Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Whalstib
Originally Posted by tundraman
I don't see a reason why I should have to stay in 4th with that load at 68 mph. (rolling hills).
BC
I was always told to avoid towing in over drive... Isn't 4th 1:1 or there abouts? 5th and 6th both over drives?
That's old school thinking. Outside of one possible Ford transmission (AOD?) there isn't a problem with "weak" overdrive gears. The problem is simple: old school programming would first unlock the torque convertor when extra engine power was needed--the engine rpm would rise up a bit. But at the cost of much increased slippage in the convertor. Which made lots of heat. Which, if the trans cooler was undersized, would cook the transmission fluid. It has nothing to do with being in overdrive or not: it has everything to do with the transmission being in a gear ratio that, at this particular vehicle speed, results in the torque convertor being asked to operate in a high slippage region. Technically this problem likely existed back in the days of 3 speed autos and highway gearing (think pushing 2.73's or worse).
I suppose this is still true today--if you let the transmission decide to run with the convertor unlocked, it is apt to make lots of heat. But this is easily combated by forcing a downshift when you sense the TC is unlocked. Even if the TC refuses to lock up, once engine rpm is above 2,000 rpm (give or take), convertor losses go down. [Also the flow of ATF through the transmission cooler goes way up, as it should be roughly proportional to engine rpm, at least once the thermostat opens.]
On flat ground, if the trans is locked up, leave it be. After a few miles you should be able to tell if the trans will hold a hill or not. If you think it won't, proactively kick it down a gear (or two) at the bottom of the hill, that way it won't be asked to shift under power, and it might even take the hill locked up.
My Tundra is "underpowered" so I'd never attempt to tow using 6th gear. 5th is fine on flat ground though, and 4th is required on any hill pretty much. But I'm not interested in listening to the engine drone on flat ground.
And yes, 5&6 are overdrive gears on these Tundra's.
There is additional info to this that isn't being considered. Everything here is correct, but it's not entirely correct. There was a study done years ago looking at true overdrive transmissions that did find that the OD gears develop more heat in the particular model of trans tested (I don't recall the make). I'm going skip the deep explanation and try to say it simply, knowing that the simple answer also has variables that will vary. Picture a large gear turning a smaller gear. There is heat generated in the meshing between the teeth. When the smaller gear is being driven be the larger gear, both of them absorb that heat. The smaller gear has less area with which to dissipate the heat, and ends up running at and exposing fluid to a higher temp. That was an instrumented test with real numbers.
I witnessed this on my 06 tundra. In 4th vs OD, both with the TC locked on even ground at even speed, the trans ran hotter in OD. This was measured at the cooler line leaving the transmission on a gauge.
Adding to that - If I set my 18 F150 in tow mode, it locks out the top two gears, even though the engine has more than enough power to use them, and I'm pretty sure the trans TC stays locked once Im in 3rd and up, not unlocking between shifts.
Anyway, all of that info about slipping at the TC and that heat resulting is true, but there is more to it, based on study I read. It may have been in 4x4 magazine back in the 90s.
-m