Hey ladies and gents, Quick questions regarding towing, I'm travelling to a lake in a few weeks, and I need to know the following: (I'm driving a 1996 Chevy Tahoe pulling a Venture 21) 1. Should I drive in Overdrive or third gear? I can't seem to get a clear answer on this one. Some say that overdrive will overheat the transmission and I should stay in 3rd gear (3) - others say that 3rd gear will rev the engine too high. 2. Is it okay to use cruise control? - I plan on driving at night to avoid as much traffic as possible - I'm travelling less than 100 miles, so it's not a huge journey. I plan on re-packing the trailer bearings and replacing the bearing buddies (PO lost one of them) prior to leaving - is there any other preparation I should undertake before leaving? Both truck and boat will be pretty well packed, so all in all I'll be pulling about 4000-4500 pounds of boat, camping gear, bikes, kids, dogs, coolers, food, beer, sleeping bags, etc.. any other precautions before we hit the road? I've completely rewired my trailer so I'm confident that there are no problems there. I appreciate any wisdom that anyone has to offer here, I store my boat about 300 feet from the boat ramp - so this will be the first time I've actually hauled it any distance. Thanks very much in advance. .-=gp=-.
Towing - Cruise control and overdrive...
- Thread starter chutz
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My Suggestions
Hi Chutz, What lake are you heading to? As far as the overdrive, most suggest taking it out of overdrive if you are towing. Not sure if your tranny is electronic, but there may be a switch or button to disengage the OD. From my experiance the Cruse Control is a no if towing. I got into a little sway and the cruise control seemed to amplify the condition before I could take control. Hope you have a good trip, supposed to be a good weekend!!
Hi Chutz, What lake are you heading to? As far as the overdrive, most suggest taking it out of overdrive if you are towing. Not sure if your tranny is electronic, but there may be a switch or button to disengage the OD. From my experiance the Cruse Control is a no if towing. I got into a little sway and the cruise control seemed to amplify the condition before I could take control. Hope you have a good trip, supposed to be a good weekend!!
I Don't recommend OD
HI Chutz, I tow my V21 with a 99 Chev Venture(I nicknamed the car "MIS-Adventure" since the engine was replaced shortly after I bought it in '03). I just returned from Florida with my rig, and while I occasionally switched on Cruise control for straight stretches, I don't recommend it for any length of time, really. You also want to tow in 3rd gear. This hurts gas mileage, but the heat build-up in the trans is high in OD. I also would suggest having a Transmission cooler installed. You might want to get at least one spare set of bearings and races to carry around for any travelling. One thing I forgot on my trip was my grease gun to add grease to the bearing buddy(s)after the trailer has been submersed. Your boat and trailer look remarkably like mine right down to the trailer with no fenders. I ordered fenders, but they came 3 days before we took off and the mounting brackets were incorrect. I had to build new brackets out of less-than-ideal iron strapping, but they waited nearly 4,000 miles before coming off(whoever was behind me on the Deleware bridge-Sorry about that!). While you don't have a furling jib, if anyone reads this thread, I'm still trying to find out if trailering for any distance with the jib furled and attached is such a bad idea.
HI Chutz, I tow my V21 with a 99 Chev Venture(I nicknamed the car "MIS-Adventure" since the engine was replaced shortly after I bought it in '03). I just returned from Florida with my rig, and while I occasionally switched on Cruise control for straight stretches, I don't recommend it for any length of time, really. You also want to tow in 3rd gear. This hurts gas mileage, but the heat build-up in the trans is high in OD. I also would suggest having a Transmission cooler installed. You might want to get at least one spare set of bearings and races to carry around for any travelling. One thing I forgot on my trip was my grease gun to add grease to the bearing buddy(s)after the trailer has been submersed. Your boat and trailer look remarkably like mine right down to the trailer with no fenders. I ordered fenders, but they came 3 days before we took off and the mounting brackets were incorrect. I had to build new brackets out of less-than-ideal iron strapping, but they waited nearly 4,000 miles before coming off(whoever was behind me on the Deleware bridge-Sorry about that!). While you don't have a furling jib, if anyone reads this thread, I'm still trying to find out if trailering for any distance with the jib furled and attached is such a bad idea.
Towing to...
Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. I'm hauling to Detroit Lake on the 21st for two weeks of R-and-R and sailing. I'm going with a friend who has a powerboat, and we each have canoes, so we'll have plenty to do. We'll be camping at Cove Creek campground on the lake, and hopefully sailing to, and camping on the island too. I'm hoping to have the electrical system completed by then (currently I have none). Plus finishing interior trim. I'm going to be busy... I've actually replaced my trailer at this point, the missing fender was a result of some previous owner trauma, the whole trailer was bent to the point that the fender wouldn't go back on without hitting the hull of the boat. I replaced with a significantly heavier trailer. The pics are from last season...I'll post new pics soon... .-=gp=-.
Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. I'm hauling to Detroit Lake on the 21st for two weeks of R-and-R and sailing. I'm going with a friend who has a powerboat, and we each have canoes, so we'll have plenty to do. We'll be camping at Cove Creek campground on the lake, and hopefully sailing to, and camping on the island too. I'm hoping to have the electrical system completed by then (currently I have none). Plus finishing interior trim. I'm going to be busy... I've actually replaced my trailer at this point, the missing fender was a result of some previous owner trauma, the whole trailer was bent to the point that the fender wouldn't go back on without hitting the hull of the boat. I replaced with a significantly heavier trailer. The pics are from last season...I'll post new pics soon... .-=gp=-.
Easy decision
On flat land, you can probably do overdrive safely. In anything but flat terrain, take it out of OD and leave it out. The real clue is if while in OD it shifts in and out frequently on slight rises in the road. When it does that it's telling you it's a strain on the tranny electonics so you better take it out of OD and not use it. You are not over revving your engine if it stays below 4500 rpm.
On flat land, you can probably do overdrive safely. In anything but flat terrain, take it out of OD and leave it out. The real clue is if while in OD it shifts in and out frequently on slight rises in the road. When it does that it's telling you it's a strain on the tranny electonics so you better take it out of OD and not use it. You are not over revving your engine if it stays below 4500 rpm.
Towing a V-21
I tow my 1970 V-21 with a 1994 GMC Safari Van. Unless I am going up fairly steep hills (West Virgina / Vieginia) I usually tow in the standard Drive position. I also use cruise control. At the first sign of the engine laboring I down shift. Using Cruise control comes in very handy when you are driving through speed traps.
I tow my 1970 V-21 with a 1994 GMC Safari Van. Unless I am going up fairly steep hills (West Virgina / Vieginia) I usually tow in the standard Drive position. I also use cruise control. At the first sign of the engine laboring I down shift. Using Cruise control comes in very handy when you are driving through speed traps.
Transmission Temp
I have a D model that I pull with a 3/4 ton diesel. I use overdrive and let the tranny sort out what gear it wants to be in, except for down hill, which is when I always take it out of OD. If you care about your tranny, you have to keep it cool. You have to monitor the trans temp as well. Most vehicles come with no transcooler or an insufficient transcooler. Upgrade the cooler in your tow vehicle so that the trans fluid stays at least below 180 degrees on a hot day going uphill. The way to know the temp is to install a temp sensor of course. I monitor the trans temp, the amount of boost, and the tgt (which has a sensor installed in the exhaust manifold at one of the exhaust valves). My truck already had water temp, voltmeter, oil press,and tach. The trend in most vehicles is to get away from providing the operator with any data about the engine's performance parameters. An idiot light will probably wait until damage is already done to your vehicle to light up. Install gauges to monitor your entire powerplant and you can see when to back off. By the way, if you constantly fill your bearings with grease, no need to repack. Just shoot them everytime you splash the boat, and everytime you fuel up. Works for me! John S
I have a D model that I pull with a 3/4 ton diesel. I use overdrive and let the tranny sort out what gear it wants to be in, except for down hill, which is when I always take it out of OD. If you care about your tranny, you have to keep it cool. You have to monitor the trans temp as well. Most vehicles come with no transcooler or an insufficient transcooler. Upgrade the cooler in your tow vehicle so that the trans fluid stays at least below 180 degrees on a hot day going uphill. The way to know the temp is to install a temp sensor of course. I monitor the trans temp, the amount of boost, and the tgt (which has a sensor installed in the exhaust manifold at one of the exhaust valves). My truck already had water temp, voltmeter, oil press,and tach. The trend in most vehicles is to get away from providing the operator with any data about the engine's performance parameters. An idiot light will probably wait until damage is already done to your vehicle to light up. Install gauges to monitor your entire powerplant and you can see when to back off. By the way, if you constantly fill your bearings with grease, no need to repack. Just shoot them everytime you splash the boat, and everytime you fuel up. Works for me! John S
o.d.
my gmc handbook has clear instructions about towing....no overdrive, but i do use cruise when on the interstates. towing a mac 23.
my gmc handbook has clear instructions about towing....no overdrive, but i do use cruise when on the interstates. towing a mac 23.
Watch Cruise Control
The advice to use cruise control only on the straight and level is good, but there is one other thing to watch. It doesn't know when to begin stopping. That means that, since it will take your truck and trailer longer to stop, you have to look ahead farther to disengage earlier than you normally would. That way you can take advantage of the drag to make the stop gradually. It is logical to think about the transmission heat and go-fast problems, but the braking problems are also important.
The advice to use cruise control only on the straight and level is good, but there is one other thing to watch. It doesn't know when to begin stopping. That means that, since it will take your truck and trailer longer to stop, you have to look ahead farther to disengage earlier than you normally would. That way you can take advantage of the drag to make the stop gradually. It is logical to think about the transmission heat and go-fast problems, but the braking problems are also important.
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