Re: Towing with Nissan Titan
Depending on the terrain and speed, but most of all on the engine RPM you tow at your milage will obviously vary. If you read your manual (at least mine with big tow package...2004LE) you are told to only tow in 4th not in overdrive (D in our trucks). The reason is so that when going up hills when more torque is needed shifting into and out of overdrive will not allow the torque converter to lock up and will thus heat up your tranny (even with the factory installed tranny cooler). I will tow my 20' bass boat in OD while on the highway if not hitting too many grades and at 70mph the rpms will not go over 2000 (same w/o trailer). When in 4th gear I'm running at almost 2500 rpms. Obviously there will be greater gas consumption at 2500 rpms. On long trips, I could get the same mileage with or without the boat as I was running the same rpms at speed. Either with or without the boat if I drove 60 versus 70 mph I could gain almost 3mpg from 13-16mpg. In daily driving I'm getting around 14mpg. Hasn't changed for 70k miles. Short of it, if you watch your rpm gauge and hear the engine, you can tell when your torque converter locks up and if you're alright in that gear. I usually just switch down to 4 then back to D when leveled out, I will typically tap the cruise control down a few times to lower the speed and get the torque converter to lock in...then slowly resume the speed with the cruise controls to keep it locked in. Also, I'd recommend flushing your transmission if you tow frequently...about every 36000 miles. Make sure your dealer has a "matic-j" only machine as the "matic-d" fluid contaminates the "matic-j" and will void your transmission warranty. The tranny flushes is one of the few things I will have done at the dealership (not the simple drain and fill which will not change the torque converter fluid...but the ~$300 actual flush). Be careful...matic-j is a very expensive fluid compared to other tranny fluids. Good luck...the Titans are great trucks...if you can handle the gas milage. FYI...i've never used the tow mode...which just lowers the shift points.
