Is the answer a good ole fashioned Over Drive?

[Jawjadawg]

Gladiator MPG...

I have noticed as well as others that the Gladiator MPG sweet spot is right around 60-65 and below after that it starts to go down when cruising on the highway, at least that is my experience. Now I have had horrible experience with the F9 9 Speed Transmission found in the Renegade, Compass?, and Cherokee that tranny is garbage IMO and dangerous to boot but I digress... My 04 F150 came with a simple button on the stalk that turns on and off the Over Drive and I would think something like that would benefit the Gladiator to overcome those times on the highway commute, Thoughts?

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[Rahkmalla]

What do you think overdrive off does? Because I'm guessing you don't understand it.

 

[Jawjadawg]

What do you think overdrive off does? Because I'm guessing you don't understand it.

WoW so early with the trolls... I'm not going to bite, your opinion is all I asked for so I will take your vote is I'm f'd up and no it won't thanks for participating. NEXT!

 

[TwelveGaugeSage]

Allow me to help here. Overdrive off is mostly for towing. When towing you don't want your automatic transmission going into the top gear(s) because then you have trouble on hills or sometimes easy flats. You also lose some engine braking when going downhill by being in overdrive.

Overdrive off simply makes it so the truck will not go into top gear(s). It's pretty much the same as using manual mode manually to put your Jeep in 6th or 7th gear.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You are not talking about "good old fashioned over-drive" you are talking about Ford's TOW MODE which changes the transmission shifting pattern and which gears it will or won't use while towing. Likely it also increases the turn signal lane change flashes from 3 to 5 - my Ford did.

You also lose some engine braking when going downhill by being in overdrive.

That's true of automatics that use over-running or "sprague" clutches as well, and non-lockup converters. That's not overdrive - that's how the transmissions achieve certain gears. For example, on a TF727 or 904, 998 and so on, Drive's second gear would "coast" but manual 2nd would not because a band was applied rather than using an over-running clutch.

These trucks - at least mine - if I'm going DOWN hill and don't want to gain speed - hitting the brakes just right and then letting up causes it to downshift and apply engine braking.

I think the subject of this thread is misleading as a good old-fashioned over-drive is what 1960s Ramblers had LOL
All automatics with more than 3 speeds (4 or 5 on later ones) have overdrive. That's what 6th, 7th and 8th are on these. There's direct drive then all gears above that are over-drive as they are more than 1:1 - the input shaft turns fewer times than, slower than, the output shaft. That's overdrive.

I have noticed as well as others that the Gladiator MPG sweet spot is right around 60-65 and below after that it starts to go down when cruising on the highway

Gee, you haven't looked at your Jeep? It's a BRICK!
Yes, ALL VEHICLES have about a 60 mph sweet spot for mph - that's SCIENCE, that's wind resistance, not gearing, not transmissions.
Wind resistance changes exponentially as speed increases. Anything over about 60 (depending on vehicle) will drop mpg.
And that's why Sammy sang "I can't drive 55" because of the oil embargo years ago scientists did tons of studies and found that 60 and above all vehicles lost mpg so to save gas the national speed limit was set to 55. It wasn't a random number chosen by speaker Pelosi, it was based on study and science - driving any vehicle faster than about 60 (DEPENDING on shape and size of vehicle) drops mpg - sometimes by a LOT.
You can't gear for it, you can't make the transmission make it better, turning off OD won't do squat.
It's the shape of the vehicle to SOME extent and it's absolutely science of wind resistance.
My silverado was shaped for less wind resistance, and yet no matter what, anything over about 60-65 the mph dropped like a rock.
So how about taking real science, wind, shape, etc into account and let's make your quote 100% more accurate -

>>I have noticed as well as others that most car and truck MPG sweet spot is right around 60-65 and below after that it starts to go down when cruising on the highway<<

There, fixed it.
Do some forum reading here. We've discussed the science of wind resistance and SPEED to death. I've even posted the formulas used to calculate drag, the different drag numbers based on shape and length of the shape (a flat sided vehicle has worse drag over a certain length, for example) and more.

If you are concerned about mpg:
You bought the wrong truck,
and/or
You need to keep speed under 65 or even 60.

No transmission, no gearing, is going to fix it.
You can shift manually and simply don't go above 5th gear if you don't like OD but it won't fix the mpg if you go over 60-65.

In case you haven't RTFM - it tells how to shift manually - while in D push the shift lever to the left then backwards for upshifts, forward for downshifts (and if you hate that pattern, see our other threads)

 

[Glad_he_ate]

I feel like this may have been an attempt at building a rickety bridge ??
Yes overdrive helps mpg and yes the gladiators got an OD. Two I believe. Could be 3. Idk off had what 6ths ratio is…

WoW so early with the trolls... I'm not going to bite, your opinion is all I asked for so I will take your vote is I'm f'd up and no it won't thanks for participating. NEXT!

 

[TwelveGaugeSage]

That's true of automatics that use over-running or "sprague" clutches as well, and non-lockup converters. That's not overdrive - that's how the transmissions achieve certain gears. For example, on a TF727 or 904, 998 and so on, Drive's second gear would "coast" but manual 2nd would not because a band was applied rather than using an over-running clutch.

These trucks - at least mine - if I'm going DOWN hill and don't want to gain speed - hitting the brakes just right and then letting up causes it to downshift and apply engine braking.

As always, excellent points sir. When I want to slow down going down hill, I push in the clutch and downshift, lol. While I drive a wide variety of automatic vehicles at work, I haven't owned one in quite some years.

I think the term "overdrive" has probably been confusing people about what it means since its inception. Just listen to pretty much any song that uses it oddly or incorrectly. While it has a useful technical meaning, it is ultimately a pretty useless term to your average driver who probably at most just needs to know "Lower gear, more torque...Higher gear, better fuel economy".

