Nissan Frontier & Over-drive

[superbenk]

I'm a little confused when I should or shouldn't be using over-drive when towing with my 2003 Nissan Frontier XE 4x4 Crew-Cab. I do not have the super-charger, but I do have the factory tranny cooler. The manual talks about turning off over-drive to use the engine to slow down & help control the trailer, but it doesn't really go into any more detail than that. I generally only turn off over-drive when I'm climbing long gradual hills or when going through towns, etc. where I expect the tranny to shift back & forth a lot. Is this the right idea?

Going down the highway at 60ish with over-drive off seems like a lot of unnecessary RPMs.

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Nissan Frontier & Over-drive

absolutely turn od off--i work at a dealership and see all kinds of problems with towing in od just accept the higher rpms and loss of fuel mileage to keep from spending 3 to 4k dollars

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Nissan Frontier & Over-drive

Whether or not you use overdrive depends on the load you are towing. A light weight boat should present no problems for the truck. Heavy boats are another story. If you pay attention to your driving and find the tranny frequently going in an out of overdrive, or locking and unlocking the torque converter clutch, then get out of overdrive. On relatively flat land there should be no issue using overdrive provided the load warrants it's use. As for downhill use, when in overdrive there is little to no engine braking effect like there is with OD turned off.

 

[This_lil_fishy]

Re: Nissan Frontier & Over-drive

Overdrive off...even in a straight line, you could be slipping the clutches when in overdrive...which means an early retirement for your tranny.

ian