wpecjak
SDD Junior Member
As you can tell I'm new at this towing thing. Do you turn OD off when twing especially hills? With my diesel MH just had to put in gear and go (engine brake and allison trans). Any advice would be nice
Question towing w/OD on
- Thread starter wpecjak
- Start date
In a Word ? No.
Do you have Gauges ?? If not ? Get'm. EGT & Boost gauges will tell you Everything, at a glance, that you need to know.. When Towing. They will "Teach" you... How To Tow.
A Transmission Temp gauge would be good too. With 18K in tow.
Do you have Gauges ?? If not ? Get'm. EGT & Boost gauges will tell you Everything, at a glance, that you need to know.. When Towing. They will "Teach" you... How To Tow.
A Transmission Temp gauge would be good too. With 18K in tow.
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the cable guy
Full Access Member
I towed 7k on a regular basis, used the tow haul mode all the time. changed the shift points alittle and engaged the transmission break when slowing down. a nice feature
That what it is designed for.
That what it is designed for.
DaveBen
SDD Senior Member
Just remember that brakes are a LOT CHEAPER than transmissions. I use the brakes to slow down and do not rely on the tranny to slow down.
Dave
Dave
wpecjak
SDD Junior Member
Thanks. Yes gauges are going in(EGT,boost and trans), next week,replacing already installed trans temp. Added S&B intake and Magnaflow 4" turbo back exhaust yesterday. The truck has superchips tuner now, not happy with it. Also have some issues with stock trans, so am thinking about a John Wood trans, and DP tuner, if I can get a hold of JW anyway,
wpecjak
SDD Junior Member
But I read someplace that you shouldn't tow in OD, which seemed wrong to me.
What "the cable guy" sez.
Mechanically, OD is just for MPGs, cruising, empty.
The Tow/Haul mode is for Towing & Hauling.
The Owners Manual even High Lights that, IIRC.
Joe
Tail_Gunner
CRJ & ERJ A&P Mech.
I've never used the O/D button unless the grade is really steep going up. But the PCM will have already downshifted for me. If I'm going downhill, I might punch the O/D button to get the rpm's up to get more stopping force from my exhaust brake.
I think the most important issue to be brought up here is tranny temps. The factory tranny coolers were lacking for the 7.3. The first ones were just plain too small and did not have a liquid cooler inside the radiator. Ford changed that I think sometime in the 2000 model year and came out with a service bulletin to change the radiator for earlier trucks.
Many of us with 7.3's made our own improvements in the tranny cooler area. One of the first improvements was to remove the factory tranny cooler and replace it with the one used in the V-8/V-10 gas engines. It was about as close to a bolt in job as one could get. The routing for the tranny cooler lines had to be tweeked some to clear the added cooler height. It was around 1/3 bigger.
When the 6.0's started coming out, the tranny cooler was yet even larger by a group. It too was boltable right in, but because it was taller, the cooler lines had to be modified.
Since I had already installed the cooler used in a gas engine, I added an auxillary cooler that was about 14" square. I think about 190* is about the hottest I've ever seen my tranny temp get on a very warm day.
The general rule IIRC, is for every 10* you can reduce the tranny fluid temp, you double the life expectancy of your tranny.
I think the most important issue to be brought up here is tranny temps. The factory tranny coolers were lacking for the 7.3. The first ones were just plain too small and did not have a liquid cooler inside the radiator. Ford changed that I think sometime in the 2000 model year and came out with a service bulletin to change the radiator for earlier trucks.
Many of us with 7.3's made our own improvements in the tranny cooler area. One of the first improvements was to remove the factory tranny cooler and replace it with the one used in the V-8/V-10 gas engines. It was about as close to a bolt in job as one could get. The routing for the tranny cooler lines had to be tweeked some to clear the added cooler height. It was around 1/3 bigger.
When the 6.0's started coming out, the tranny cooler was yet even larger by a group. It too was boltable right in, but because it was taller, the cooler lines had to be modified.
Since I had already installed the cooler used in a gas engine, I added an auxillary cooler that was about 14" square. I think about 190* is about the hottest I've ever seen my tranny temp get on a very warm day.
The general rule IIRC, is for every 10* you can reduce the tranny fluid temp, you double the life expectancy of your tranny.
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wpecjak
SDD Junior Member
I don't have tow/haul mode on this truck. Sounds like if the trans temps are good, and the RPMs up, EGT down towing in OD not a problem. I haven't seen any temps above 200* and that was in stop and go traffic and hills. most of my towing trans temp in the 180 to 190 range. But changed trans fluid, R & R filter, towed RV about 1100 miles and empty 2000 miles Trans fluid was black as tar. Hence think tranny is gone.