Alright I am probably going to get flamed but here is goes.

When towing heavy do you guys leave the OD on or off. I have read the threads here that I could find but I did not see a specific "Ford says this is what you do" answer. I have been leaving the OD on unless it starts searching and then I turn it off, but there are people I talk to that state when you are towing something big it should always be off. Whats big?

There are also people I have spoken with that state it says when towing you should leave the OD off in the manual. Where? If it says that I cant find it.

Had a debate with a co-worker about this who thinks I am crazy for towing in OD and just wanted to get everyones opinion.

 

I do the same and just watch the tranny temps to make sure they dont get to high.

 

The goal is to keep the torque converter locked as much as possible. TC unlocks, tranny temps go up. If it were my truck, I'd personally leave OD off and avoid calculating my gas mileage........

 

^^x2, besides rebuilding a tranny cost a lot more than a couple MPG lost.

 

But is turning the OD off actually a guideline from Ford?

 

i asked a guy i know who owns a trans shop. he says if you pull more than 3 or 4 thousand pounds, od off till you get to 65 or so, then you can turn it on. he has a 5.3 tahoe and it has a tow/haul mode like most gm trucks/suvs do, and he says it does just that, keeps it out of od till about 65 ish.

 

Tell ya what - ask the dealer who would potentially be doing your warranty repairs what THEY recommend. That's a LOT more meaningful than trying to second guess the factory. When the warranty is up, then do whatever you want.

 

IIRC there is a towing guide for Ford Vehicles. There was a section about tips that it is vague, but gives out... if the vehicle shifts out of OD often, then lock out the OD. I don't have a copy in front of me to compare.

Personally.. when I am towing my 13' aluminum box trailer that ways 1,000 lbs, it almost never shifts out of OD, and I leave it on.

When I am pulling my dual axle dump trailer with or without stuff that ways 4000+ lbs (ish), I leave the OD off, the truck is constantly in and out of OD.

Update: just found the link:

https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...ailer_Tips.pdf

hope that link posts.

don04

 

Watch your RPMs If your towing a load on a flat plane and spinning your motor too high kick it on. Otherwise leave it off.

 

The only time you need to turn off over drive is when you will be off and on the throttle a lot, like hills, mountains or highway traffic that can't make up its mind if wants to go 40mph or 65mph. All it does it prevent you from shifting into your last gear(overdrive). It does slight change shift points to allow a little more gear use before shifting.

If you are doing relatively flat towing and it does not keeping searching for gears while you are steady on the throttle then leave it on.

 

No, it's not. OD on is the normal setting for all conditions. Turn it off only if the transmission starts hunting for a gear when towing/hauling.

 

I'm starting to think that nobody reads my posts...

Here is a thread with a link to the complete towing guide. Your link is to one of the pages (the one page that is most applicable to this question)

But here is the full document if you want to look at weights and whatnot.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...ing-guide.html

 

Dont worry MKOSU04, I read your post. And from the link it seems that I have been unknowingly doing exactly what the manufacturer reccomends.

Thanks to everyone for the responses.