What gear to tow in

[Connie Estep]

My Subaru dealer told me to tow in 2nd gear instead of drive when I had my 13’ Boler. (The Subaru was rated to pull 2000# max and the 1980 Boler was around 800#dry.)⌈ Am wondering if I should still tow in 2nd gear to pull my 16 ft Scamp with a Honda Pilot rated for towing 4500#. Any thoughts??

[Glenn Baglo]

What does your Pilot manual say?

[Dave Fish]

If your Pilot is like our 2008 Ridgeline, there is a button to keep it out of overdrive for towing. We used that mode for about the first 2 days when we picked up out Casita (heavier, I think). Mileage was awful so we went back to normal overdrive, only using tow mode when we were doing a lot of mountain driving. Ridgeline is over 170,000 miles now with no problems.

[Connie Estep]

Glen-you are a genius! It never occurred to me that the manual would have it! Thanks so much! It says use D on level roads and D3 in hilly terrain!
Connie

[RogerDat]

One does take a mileage hit if OD is off that is for sure. But the closer your tow is to the rated capacity of the tow vehicle the more issue allowing the transmission to bounce between OD and regular drive gear will be.


If you find that the transmission is shifting up and down a lot you might want to do what your owner manual says to lock out of overdrive. Be that D3 or OD/off button or whatever. In hills transmission will bounce back and forth every time terrain shifts from up to down or vice versa which is why manual says lock it out there.


Good to check your owners manual and follow it's directions. Mileage hit is easier to take than a trans rebuild.

[steve dunham]

I hook my trailer up to my tow vehicle , climb in my truck , put the truck in gear (Drive) , push the tow / haul button and go.
Works for me everytime

Not going to burn up a $4000 transmission to save 10 cents in gas or gain .02 MPG's !!

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I hook my trailer up to my tow vehicle , climb in my truck , put the truck in gear (Drive) , push the tow / haul button and go.
Works for me everytime

Not going to burn up a $4000 transmission to save 10 cents in gas or gain .02 MPG's !!

You're not going to "burn up" a transmission because you allow OD. And you are not necessarily going to get worse mileage just because you lock out OD.

Best thing is to do what the manual says, but the problem with towing in OD is that the engine is running too slow to pull the load so it shifts down and then back, over and over. A lot of thought has gone into the programming of the transmission logic, but it is never perfect for every situation. Proclaiming that the transmission will burn up if you don't try to outsmart the programming, is not correct. Shifting is a normal activity, but it can get annoying and the throttle response is poor when in too high of a gear. Modern shift technology locks the torque converter on every shift. This eliminates the overheating since heat buildup is caused by a slipping torque converter.

Lugging the engine and running it too slow will reduce mileage, so it's often better to be in a lower gear as far as mileage is concerned, not worse. Plus the lower gear gives better throttle response, better hill climbing ability and better engine cooling.

Engines have an efficient working RPM. Below this or above this, they will get worse mileage. But it's not just the RPM that determines mileage, it's the work being done. Keeping the engine in it's efficient working range and at near maximum torque, will give best mileage for the work being done. And it makes towing much more pleasant in the mountains

[Joe Romas]

My 2017 GMC Sierra's 6 speed transmission is smart enough that when I push the tow/haul button it does not blindly shift out of OD and there is no back and forth between 4th, 5th, or sixth speed and locking or unlocking the torque converter.
Additionally when cruise control is on it even uses engine braking going down hills.

Yes it came with an owners manual and I have read it too.

Joe

[Ice-breaker]

The owners manual for my FJ Cruiser recommends towing in 4th gear rather than in Drive (D). I use a ScanGage in my FJ to monitor transmission fluid temperatures at two sensor locations while I tow. Regardless of whether I am towing my 19' Escape, my 15B Escape, or my small utility trailer, there is a huge reduction in transmission fluid temperatures (sometimes 20°F or more) just by switching the transmission from Drive to 4th gear. Even though the engine is running at higher RPM's in 4th gear compared to Drive, I am convinced that it is easier on my transmission to tow in 4th gear as the owner's manual recommends.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Joe Romas

My 2017 GMC Sierra's 6 speed transmission is smart enough that when I push the tow/haul button it does not blindly shift out of OD and there is no back and forth between 4th, 5th, or sixth speed and locking or unlocking the torque converter.
Additionally when cruise control is on it even uses engine braking going down hills.

Yes it came with an owners manual and I have read it too.

Joe

So is my Ram pickup. I too read my owner's manual and I called Ram. I was told by the factory to use tow haul mode when towing my trailer , that's what tow haul was designed for.
The fuel mileage difference between towing with or without the tow haul mode being engaged is too small to be of any concern.
Constantly trying to manually select gears while driving is distracted driving in my book , I let the vehicle's computer make those choices for me. So far it has worked remarkably well.

[Carl V]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

The owners manual for my FJ Cruiser recommends towing in 4th gear rather than in Drive (D). I use a ScanGage in my FJ to monitor transmission fluid temperatures at two sensor locations while I tow. Regardless of whether I am towing my 19' Escape, my 15B Escape, or my small utility trailer, there is a huge reduction in transmission fluid temperatures (sometimes 20°F or more) just by switching the transmission from Drive to 4th gear. Even though the engine is running at higher RPM's in 4th gear compared to Drive, I am convinced that it is easier on my transmission to tow in 4th gear as the owner's manual recommends.

Same thing here, I have a Highlander, I'm using a Scanguage too.
In 4th gear the torque converter is locked most of the time, while in 5th (OD) it would unlock at the slightest incline. Most of the heat is produced by the TC when unlocked.

