Towing In "D" versus "4th" Gear w/Tow Mode

[sculver]

Okay Titan owners, can you handle one more dumb a$$ question about towing? I’m a new Titan owner and just picked up my boat out of winter storage. It was about 45 miles back to home and I had a couple questions about the tow mode and automatic transmission.

First, I have a 2006 Titan Crew Cab with the tow and off road packages. The boat weighs about 4200 lbs. total (boat, trailer, fuel, toys, etc.).

When towing with tow mode on and the gear selector in “4th” (O/D off) I’m running about 2200 rpm at 65 mph. When towing with tow mode on and the gear selector in “D” (O/D on) I’m running about 1800 rpm at 65 mph.

I understand the tow mode does nothing other than alter shift points for greater acceleration when towing. It seems to do that just fine. I guess my real question is, does it hurt the transmission to tow in “D” with the tow mode on if the transmission is not shifting back and forth between O/D and 4th gear? Is the 5th gear too weak to tow 4200 lbs. on the highway?

Even on small to moderate hills the engine never down shifted while in “D” and towing the boat. I’m sure this is attributable to the outstanding 379 ft./lbs. of torque this engine produces down low in the rpm range! The transmission temperature gauge never got more than half way while towing the entire trip (it read the same as when I'm not towing).

This is my first season towing with the Titan and I wasn’t sure about towing in “D” versus towing in “4th” with the tow mode on in both cases. I appreciate everyone’s expertise that has much more experience towing with their Titan than I have. Thanks.

Regards,

Steve

[baseballfanz]

If you're towing on flat road no hills and your transmission doesn't seems to get hot than "D" would be OK. If not just tow in 4th.

[mikehn]

I've towed with the tow button on, in both 4 and D. I did not notice any differences in tranny temp.

[electricjohn]

4200 lbs is not alot of weight. I've towed 5000 lbs in both D and 4 with most travel at about 70 -75 mph. The only difference I noticed was a very slight mileage increase when towing in 4th. At that speed the torque converter never unlocks in either gear, so trans. temps always stayed at normal. If I'm towing in 4th, I will upshift to 5th(D) when speeds get upto and above 80mph which is not uncommon on the N.Y. State Thruway. If I stay in 4th, I'm tach-ing like 2800 rpm. That to me seems unnessessarily high. Another thing to consider is the fact that a boat does not have alot of frontage like a box or travel trailer would, making it an easy 4200 lbs tow.

[Toolslinger]

I have a 8000+ lb TT that I pull in D most of the time. When on hills, I'll force it into 4th. I think as long as it's not shifting up and down because of hills and the trany temp stays good, then it should be no problem.

I'll bet you barely felt such a light load.

[MuskyHunter]

Doesn't the tow mode switch help alleviate the need to drop it in 4th gear? It seems to hold the lower gear longer and doesn't bog down as much in the high gears.

[sculver]

Thanks to all of you for some great advice and feedback. I guess towing 4200 lbs. is not that big a deal for this truck. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to mess up the tranny driving in "D". I have to admit, even while in D and easing into the gas peddle, the truck would just slowly go faster. Most the time it wouldn't even downshift (when easing into the gas). It would downshift properly when I stepped into it to speed up.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback and sharing your experiences towing.

Regards,

Steve

[electricjohn]

Originally Posted by MuskyHunter

Doesn't the tow mode switch help alleviate the need to drop it in 4th gear? It seems to hold the lower gear longer and doesn't bog down as much in the high gears.

No! The tow mode switch only effects the shift points of the first 3 gears.

[rtapia]

I tow a 7000+ lb. travel trailer and the transmission is noticably hotter when I tow in 5th vs. 4th.

[racefan92307]

just got done towing my deck boat back from the river aprox 190 miles. towed in 5th with tow mode on,tried 4th but it seems that there is no inbetween like in 5th. seems to done shift quicker to maintain speed. pulled a long grade at 70mph no problem and trans temp never moved, just the fuel gauge...love towing with this truck..

[moore101]

Tow anything over 4k in 4th unless you want to hurt the transmission.

[rodney]

Originally Posted by moore101

Tow anything over 4k in 4th unless you want to hurt the transmission.

i have been towing about 5k in D, but only when i go over 80 and it is relatively flat. on a hill i leave it in third, and leave D for only when i get some speed. if the converter unlocks, then i will just stick it back in D. that is the main the reason the trans temp goes up is you are cooking the converter.

[FireCapt103]

Throw up another D-tower here. Well, at least I 'was'.

I would use tow mode and 4th to get up to highway speeds and then kick it into D. Keep an eye on the tranny temp gauge. More than once I had to kick it back down to 4th for a few miles to bring the temp needle off of H.

That was with a 27' travel trailer and gear topping out around the low 6000# mark.

[bunkers]

This weekend, I towed my 22' Hybrid travel trailer [ around 6000 lbs loaded ] between Colorado Springs and Castle Rock, CO ... up over 8000' Monument Hill -- and D worked fine for most of it.

But for something like heading up into the rockies on I-70 up floyd hill ... I switch to 4th and even 3rd just to keep it at 55. I did 4th and a little 3rd over the 11,000 ft pass into leadville ... and the Titan held 50-55 and I was happy.

I like to keep the rpms around 2000 or less for best mileage, but if I start going slower in 'D' or shifting occurs, then its time for '4' instead. I've never seen my tranny temp go up at all yet, not even towing a 20 percent grade with the trailer.

I've also noticed that once I got out of Colorado and into Nebraska, the elevation drop gave me so much more power I almost never shifted at all unless I had a strong headwind. I've often wondered what the difference between D and 4 would be and I swear I towed most of last summer using 4 by accident ... and it almost seemed like I got better mileage in 4 than I do in D ... is that possible? These days I've being doing 'D' cause I like the lower rpms and if it holds it up the hill, I figure it's capable of it. Around the top of manument hill, I think I had to throw it into '4' for a minute, just to maintain 55-60, which is all I do towing for safety and mileage reasons.

[loufish]

More than once I had to kick it back down to 4th for a few miles to bring the temp needle off of H.

The dang converter just doesn't want to stay locked in 5th when towing close to legal speeds...