Overdrive or not?

[Gasman]

For those that tow regularly do you shift your automatic manually to stay out of overdrive or just transmission do it thing? Thanks

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[Freems]

I just put it in “D” and push the gas…when I tow my boat.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I do this -
I let it do the shifting until or unless it's in our short, steep hills that cause it to constantly "hunt" or downshift then upshift after a short distance, then down, then up.

And if you look at the book - that's what it says to do - prevent hunting by manually shifting.
The hunting adds heat to the transmission.
On flatter ground, it won't do that, but in a lot of hills, it might.

So the answer is no and yes. or - "it depends".

If you stayed out of overdrive, you'd be in 6th all the time. (6th is direct)

 

[Stan H]

I do this -
I let it do the shifting until or unless it's in our short, steep hills that cause it to constantly "hunt" or downshift then upshift after a short distance, then down, then up.

And if you look at the book - that's what it says to do - prevent hunting by manually shifting.
The hunting adds heat to the transmission.
On flatter ground, it won't do that, but in a lot of hills, it might.

So the answer is no and yes. or - "it depends".

If you stayed out of overdrive, you'd be in 6th all the time. (6th is direct)

Yes 6th is 1:1
When I am in 4 Low I use manual all the time because I use it to control speed and in 1st it will pull up any hill with out any fuel peddle work. With the off road plus button pushed the gas feed is drastically reduce causing you to have to push way down to rev up and it also allows you to just crawl. Of used in D then on the low side it makes ypu Rev up higher before shifting and often on a uphill pull will not shift unless your over 3k and sometimes it won't at all depending on the steepness. I also like the near instantaneous transition into "Controlled Downhill Decent " which if ypu are in "M" then you simply have to touch the CDD button and whamo instant downhill bliss only requirement from you is to turn the steering wheel.

 

[Gasman]

Thanks that’s what I did pretty much the other day, I apologize I have not took the time to look in manual.

 

[Gasman]

As for the four wheeling info thanks but that is not what is asking.

 

[Fishpilot]

Interesting. This is my first transmission with 8 gears and I wondered if both 7 and 8 are both overdrive.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Just for example the 850 transmission....


1st Gear: 4.71:1,
2nd Gear: 3.13:1,
3rd Gear: 2.10:1,
4th Gear: 1.67:1,
5th Gear 1.28:1,
6th Gear 1.00:1,
7th Gear 0.84:1,
8th Gear 0.67:1,

Reverse Gear: 3.00:1

 

[Labswine]

I shift mine manually because, as I found out once trying to let it do it's own thing, it'd be screaming along at 65 MPH in 5th at like almost 4K RPMs.

Ergo, I shift manually and can cruise easily in 7th at 65 MPH and ~2,100 RPMs. My travel trailer is 27' long and ~5,100 lbs with all we want or need. Going up a grade, when my speed drops below 58 MPH, I drop back to 6th at around 2,600-2,700 RPMs until I crest the grade and get back to around 65 MPH.

I NEVER see 8th when towing (unless I'm going down hill with a tail wind ).

 

[thedeatons]

***MAY BE FAKE NEWS. FACT CHECKING, TRYING TO RECALL MY SOURCE FOR THIS***

Maybe you already know, but Gladiators have a load sensor under the bed which looks for rear suspension sag because of 1) Payload in the bed or 2) Tongue weight on the hitch receiver because of towing. If that sensor senses load on the bed (rear suspension) it changes the shift points of the automatic transmission, which allows the transmission to rev higher before shifting and hold gears longer for towing/hauling up grades.

The only time I use manual is coming down grades, or if I disagree with the higher rpm shift point (like when towing up a long subtle grade in 6th, when 7th at lower rpm will do)...

***MAY BE FAKE NEWS. FACT CHECKING, TRYING TO RECALL MY SOURCE FOR THIS***

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Maybe you already know, but Gladiators have a load sensor under the bed which looks for rear suspension sag because of 1) Payload in the bed or 2) Tongue weight on the hitch receiver because of towing. If that sensor senses load on the bed (rear suspension) it changes the shift points of the automatic transmission, which allows the transmission to rev higher before shifting and hold gears longer for towing/hauling up grades.

The only time I use manual is coming down grades, or if I disagree with the higher rpm shift point (like when towing up a long subtle grade in 6th, when 7th at lower rpm will do)...

So where is that sensor? What if you use air bags and there's no sag?

I was told, and read, that it senses torque load on the engine - throttle input vs. road speed and so on, and went by the torque (which you can read via JSCAN, for example)

A sensor detecting load by "sag" is going to not work well for some application

Frankly, since these engines are made to wind up to get into their most efficient range or power band - it seems a bit contradictory to force it to almost lug at a far lower efficiency, building more heat, instead of letting them run as designed.
A Chevy guy told me flat out (first time my Silverado with LS engine did that) - LET IT. That's where it's happiest.

I guess people are still in the mindset that 2100 RPM is better than 3,300 RPM (when it's actually not) and have forgotten when almost all engines ran at 2500-3,000 RPM down the highway with no load at all.

I can't stand seeing mine run 2,000 RPM when hauling a heavy load, I don't like the sound.

 

[thedeatons]

Trying to find that info for you... I read it early on in my ownership tenure...

Of course now I can't find it... still looking... Hoping I didn't post fake news... If so I will delete it and change my user name to CNN...

Shadowspapa does have some great info here...
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/tow-mode-and-static-noise-while-towing.63364/

*Pretty sure it was the Gladiator Ride Height Sensor I had read about that did that...??

 

[Labswine]

***MAY BE FAKE NEWS. FACT CHECKING, TRYING TO RECALL MY SOURCE FOR THIS***

Maybe you already know, but Gladiators have a load sensor under the bed which looks for rear suspension sag because of 1) Payload in the bed or 2) Tongue weight on the hitch receiver because of towing. If that sensor senses load on the bed (rear suspension) it changes the shift points of the automatic transmission, which allows the transmission to rev higher before shifting and hold gears longer for towing/hauling up grades.

The only time I use manual is coming down grades, or if I disagree with the higher rpm shift point (like when towing up a long subtle grade in 6th, when 7th at lower rpm will do)...

***MAY BE FAKE NEWS. FACT CHECKING, TRYING TO RECALL MY SOURCE FOR THIS***

Or, it may just be that the programming in the transmission can sense the extra load being tried to be pulled and adjusts accordingly.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So far, what I find is what I knew from earlier - nothing different......... not saying that's proof of anything, but it's not showing up anything else concrete.

It senses a load on the trailer electric connector, otherwise it says "engine torque".
So will watch to see what else is come up with.

Funny thing - some sources point right back to these forums LOL.
I had to laugh at one result because it was what I posted years ago - like I was asking myself.

 

[kb5zcr]

And I thought it sensed when trailer lights were plugged in to put it into "tow mode". I have no idea why that idea was in my head, but it makes sense to me.

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