[DavidG]

Judge : "What gear were you in when you had the crash ? "

Defendant : "I was in my track suit, Nikes and sports socks . "

[Darral T.]

So now what??? We going to outlaw manual transmissions? I'd rather tow with a "manual" TEN times over an automatic. Distracted driving? I've heard some absurd things on this forum and I declare I believe this one tops it all!

And yes, my Nissan Frontier has a 5-speed MANUAL transmission. My eyes are constantly on the road...otherwise, how would I know to gear up/down when ascending or descending a hill???

Originally Posted by steve dunham

So is my Ram pickup. I too read my owner's manual and I called Ram. I was told by the factory to use tow haul mode when towing my trailer , that's what tow haul was designed for.
The fuel mileage difference between towing with or without the tow haul mode being engaged is too small to be of any concern.
Constantly trying to manually select gears while driving is distracted driving in my book , I let the vehicle's computer make those choices for me. So far it has worked remarkably well.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by DavidG

Judge : "What gear were you in when you had the crash ? "

Defendant : "I was in my track suit, Nikes and sports socks . "

Just what I thought when I first read the header on this thread!

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

So now what??? We going to outlaw manual transmissions? I'd rather tow with a "manual" TEN times over an automatic. Distracted driving? I've heard some absurd things on this forum and I declare I believe this one tops it all!

And yes, my Nissan Frontier has a 5-speed MANUAL transmission. My eyes are constantly on the road...otherwise, how would I know to gear up/down when ascending or descending a hill???

Sorry if I upset you , I was not talking about manual transmissions , that is an absurd assumption that you made .
Roll your eyes to your hearts content .

Taking your eyes off the road , whether your texting or playing with the radio or "playing with your electronic shift" or constantly watching your MPG readout , or eating / drinking or fidgeting with your GPS or adjusting your A/C - heater is distracted driving in my book.
My truck has an electronic touch screen which controls / displays almost all of my vehicles functions so if I want to adjust or change anything I need to watch the touch screen.
Pretty hard to keep your eyes on the road when your staring at a computer screen

I understand you don't need to take your eyes off the road to manually shift gears.

[J Ron]

I tow with automatics, set them and forget them. It does the shifting for me.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Sorry if I upset you , I was not talking about manual transmissions , that is an absurd assumption that you made .
Roll your eyes to your hearts content .

Taking your eyes off the road , whether your texting or playing with the radio or "playing with your electronic shift" or constantly watching your MPG readout , or eating / drinking or fidgeting with your GPS or adjusting your A/C - heater is distracted driving in my book.
My truck has an electronic touch screen which controls / displays almost all of my vehicles functions so if I want to adjust or change anything I need to watch the touch screen.
Pretty hard to keep your eyes on the road when your staring at a computer screen

I understand you don't need to take your eyes off the road to manually shift gears.

I spent Hours and hours reading my new owners manual, then spent more hours sitting in the garage practicing the radio, telephone and other controls.
I agree that there can be plenty of surprises and confusion with some of the new controls in a new car, especially if your old car was more than 10 years old.
Please read and practice while parked, get as familiar as you can BEFORE venturing out into traffic, for the sake of safety and convenience.

I recently spent an hour with a driver who had owned her car for almost two years and had not yet learned to operate the phone or even fold the back seat. When I took out the owners manual to help her it looked as if it had never been opened.
She was both amazed and frightened by all that the car could do.
I sympathize since I still have a ways to go myself!

[Perryb67]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Sorry if I upset you , I was not talking about manual transmissions , that is an absurd assumption that you made .
Roll your eyes to your hearts content .

Taking your eyes off the road , whether your texting or playing with the radio or "playing with your electronic shift" or constantly watching your MPG readout , or eating / drinking or fidgeting with your GPS or adjusting your A/C - heater is distracted driving in my book.
My truck has an electronic touch screen which controls / displays almost all of my vehicles functions so if I want to adjust or change anything I need to watch the touch screen.
Pretty hard to keep your eyes on the road when your staring at a computer screen

I understand you don't need to take your eyes off the road to manually shift gears.

Perhaps I read it wrong, but I thought Darral was talking tongue in cheek.

I have a 2015 F-150 XLT, so most of my used controls are either on my steering wheel or signal, wiper, or transmission stalks. I just move one hand to my shifter stalk to manually shift my transmission without taking my eyes off the road. I intentionally bought the XLT model to avoid the shifter on the console.

I rarely shift manually. With the 3.31 rear end and 3.5 Ecoboost engine pulling at 60 mph the engine is running about 1700 rpm's, at the bottom of its useful torque curve in 5th gear. If I try to pull in 6th the engine lugs at 1400 rpm's and the gas mileage goes down. I just run in 5th and it stops shifting back and forth. I'd be willing to bet my transmission runs cooler, along with the engine. I'm not going to run in 6th gear just because 5th gear is not mentioned in the owners manual.

Every rig combination is different.

Enjoy,

Perry

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

I'd rather tow with a "manual" TEN times over an automatic.

Proof that there is a VAST difference of opinion about towing and transmissions. For example, I think anyone who prefers towing with a manual transmission ought to have their head examined. [emoji12]

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Proof that there is a VAST difference of opinion about towing and transmissions. For example, I think anyone who prefers towing with a manual transmission ought to have their head examined. [emoji12]

You've already won that one! Americans who can't drive outnumber those who can 4 to 1. I just got "forced into an automatic" for the first time in several decades, but as you have just confirmed "Pejority Rules"