I tow a 27' travel trailer that is about 6,000lbs fully loaded.

I have a tranny temp gauge in addition to a Scangauge II that I am using to monitor my tranny temps. I have only towed for one 300 mile trip since I installed these though.

I left the O/D on and my experience on this trip was that the tranny temperatures would start to drop ANY time that I was able to keep it in 4th gear rather than 3rd gear. This would tell me that unless the truck is constantly shifting back and forth between gears every few seconds, you are better to leave O/D on.

I also made sure that I paid attention to make sure the converter was locked.

Regardless, my one trip has told me that for lower tranny temps, use O/D whenver possible.

 

Ditto. This has been my experience exactly. My travel trailer is a 26 foot and it weighs in around 6500 lbs. loaded.

 

Alright guys check this out. On the way to my Ford dealer today the tranny went out, it did th exact same thing that I described earlier except I was unloaded and pulling away form a stop light, 10-20 mph, loud clunk and no forward drive gear. So I just returned form milking it to Ford and we shall wait and see.
Just goes to show you how well some work is done. Beach Ford in Myrtle Beach, SC. did the work and yet it didn't make it 6 days or 800 mile.
BTW I spoke to the service techs at Man-O-War Ford where my truck is at and they say always tow with the OD off, claiming that the guys at Beach Ford had no idea what they were talking about.

Ahhh now the debate goes on.... while I pimp in my Civic waiting for my truck to be repaired, not all bad 35 mpg and gas going up 40 cents by weeks end.

 

Dang, you have some luck. Sorry to hear it broke again. I just go by what the owner's manual says. Hopefully it is correct.

 

Did you pull that out of your ***? Tow/Haul mode changes shift characteristics.

 

No smart *** I pulled it off the shifter on my Suburban, it says Tow-Haul.

 

welfare--any word on your truck today?

 

Not since 12:30 when I dropped it off, they told me that 2 other tranny jobs are in front of me, no hurry as I do not need the truck this week. BTW the service manager is my next door neighbor so i have a leg up on the situation.

 

Welfare-wagon, Beach Ford in Myrtle beach suck IMO. they are the asses that told me nothing was wrong with my truck, when i drove over 6 hours to the beach for vacation mind you, and back home on a bad wheel bearing. possibly putting my family and i in danger. I will never let them work on my chain saw let alone my truck...sorry to rant, just an experience

 

I read the whole damn thread hoping to learn something... I learned that I just went in a circle, and learned nothing.

 

I've been having issues with mine getting too hot, and I tow in OD. My dealer as well told me to turn it off...makes the converter stay locked more. I left my OD on because in our Super Duty's theres never been a need to turn it off because they have enough power that they don't hunt for gears.

But after my issues here the past 2 weeks, I think its worth burning a little extra gas to save from buying $2000 dollar trannys every 60k. I'm towing w OD off from now on.

 

Well I got the word from the dealer today, they are going to replace my tranny and hubs and should be done by Monday next week.
When I pick it up I will ask again this dealers opinion on towing with the OD on or off and see what they have to say.

 

Well that's good news. I have two different trailers that I tow: an Aluma (aluminum) trailer that hauls two ATV's (only 2000 lbs total when loaded) and a 26 ft camper at 5800 lbs fully loaded. I don't turn off the overdrive with the ATV trailer, but do with the camper (especially in the mountains). According to my Edge monitor, level 2 towing runs cooler tranny temps than the stock tune regardless of on/off overdrive. I think that the level 2 tune keeps the converter locked up more keeping the heat down.

On the side, my father's 04 crapped a tranny about a year ago. He lives in OH, and the breakdown occured in Indiana. They put a value body kit in it, changed the fluid, and sent him on his way. They made it about 500 miles when a complete meltdown occured. Three days later, they made it out with a new tranny. During that three days at the dealership, he talked to four techs about those trannies to find that most end up with a completely new tranny. Very few benefit from a "band-aid" job. So I am not surprised that the work done earlier benefited you.