are really worried, add a tranny temp gauge to be sure what is going on.

Adrianspeeder

 

Owners manual states use D (or OD locked out) if excessive shifting.