Going against the Tow Bible and towing in OD.

I have a 02 Tacoma 2.7L, 4cyl and have been occasionally towing about 2000 lbs Popup camper 80 miles round trip. It is all flat and one 25 mile stretch of road is 65 mph and has very few lights. I have been towing with the OD off and it runs about 2900 RPMs when I am on that stretch of road cruising at 55 mph. I am so tempted to turn the OD back on at that point since I will be at the same speed for several miles. I installed a trans oil cooler. I am concerned about running the truck at those RPMs when it normally runs at 2000 RPMs at that speed in OD. Am I now inflicting more damage on my engine by saving my trans? Any thoughts?

 

I have a Coleman popup & use the OD on long, flat runs. As long as the tranny is not running thru gears/shifting it is fine. But in hilly areas I run it in 4th and pull higher rpm's like you for hours at a time (long trips on the Interstate).

 

I towed with my 2.7 in OD all the time, no trans cooler, in the mountains with not quite 2000 lbs, but probably easily 1500. Enclosed 2 place snowmobile trailer, towed all through the winter. Truck shifted a lot in the hills, sometimes I would shut off OD just to prevent all the shifting.

 

The whole point of turning OD off is to prevent the trans from hunting around for gears. I'd say just leave it in OD until it starts shifting all the time, then turn the OD off

 

Trans temps climb quickly when the torque converter unlocks, I'd stay in 4th if the TC can't stay locked.