well tomorrow ill be driving from phoenix to alabama, (27hrs) and the truck is pretty loaded.. so im wondering, with the weight and the ac on almost the whole drive, will the engine be suffering? ill be stopping a few times, so it wont be all at once.
how bout over drive? when can i use it and how? im a newb at this, any help appreciated

 

nobody? OverDrive? how does it work?

 

I'm not the one to answer your questions, but I'm sure you're going to hear: what are the details? Age and mileage of truck, truck size, engine, transmission, gearing, tire size and air pressure, vehicle GVW, vehicle maintenance schedule, etc. When you say it's going to be loaded, what do you mean?

I just drove mine 1900 miles in a wide range of temps but it was empty so for mine it was easy. You haven't given enough info to even begin to give a guess.

Paul

 

You might want to turn o/d off if you get into any mountainous regions along the way. From Alabama through Texas it's flat and using o/d will improve your mileage.

 

If it continually drops out of OD then disengage it.

 

The 4 speed used in our trucks has 1st, 2nd, 3rd with 4th being the overdrive range. What this means is that the tranny is turning faster then the engine. Lowering engine RPM helps to increase MPG. OD will drop anywhere from 500-1000 RPM out of the engine depending how fast your going. Ford recommends leaving OD on full time and says it's the normal driving range. OD should be turned off when going through hilly areas (loaded or unloaded) if the transmission seems to be hunting through the gears. The same applies when driving on a flat road with the cruise control on. Sometimes the tranny has a hard time finding the proper range and will constantly move through them (although I've never experienced it), turning OD off locks it in 3rd and eliminates this.

 

Good luck on the trip!

 

I drove from San Francisco, California to Orlando, Florida in three days; about 15 hours a day. My route took me through what sounds about the same way you'll be heading and, as I remember it, it was basically flat the whole way. The strong headwind, however, wasn't very kind. My truck stayed pretty cool inside and I had the AC on and off during the trip but when it was on, it wasn't "blasting", just on the first setting.

On a side note, I stuck right around the +5 75 MPH speed limit and didn't have any problems with getting pulled over BUT when my girlfriend took over for the last hour of our first leg in AZ so I could nap, she got pulled over for 94 in a 75. :rollseyes: We didn't get a ticket though so thank you Arizona!

 

ok, so far so good, idk how much weight exactly, but its sagging some.. its doing pretty good, a little lazy on the hills but not too bad, i have it on cruise at about 72mph, and the a/c has been off since el paso, tx. the a/c had to be on from phoenix, az to el paso, tx lol
but its been off..
quick question.. you guys say od is on, so to turn it off, i have to push the button by the shifter? and also, would using the cruise control hurt any? cuz on hills, it goes crazy.. am in terrell, tx right now.
thanks for the help guys.
oh and sorry for the misspelled words, its been 18hrs on the road, im ready to nap..

 

Yep, you got it. To turn OD off you just push in the button on the end of the shifter. You'll be able to confirm that it's off by looking to the left of your gauges. I ran with my cruise control on the whole time except for the passage it sounds as though you're in now. I took my truck out of OD during that part since it kept wanting to downshift to get up the hill, then shift again to coast coast down the hill, downshift again, etc.