Trailer towing

[Rivernut]

I have a '99 Explorer w/out a tranny cooler. Just got it due to my truck being rearended and totalled!!! How tough will it be on the tranny towing a 1400 lb. fishing rig an extensive amount. The towing capacity is 4800. First vehicle I've towed with that did'nt have a towing package. Thanks.

[JohnMickish]

Why not just spend the $50 and put a tranny cooler in yourself and not worry about it?

[Rivernut]

Is there much to it?

[JohnMickish]

If you are comfortable with tools its a very easy job. You can even purchase adapters now so you don't have to cut any lines. Basically all that you do is mount a small cooler in front of the radiator (removing the grille is probably the hardest part of the job), remove one of the transmission lines going to the radiator, connect some rubber lines and run the new trans cooler in series. The instructions are very easy to follow. Do a search on "Hayden coolers" to check out their HSOforum and that will help you a ton.

[Valv]

Ditto Mnfishinguy !!!!

[delcecchi]

The vehicle is rated to tow 4800 pounds. You are worried about towing 1400? Does Ford say you need some kind of transmission cooler for towing? I wouldn't think adding equipment would be necessary, but a phone call to local Ford dealer might relieve any anxiety.

[Rivernut]

Post deleted by Rivernut

[Rivernut]

The cooler may be necessary, considering the miles I drive.

[delmuts]

putting one on certainly won't hurt ,and gives one some peace of mind.

[Valv]

I tell you what, I have a transmission temp gauge on my truck, and I wish it was a standard gauge, more than battery/alternator, you will learn to run your truck from the transmission tempereature, it's amazing to watch.

[Fishook]

Make sure you take it out of overdrive before you tow with it. Might work OK for flat towing but you will develop transmission problems if you tow in O/D and experience continuous shifting in and out of O/D.

[Rivernut]

With my previous trucks I always took it out of O/D when trailering and never had a single tranny problem. That is a really good point.

[LovenLifeGuy]

I had a 2003 chevy Zr2 pickup with a 4.3 liter without a tranny cooler and I had problems. I was pulling a 1800 lund explorer with a 150hp. I pulled the boat maybe 10 times and had problems right away. It was well under the max towing capacity and the truck only had 19,000 miles on it. I only had problems when I was towing! They would not cover it under waranty so I traded it in and bought my silverado. No problems since!

LovenLifeGuy

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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I had a 2003 chevy Zr2 pickup with a 4.3 liter without a tranny cooler and I had problems. I was pulling a 1800 lund explorer with a 150hp. I pulled the boat maybe 10 times and had problems right away. It was well under the max towing capacity and the truck only had 19,000 miles on it. I only had problems when I was towing! They would not cover it under waranty so I traded it in and bought my silverado. No problems since!

LovenLifeGuy

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This needs more explaining. Why would they not honor your warranty??? And then trade it in on another Chevy when they didn't honor the warranty on the first??? That doesn't make any sense.

[JohnMickish]

When towing a trailer the weight is not the only concern, frontal size and wind resistance plays a bigger part than total weight. You can have a 5,000lb trailer that stays out of the wind and it won't have as much affect as an empty 8' wide enclosed trailer weighing half as much. Just something to keep in mind.

In fact, when I owned my Ford Explorer (1991) they went so far as to give a square foot of frontal area that was safe to pull along with a weight.

[upnorth]

Quote:

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Make sure you take it out of overdrive before you tow with it. Might work OK for flat towing but you will develop transmission problems if you tow in O/D and experience continuous shifting in and out of O/D.

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I had to have the tranny on my ranger rebuilt a couple years back and the guy who owned the tranny shop said the only time you should have a truck in OD is when it is empty and not towing anything. That is of course if you unless you want to overload your tranny.

[huntingislife]

Is it recommended to not tow in O/D with just an automatic? Or for both manual and automatic trannies? What exactly does it do, just heat up more? Thanks

[Rivernut]

If you tow IN overdrive your tranny is shifting a lot more and that in turn heats the tranny up. That much I do know!

[LovenLifeGuy]

Man2, I brought it in to the dealer I bought it from and they told me that the problem came from towing something that was too heavy for the truck. I told them what I had towed and they said the only way the problem would have come up is if I towed something to large for the truck (they didnt believe me). Since the truck did not have a towing package they said the warranty would not cover it. I made a few phone calls with no luck and finally decided to trade it in. I traded it in at another dealership and they took the trade with no questions asked. Again, the only time the truck did not shift right is when I was towing something. I did not tell the other dealership the problem and for whatever reason they did not bring it up.

I hope that helps a bit

LovenLifeGuy

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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Man2, I brought it in to the dealer I bought it from and they told me that the problem came from towing something that was too heavy for the truck. I told them what I had towed and they said the only way the problem would have come up is if I towed something to large for the truck (they didnt believe me). Since the truck did not have a towing package they said the warranty would not cover it. I made a few phone calls with no luck and finally decided to trade it in. I traded it in at another dealership and they took the trade with no questions asked. Again, the only time the truck did not shift right is when I was towing something. I did not tell the other dealership the problem and for whatever reason they did not bring it up.

I hope that helps a bit

LovenLifeGuy

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Okay... got it

[stmichael]

So, just to make sure I have this correct. If you are going to tow anything make sure you do not use OD.

Whatifs: What if you are towing a small trailer loaded with nothing, (please do not think I am being a smart alec, it had been stated that if you TOW ANYTHING)

Now with that being said, is it not possible to determine if you need to take it out of OD when pulling load? (You know when your vehicle kicks out of OD) Once it does this maybe a couple of times, then take it out of OD. Depending on the distance between kick outs.

On another note, whatif, you are pulling a load and you know that the grade is somewhat level and the pulling vehicle will not need to kick out of OD, but, when you come to a hill and you know you are going to be needing more power, is it better to take it out of OD, then switch it back in once the road levels out again? In this case what is the difference between letting the truck kick it out, as opposed to you doing it manually, seems to have the same effect. (I suppose there could be additional stress added when letting the tranny do the work to kick it out, opposed to manually)

I pull a snowmobile trailer usually loaded with a couple of wheelers and a fish house, a 16 ft. Sylvan, and, sometimes a Tandem axle car hauler with a tractor, (smaller hobby farm type) The only one I have to leave it out of OD on is the car hauler, the other two tow just fine in OD, it does not constantly switch in and out of OD. The only time it does is when I need to pass. I have gone up some hills and I gain speed without it kicking out. Even though it is not kicking out is it a matter of being hard on the OD? Or does one only need to be concerned of it kicking in and out?

[Valv]

If you tow on interstate or high speed highway you don't have much choice but towing in OD.

It's recommended to get it out od OD while in traffic, normal highway towing etc.

The reason as explained before is to avoid transmission to keep shifting back and forth, and in or out of OD, which include manual shifting also.

Also in case of overheating it's suggested to take OD off and run engine at lower speed for a while (eg. 1250/1500rpm). As I said if you had a temp gauge for it you will see immediately the difference in OD and out of OD, the installation is not very tough and cost not much neither.

I rather have that than a Satellite radio....