5 speed manual towing

[squirellman]

I have a 1997 Ford F-150 with a 4.6L V8 and manual transmission. I have towed decent amounts of weight in 5th gear (over drive), but was recently told to only tow/haul in 4th gear by a friend. I know with an automatic you turn the over drive off, but does it work the same way with a manual? I will be towing a heavy trailer this next week and don't want to hurt my transmission.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

I have a 1997 Ford F-150 with a 4.6L V8 and manual transmission. I have towed decent amounts of weight in 5th gear (over drive), but was recently told to only tow/haul in 4th gear by a friend. I know with an automatic you turn the over drive off, but does it work the same way with a manual? I will be towing a heavy trailer this next week and don't want to hurt my transmission.

Like towing anything it will depend on the weight you are towing and the terrain you are towing through. You will not climb a mountain in 5th gear or 4th gear so shift accordingly and do not let the engine labor. With a manual tranny you decide exactly when the gear changes are made so read your tach and conditions and change accordingly. I see no problem using 5th if you are on flat road and you are not laboring the engine.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

Ditto Ken. Towed many trailers, boats, campers in overdrive here in Florida, but we've got no hills! You should be able to tell when you are "laboring" the motor and will need to down shift. Very important for breaking, however, using the lower gears to help come to a stop or for emergency breaking.
Also, if you have a tach and are aware of the power band for your engine you may try to keep it in that range for either accelerating and decelerating.
Lastly, what does the manual say?

 

[honestcharlie56]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

actually with an automatic there are a series of clutches that you dont control and overdrive in an automatic is a "cruising" gear and to make the drive more comfortable the clutch discs slip sometimes, thats why you disengage the overdrive when towing, it tears up the overdrive clutch discs and buildes up excessive heat, with a manuel it really doesnt matter.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

actually with an automatic there are a series of clutches that you dont control and overdrive in an automatic is a "cruising" gear and to make the drive more comfortable the clutch discs slip sometimes, thats why you disengage the overdrive when towing, it tears up the overdrive clutch discs and buildes up excessive heat, with a manuel it really doesnt matter.

So with a manual tranny yo are in command. Read, listen and feel how your outfit is performing and base your gear selection from that. Practice will make perfect.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

Years ago a buddy had one of those Chevy Avalanches, one of the first half truck/half SUV's. The nice thing was that it had a towing button that would make the truck utilize it's powerband more, shifting and higher RPM levels. That would be a good idea for more automatic trucks IMHO.

 

[1976SRV190]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

Just keep in mind you don;t want to bog a manual because it will frag your clutch. I even put my 1993 F150 with a pumpped up 5.0 in it in 4x4 low to pull my boat out of the water because it is easier on the tranny in a lower gear. I turn off OD on the hiway because it is intermittent while pulling a 3000lb boat and keeps jumping in and out of OD so I turn it off and eat a few extra bits of gas....I may be saving gas actually. My truck is under geared and needs the 305s replaced with 410s....I have bigger than stock 33 12.5 15s on it and it's lifted 6inches.

 

[happycamper]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

I have a 1997 Ford F-150 with a 4.6L V8 and manual transmission. I have towed decent amounts of weight in 5th gear (over drive), but was recently told to only tow/haul in 4th gear by a friend. I know with an automatic you turn the over drive off, but does it work the same way with a manual? I will be towing a heavy trailer this next week and don't want to hurt my transmission.

I had a '98 F150 with the same engine & transmission. I towed my boat for 10 years, usually in OD with no problems. You probably have the 3.55 gears (as I did) which makes it possible. Another reason it works is OD has a ratio of 0.8 versus 0.7 in an automatic.

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

As long as your clutch doesn't slip in OD while pulling the load you should be fine. Yours spinning more gears while in overdrive thus creating more heat but its shouldn't be too bad where as Direct drive locks the input and output shaft keeping heat down. Unless the owners manual says not to I would keep using Overdrive.

 

[bamafutbal]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

i towed my mastercraft prostar 190 with a manual 4cyl 4runner, clutch finally went bad after 150k miles. never pulled in 5th gear from gainesville fl to lake santa fe (52 miles round trip). of course my (auto) dodge 2500 with 5.9 turbo 6 diesel doesn't realize there is a boat behind it

 

[Ezrider_92356]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

dodges had a problem with blowing out 5th gear when towing fords don't have that problem your good to go.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: 5 speed manual towing

So long as the engine is not 'pinging or detonating' under load and it don't feel like it's lugging, there's no problem with using 5th gear.
I generally keep the engine in a lower gear longer when towing, but it depends on the weight of the trailer.
You would want to avoid overdrive in an automatic to avoid the excess heat that may be caused by either the torque converter locking/unlocking repeatedly and overdrive hunting. Also, may overdrive clutch packs are quite small compared to the lower ratio ranges, thus it takes far less to damage them, (less surface area to dissipate heat).