I’ve got a 1997 2wd 5.2 extended cab with 3.91 gears, and 160,000 miles. Truck is is in extremely great condition.

Anyway, I bought a side by side utv a couple weeks ago. Was pulling it home on a 12” trailer, and and had a few miles of interstate to travel. Transmission hunted between 3rd and overdrive for 10 miles.

I turned overdrive off, and it immediately went to 3500 rpm, which is not acceptable for long. I’m gonna have to haul the side by side through several states sometimes, and wonder if there is a way to prevent the constant shifting between 3rd and overdrive?

 

Sorry, put this in the wrong section. Please move it to 2nd gen.

 

How much does the trailer and side-by-side weigh? If it is more than about 2000 lbs, probably shouldn't be towing in O/D in any event.... (or, you need to install some additional trans cooling.)

As for hunting between 3 and 4..... you *might* be able to adjust the TV cable a bit, but, PCM looks at engine load as well, and will drop out of O/D if it goes beyond what it's programming says it should.

 

You might get away with towing a UTV in overdrive as it isn't that much weight. But yeah, engine will rev with O/D off. Not sure how high, but I suppose if you hit the button at highway speeds, the revs will shoot up immediately. Still I'd rather rev my engine than overheat my transmission when towing heavy.

 

UTV weighs 1600 pounds, and I’d estimate trailer between four and five hundred. I built the trailer recently and haven’t weighed it.

 

Either live with the 3500rpm or re-gear the truck. You could go to 4.56s and tow in overdrive or drop down to 3.73 or 3.55s and tow with O/D off. My 98 1500 I had was 3000rpm at 75mph with 3.55s and 265/75r16 tires.

 

Only thing I’m worried about is if towing at 3500 rpm will damage the engine. It’s factory stock with the exception of a K&N filter and Flowmaster exhaust. It has pretty good power without a trailer, and still does well with the trailer/UTV attached out of overdrive.

My 2004 Z71 will forget it’s back there, and pull it fine, but it’s got 250,000 miles on it and I question its reliability in the long run. It’s got the tow/haul feature that allows towing in overdrive.

 

Where are you hauling this load in NC and beyond? Is this in the mountainous regions around I-40 near Asheville or around the flatter areas away from the mountains and down near the coast? If you're going up in the hills, I would strongly suggest not using overdrive and let the motor do the work for you in lieu of possibly toasting the transmission towing in overdrive.

 

I went to camp last weekend, hauled my 2 place snowmobile trailer with two sleds. I NEVER tow anything in OD, learned the hard way with my 95 ram….my current ram hauling two sleds with OD off I was running 2200ish rpm at 55-60mph, and she did it with ease. If I tow in OD with that truck which has accidentally happened she downshifts/ up shifts constantly….Granted my truck does have an upgraded trans cooler and it’s the same size as radiator not the normal one that’s like half the size…but with OD off my trans holds 3rd just fine and only downshifts when it should

 

I’ll be towing to the Hatfield-McCoy trails in West Virginia. Think I’ll be ok as long as I avoid the interstate.