Pulling in Overdrive

[Chgr1]

OK, What do you think about pulling trailers or hauling weight in overdrive?

I read the owners manual and it basically says it's ok, just don't let the trans shift in and out a lot. In the few 1K trips I've made pulling my car trailer I have left it in overdrive pulling on pretty flat roads. When coming to a long up grade I would either slow down and shift out of OD, or speed up a little and keep it in OD to make it up the hill.

BTW, what kind of trans is mated to the Cummins? Someone told me it was an allison (sp). You see, I'm not up on all these things. I just knew it was the best and I wanted one.

[Chgr1]

oops, I guess I have to take it back,

The manual says when driving in hilly areas, towing a trailer, carring a heavy load, or whenever frequent transmission shifting occurs, press the O/D OFF button. This will improve performance and reduce the potential of transmission overheating or failure due to excessive shifting.

From that, I guess I should not use OD when towing my trailer.

[Mister Fiberglass]

how much weight is on your hitch? how aero is the load?

[Chgr1]

I really don't know how much weight is on the hitch. Figure the front of my 66 Charger with it's 440 is in the front of the trailer, probably a lot. It's balanced great though. Hitch is 12K rated. Truck barely squates when trailer lowered on the hitch, plus I use lift bars.

The trailer is a 93 US Cargo 22ft enclosed with winch that I picked up for $2500 after the racing season last year, basically your brick type shape. A lot of wind resistance there.

[Mister Fiberglass]

how fast do you plan on towing? what rear end gear ?

[Chgr1]

Most of the time on my trips i have run 65 - 70 MPH. I am not sure of the rear gears but others here have suggest I may have a 4.10.

When I bought it off the lot it had the complete trailer towing package. There are more coolers installed on this thing than you can shake a stick at.

I really wanted a 2500 Cummins Turbo standard shift without 4X4 knowing that I would be pulling my trailer. I figured this would be more than enough truck to do the job.

The one I bought was setting on the lot, 2002 2500 Cummins Turbo 24 V HP auto trans, 4X4 quad cab. It had a sticker price of over $37K. The dealer assured me that it would handle the trailer and there would be no problem with the trans. It wasn't really what I wanted but by the time we got done dealing I bought it for $32K plus I could get any of the bolt on options at dealer cost. Add to that 0% financing and I couldn't turn it down.

[Mister Fiberglass]

what rpms @ 65 mph?

[brian sauser]

Originally posted by Chgr1

BTW, what kind of trans is mated to the Cummins? Someone told me it was an allison (sp). You see, I'm not up on all these things. I just knew it was the best and I wanted one.

The trans in your truck is a 47RE, 4 speed, rear drive, and electric controlled, good trans just don't overheat, has a good sized aux. trans cooler in front of A/C condencer.

Trans is built by Dodge.

[Chgr1]

What RPM at 65 MPH?

about 1600 - 1700

[Mister Fiberglass]

seems to me that this would be a 3.5 gear.....depends on what height tires you have.

BUT.......to your Q - I would think TOW in OD and LU as long as it does not downshift alot. IF it starts that - chick OFF the OD.

[J-BODY]

I agree that it sounds like you have 3.55 gears. My truck would turn 2200-2300 rpms at 65 when I had 4.10's in it. Look in the glove box. There should be a sticker with some information that includes the gear ratio. I've found when towing my 24ft enclosed trailer it seems to run best if I keep the rpms in the 2000 to 2200 range. If it's above 2000 it seems that most grades won't slow the truck down.

[Mister Fiberglass]

My 94 12v likes about 1600 to 1700. The 98 24v likes about 1850.

[mopartec]

if you talk to chrsler tech or go to school they will tell you do not tow overdrive what so ever. but i have seen and done it my self. the reason is there is not enough trans cooling in overdrive due to the low rpm which equals low pump and cooler flow. out of overdrive the rpms are higher and flow is increased.