TOW/HAUL and OVERDRIVE Explained!!

[dsent]

Hello Guys/Girls

After reading numerous post here on RAM Forum there seems to be some confusion what TOW/HAUL mode is
used for or does.

I have had numerous trucks by 2 different manufactures Dodge/Ram and Nissan that have had tow/haul mode equipped on them.

The tow/haul mode only changes the shift points, to allow more bottom end when starting out, it allows the transmission to stay in the lower gear longer before it shifts to help get the load moving.

If your concern is your transmission when you tow, turn off overdrive to stop the transmission from constantly hunting the higher gear.

Turn off the OVERDRIVE is smart practice especially when towing heavy!

Turning OFF OVERDRIVE while driving in city traffic stops the car/truck from shifting into OVERDRIVE at low speeds "LUGGING".

Shifting to overdrive at slow speeds is COSTING you MPG because you are "LUGGING" the motor,rather than it be in the proper gear!! When "LUGGING" along and you need to speed up your car/truck downshifts and uses more fuel.

This constant "Lugging" is hard on your motor and tranmission and burns more fuel.

Lugging an engine/ transmission is not a good practice and over time can cause some damages or shorten the life of your motor and trans do to heat and lack of lubrication at key points in your motor and trans.

Some engine and trans components are not pressure lubricated and is done by a rotating parts slinging the oil from a small cavity or resivoir in the motor and trans to put a film/mist of oil to key parts,LUGGING causes these slinging parts to not rotate at the proper RPM to sling enough oil to the places that depend/use this method to get lubed.

My 2500 has a button on the shifter arm I can limit the highest gear to any gear I need to, this stops the trans from hunting on steep accents when towing heavy in the mtns.

I have never had to use it yet, pulling 10,000 lbs but I can see it has an application and no doubt help pulling big loads.



GO CUMMINS!!

Hope this helps to explain things

 

[h2oman]

Excellent post.

 

[Chewy]

I thought they also increased the line pressure in the transmission giving the clutches more holding power.




Sent from my miniaturizer via tap dancing...

 

[Designflaw]

They also provide downshift pressure and engine breaking effect

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[BAILEY1]

Good write up! Sure answers a lot of question.

 

[SoCal Ram]

Not really a 6 spped tranny...

Hello folks. I was just looking up this Tow/Haul info in our Owners Manual. Here is some good info:

"Use of ERS (or TOW/HAUL mode) also enables an
additional underdrive gear which is not normally used
during through-gear accelerations. This additional gear
can improve vehicle performance and cooling capability
when towing a trailer on certain grades. In ERS mode,
gears 1 though 3 are underdrive gears, and ERS 4 is direct
drive. ERS 5 and 6 (Overdrive gears) are the same as the
normal fourth and fifth gears.

NOTE: TOW/HAUL mode locks out Overdrive."

So, even though we have a 6 speed tranny we are only using 5 gears, 3rd is not used when in drive. 3rd is only used in Tow/Haul mode (but then you lose 5th and 6th gears) or if you manually put it in 3rd. But then you lose 4th, 5th and 6th gears. Thought it was really interesting that we have an unused gear the would help move this truck at lower speeds. Just thought I'd share that with you all.

 

[smiley]

Nice post I always use tow haul when hooked up.


$miley

 

[VdubBry]

I had a Nissan Titan prior to this 2013 Ram 1500 hemi 6 speed auto and I had tow haul mode and a way to turn off overdrive.

I know how to turn on tow mode in the ram but not sure how to turn off overdrive?

 

[Power247]

Great info dsent and SoCal!!:thumbup:

 

[adventurer]

Good post ,,,,

 

[audio1der]

I had a Nissan Titan prior to this 2013 Ram 1500 hemi 6 speed auto and I had tow haul mode and a way to turn off overdrive.

I know how to turn on tow mode in the ram but not sure how to turn off overdrive?

You have to put the trans into manual shift mode and nudge it into '5'

 

[SoCal Ram]

You have to put the trans into manual shift mode and nudge it into '5'

According to what I read/posted, 5th and 6th are overdrive gears. The only way to turn off overdrive (5th and 6th gears) is to put it in Tow/Haul mode OR manually put it in 4th. So in Tow/Haul mode you are using gears 1, 2, 3, 4. In manual 4 you are using 1, 2, 4 (3rd is that secret gear you can only utilize in Tow/Haul mode or in manual 3). There is a chart on those same pages in the owners manual that show what gears are used in what mode. Check it out, page 399. D (Drive) is 1-5, that's because the secret 3rd gear is not utilized in D (Drive). So in all reality we are really owners of 5 speed trannys not 6 speed unless you manually push a button to engage 3rd and then push it again once past 3rd to utilize 5th and 6th gears. Just pass'n on what I read and discovered.

 

[audio1der]

^A greed, I was trying to do the same.
When I tried it myself the truck seemed to ignore my gear selection and continued to do what it wanted...

 

[VdubBry]

Ok cool, I was playing around with the manual mode today some. So it seems if I just put it in Tow mode it eliminates overdrive.

What I really want to figure out is why sometimes I can nail it and she takes off like a bat out of hell and sometimes, not so much lol.

 

[Bombdigitty]

Tow Haul also turns off the cylinder cut out in our trucks.

 

[loveracing1988]

Tow Haul also turns off the cylinder cut out in our trucks.

In the 13 with the 8 speed it doesn't.

 

[BlownGP]

.

What I really want to figure out is why sometimes I can nail it and she takes off like a bat out of hell and sometimes, not so much lol.

x2

Mine acts the same sometimes.

What confuses me is when I put it in manual mod from a stop. It will shift fine 1-2, but after that I will move the shifter and nothing happens tell a second or two later. It's like not rally manual shifting. It shifts when it wants. hahah

This is some good info though.

Thanks

 

[smiley]

I guess I have towed a lot with my 5 speed auto in my '09 and since I regeared I just put it in tow/haul I do not lock it into 4 like I did with 3.55 gears. I am under the impression that the computer does the rest and does indeed lock out overdrive as it should. So far I have 73k or so and it seems just fine. I know the six speed is the same trans but I wonder if mine has the same strange hidden gear and just less at the top or if mine just uses the 5 the same in normal and in tow/haul mode.

 

[Chewy]

I guess I have towed a lot with my 5 speed auto in my '09 and since I regeared I just put it in tow/haul I do not lock it into 4 like I did with 3.55 gears. I am under the impression that the computer does the rest and does indeed lock out overdrive as it should. So far I have 73k or so and it seems just fine. I know the six speed is the same trans but I wonder if mine has the same strange hidden gear and just less at the top or if mine just uses the 5 the same in normal and in tow/haul mode.

Same transmission as the "6 speed" but tuned differently.

 

[GETARAM]

the manual shift is actually only to limit what gear the transmission can reach, not a true tiptronic shifter. tow haul does not eliminate overdrive...you just have to drive faster to get into them. It does raise the shift points and It does allow for better transmission cooling as many transmissions in OD will restrict fluid flow to maintain higher pressure while in OD ( will burn out trans) the six speed trans in tow haul does turn off mds, dont know about 8spd. my truck has the 3.55 and I found you get better mileage by keeping it in 4th rather than letting it shift up to 5th as then it pulls dow then jumps to 3rd to make up the difference. this was while towing 7000lbs or so through the rocky mtns at speeds around 90 - 110 km/hr