it really depends on the speed you are trying to maintain, the weight of the load and, like you said, how "spirited" your driving is. i suppose it depends on the driver.

 

Right, so I would say that it is safer on your truck to leave overdrive OFF when towing UNLESS you feel that you know your truck and conditions well enough to turn it on.

 

lol, you really want this. you are correct, if you dont know what you're doing, turn the o/d off. i assumed the OP had a basic understanding of proper towing methods.

 

Leaving the OD off will not harm the motor at all. These auto trannies have been around since at least the '70's! Back then, they didn't have electronics, OD modules or locking converts. They were just plain hydraulic 3 speeds. The 46RE tranny today is the SAME old design, just with crap bolted onto it.

Back then, 3rd gear WAS top gear and there wasn't mass engine destruction. You'll be fine. You'll just burn more gas.

 

^I disagree. You can't tell me that these motors are going to be fine running at 3000+ RPMs, or any motor for that instance. I don't care if they were designed to run that fast or not. Running at that kind of RPMs for an extended period of time puts a hell of a lot more wear and tear on everything, but focuses more on your bearings. Over time you will spin one out, and it won't be a fun repair.

 

technically, if your oiling system is in proper working order, the main, rod and cam bearings will never wear out.

 

NEON? NEON? Is that you???


We went over this same topic a few months back. Search for it. It has about the same title as this new post. IIRC MonteC said leave it off.

 

I can and will. They will be fine. Like helms said, if the oiling system is in proper working order, it will be fine. Remember, this tranny dates back to the 70's (maybe even late 60's...can't remember) but it didn't have OD back then. That means all the cars/trucks that had this tranny back then ran at high RPM's on the highway normally.

If the OP is concerned, he can drive with the OD off at a lower speed like 60. The OD units on these trannies are as good as garbage. They're weak, have poor fluid circulation to them, and overheat easily. It's a very poor design. Crystler SHOULD have create a new tranny instead of bolting crap onto an old one 30 years later. But they didn't. Keep it out of OD.

 

My rule of thumb with my truck is "rural roads O.D. off" "Highway and speeds over 55 O.D. on". I try to roll along around 70mph and keep the RPM’s in the 2k range. Pulls car trailer and camper just fine.

Never had a problem with this philosophy, but my truck is a 2001 "off Road pkg" truck with 4:10 FD so it may not hold true to other ratio’s…..?

 

My Chevy is a 3 speed trans. and runs around 4,000 rpms down the freeway and thats only 65mph. It still runs great.

I pulled my 3/4 ton chevy to a mud run on a trailer (about 7k, I know, i'm nuts) for 2 hours one way at 60mph with OD off and had no problems.