invisionz

I need some help/insight to find out if I need help or to accept what is happening when I tow my boat.

I have a Bass Tracker that totals 1250 lbs (boat & trailer) and shouldn't be a problem to tow. But, when I get on the interstate (transmission is out of overdrive) and get to 65 and 70 MPH the engine RPM's just climb higher to about 3200 and it doesn't shift. Is this normal or do I have a problem? It seems to me that the RPM's would come down to about 2000 after I obtain my cruising speed.

Can I just hit the button to go back to overdrive when doing 65/70 MPH and then take it out of overdrive when I need it?

FYI, I have a transmission oil cooler, the trans oil, filter and gasket were replaced about 500 miles ago. I have no problems driving the truck in overdrive or 4WD.

pat161

So what you're saying is that when you drive with the O/D Off selected your truck will not shift into overdrive on the highway? That's the way it is supposed to work, O/D off limits your tranny to 3 gears, so you are running 65-70 in 3rd gear, thus your high rpms. If the road is relatively flat and your tranny won't hunt between 3rd and 4th or lock and unlock the torque converter then yes you can deselect the O/D off switch to bring your revs into a more normal range. If you find the tranny hunting I would turn O/D off, that constant switching creates a lot of heat.

ARB1977

A tranny cooler is a good start. Like mentioned above i would seriously turn your OD off. With it off your rpms will be around 2750-3000. With the OD on your tranny will be slipping between third and fourth and depending on if your climbing a fairly steep grade it could drop into second. With the tranny doing this no matter what kind of tranny cooler you have the tranny will heat up pretty quickly.

invisionz

Guys thanks for responding with your recommendations. It may be next weekend before I can try this out, but my plan is to use Drive for everything under 50-55 mph and when on the interstate (flat) I plan on putting it into overdrive.

I tried pulling the boat in overdrive around the city and it didn't feel quite right. Probably because I had to go through a million lights and it was stop and go, stop and go.