Miles Away
Lebanon, TN
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Joined: 04/01/2008
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Given what you have for a TV, I would stay out of OD unless on flat level ground going down wind  . Our past experience in towing horses with a gas engine (Ford & Chevy) and our son-in-law, who has a Dodge Ram 1500 and tows a boat, we have found the trucks want to down shift a lot in strong head winds and going up overpasses. We found taking it out of OD and keeping the speed at 65 or less worked the best for us. You will have to make your own choices based on how your truck performs and what you feel comfortable with. We gave in and switched to diesel and never looked back, however that may not be an option for you. Good Luck!
M & M  On the road again!
2007 GMC 3500-SRW-Duramax-longbed-4X4
2005 COUGAR 5th wheel
2002 SUNDOWNER gooseneck horse trailer
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Hannibal
Gas Station
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Joined: 04/12/2002
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Mousefart wrote:Hannibal wrote:I have no way to lock out O/D...
Yes you do. It's that button on the end of your shifter handle marked "Tow/Haul". It locks out 5th gear and reprograms you other gears for towing. This is how it works on my truck, should be the same for all Dodges.
No I don't. The button on the end of the shifter handle marked "Tow/Haul" only locks out 5th gear (.67 O/D). It doesn't lock out 4th gear (.75 O/D). The '04 and '05 Rams have no way to lock out O/D. Both 4th and 5th gears are O/D ratios. Locking out 5th gear O/D ratio while enabling 4th gear O/D ratio is not locking out O/D. Dodge added the ability to lock out both O/D ratios in '06 and up Rams with a second push of the button on the end of the shifter handle. But thanks for the help in locating the button on the end of the shifter handle marked "Tow/Haul".
'05 2500HD Dodge 5.7L Hemi 5spd auto/3.73 SLT. 92k miles
ex '95 Cummins,'98 12v Cummins,'01.5 Cummins,'03 Cummins
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Keith99RS
Suffield, CT
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Almost every manual I have looked in has had a towing and hauling section or leaflet. Almost all non HD truck has said to disengage OD. Nissan states flat out to put tranny in fourth in the manual. However that does not stop people from ignoringit the way Mousefart states. Then they wonder why their tranny fries.
Smoke 05 Titan SE CC 4X4
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lesmore49
canada
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Joined: 11/25/2004
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I tow in O/D, but then mostly I'm towing on flat prairie. If the tranny starts hunting in hilly country, it goes to 3rd gear.
lesmore49
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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92DakotaHD wrote:OK, I think I noted in my original post that I could understand how an HD truck could handle towing in OD. HD being 3/4 or 1-ton trucks, so all you guys with Duramax/Cummins/Power Strokes are driving trucks that are made to tow/haul all the time.
I'm talking about my Tahoe, or even my Dakota but no one's convincing me to tow the camper with it in OD.
No kidding, they just like to brag. The truth is if our gassers were geared so we could run at peak torque in OD we would be doing just that. It would take close to 6.50 gears in most gassers to run at peak torque in OD.
2001 F150 SuperCrew 5.4 Lariat Offroad 4x4 Tow Package 4.10 Truetrac
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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I dont tow in overdrive. My truck has a C6 tranny, so the decision of whether or not to tow in OD is very easy for me. 
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6
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Hannibal
Gas Station
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Keith99RS wrote:Almost every manual I have looked in has had a towing and hauling section or leaflet. Almost all non HD truck has said to disengage OD. Nissan states flat out to put tranny in fourth in the manual. However that does not stop people from ignoringit the way Mousefart states. Then they wonder why their tranny fries.
Even the manual for my '05 Ram says to lock out O/D when towing. The '04 and '05 Rams didn't come with the ability to lock out both O/D ratios in their faux 5spd automatic. I went in circles with Dodge about it as the truck needs to be in 3rd (direct) to keep the engine in it's power band while towing heavy. As it is, I can either keep slight pressure on the loud peddle to keep it from shifting to O/D even on the downhills or I can set cruise and just let it shift back and forth from O/D to direct on interstate rolling hills. Dodge said the owner's manual is wrong and the transmission's program is right. Then in '06, Dodge offered the ability to lock out O/D with a second push of the tow/haul button. I assume this means the manual was right. Dodge has not and will not be offering a kit like GM did with the Allison in '02 to correct the same oversight. Dodge's reply was for me to buy an '06. They should mail that out as a customer satisfaction campaign notification to '04 and '05 owners.
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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I tow in overdrive all the time.
Papa Bob
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rwess
Georgia
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Joined: 12/30/2006
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I have always used the tow/haul mode on my 99 GMC 1500 5.3/2003 Chev 1500HD 6.0/2007 Dodge 1500 5.7 Hemi. This past week on a 1200 mile camping trip I did not engage the tow/haul and the Torque Conveter would be hunting on the hills , but I got 10 miles per gallon towing instead of 7.5. I really do not care if I melt my transmission. My Dodge has a lifetime powertrain warranty!
rwess
2006 Sunline T-2553
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CharlyG
West HIlls, Ca.
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I did when I had the 2001 F350 CCLBDRW V10! I'm only pulling 6000 pounds loaded,and it was rated for 20k, so it was kinda like having nothing back there. In the rockies, I would get out of O/D just before the hill started and my revs would keep the speed right where it was.
I am curious as to how the Chevy will do.It is rated for 8600 and SRW.
1998 Chevy C2500HD Silverado ECLB 75,000 miles 5.7L Vortec 4L80E 3.73 Posi 8600# GVWR
2004 Fleetwood Caravan 25S 6000# GVWR
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