 

[UnforseenWeather]

Coming directly from Cherokees with the 9 speed, they were good for MPG but had some really awkward lag points … I’m happier overall with the way the Gladiator shifts.
Overdrive would most likely not help what “ails” the Gladiator: It’s a brick. A sexy, fun to drive, people-wave-at-you brick.

 

[NC_Overland]

You are not talking about "good old fashioned over-drive" you are talking about Ford's TOW MODE which changes the transmission shifting pattern and which gears it will or won't use while towing. Likely it also increases the turn signal lane change flashes from 3 to 5 - my Ford did.

My GMC did that 5 flash thing in tow/haul mode as well. It is interesting that Gladiators don’t have a tow/haul mode, but I read somewhere that the ZF 8 speed senses when there is extra weight and does it automatically. I guess it does because I’ve never noticed an issue with shifting while towing. The only time I’ve ever manually shifted is on mountain grades, but the transmission seems to do it on its own on the steeper grades.

 

[PDiddy]

This is why we should be driving in big peloton groups on freeway, just inches from each other.

 

[NC_Overland]

Coming directly from Cherokees with the 9 speed, they were good for MPG but had some really awkward lag points … I’m happier overall with the way the Gladiator shifts.
Overdrive would most likely not help what “ails” the Gladiator: It’s a brick. A sexy, fun to drive, people-wave-at-you brick.

I had a Cherokee loaner with the 9 speed. It sucked and it was a shame because I liked that turbo engine in it and if the transmission wasn’t so slow shifting and non responsive, it could have been fun to drive. The earlier 9 speeds were horrible and had lots of issues with clunking and weird rough shifts. Rather than fix the issue, they took the easy route and made it a lazy, slow shifting transmission. I’m glad we have the 8 speed. I love it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

As always, excellent points sir. When I want to slow down going down hill, I push in the clutch and downshift, lol. While I drive a wide variety of automatic vehicles at work, I haven't owned one in quite some years.

I think the term "overdrive" has probably been confusing people about what it means since its inception. Just listen to pretty much any song that uses it oddly or incorrectly. While it has a useful technical meaning, it is ultimately a pretty useless term to your average driver who probably at most just needs to know "Lower gear, more torque...Higher gear, better fuel economy".

I had to "settle" for my Javelins being automatics because the 4 speeds were often 10K higher to even double price, and since my brother bought me the 73 I have (some weird reason he thought he owed me??????? I'll never figure that one out) I can't complain. I shift that 3 speed 727 manually a lot - especially because 2nd manual is the band and gives me engine braking, etc.
Anyway, my SX4 is a T5 and I LOVE driving that car. Most of my cars were sticks until recently. My wife is restricted to an automatic due to her birth defect/handicap. Don't tell her she "can't" drive a stick and she might shove the shifter someplace uncomfortable, but the law decided and she prefers autos anyway. She drove my Comanche T5 and my 1936 F20 (hand brakes, no PS, hard to shift transmission) and was proud of it.
Anyway, if I didn't tow and didn't need to do a ton of maneuvering with my car hauler and for other reasons, and have a wife legally restricted, my truck wold be a stick no doubt. But to get the tow rating, had to go automatic.

Agree on the "overdrive" thing - the meaning is lost.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

Sweet spot for every vehicle is generally in the 65mph range. We just have a brick so when the mileage drops it really drops.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My GMC did that 5 flash thing in tow/haul mode as well. It is interesting that Gladiators don’t have a tow/haul mode, but I read somewhere that the ZF 8 speed senses when there is extra weight and does it automatically. I guess it does because I’ve never noticed an issue with shifting while towing. The only time I’ve ever manually shifted is on mountain grades, but the transmission seems to do it on its own on the steeper grades.

Yeah, my F250 and my Silverado both did that.
The Gladiator senses torque - here's what I noticed over time:
I towed my empty car hauler to Omaha February 2020. It SUCKED. It struggled on hills, gear-hunted, mpg was 11. The danged trailer was empty and only 1600 pounds. Even on the way back I was hauling FLAT AMC dealership signs on the trailer, so there wasn't more than 60 pounds added and they stuck up a whopping 4 or 5" above the trailer bed. That truck struggled badly. I was ready to throw in the towel.
Then I loaded my car onto the trailer.
The truck had a total personality change. It held gears much better and longer, it didn't upshift nearly so fast, more than enough power going up hills and mpg was 13.9
So what was the difference?
LOAD.
I had weight back there.
Best I can tell is that the 1600 pounds didn't trigger anything, it struggled badly, that truck sucked hauling the trailer empty but handled a load as well as my Chevy did.
IMO, at least to me, it proved the truck sensed a load being pulled.
If you look at these things using software they actually show torque numbers and if they can sense the load or torque, that must be how they do it.
So if you haul a light trailer and your truck struggles - toss in another 1,000 pounds and it will do better.

I do miss the dedicated trailer tow mode and the increase to 5 flashes (it takes longer to start a lane change and finish a lane change with a long heavy load) but I compensate by hitting the lever a couple of times.

 

[UnforseenWeather]

I had a Cherokee loaner with the 9 speed. It sucked and it was a shame because I liked that turbo engine in it and if the transmission wasn’t so slow shifting and non responsive, it could have been fun to drive. The earlier 9 speeds were horrible and had lots of issues with clunking and weird rough shifts. Rather than fix the issue, they took the easy route and made it a lazy, slow shifting transmission. I’m glad we have the 8 speed. I love it.

I got used to the lag and was able to work around it. The MPGs weren’t bad though.

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