Automatics: How often do you use your 'Gears'

I will put it in a lower gear in situations that call for it 4th when towing and sometimes lower based on road conditions ice/snow. Its nice to put it in 2nd or 3rd when the roads are crappy and it is slow going as to avoid the need to touch the brakes to gradually slow down.

 

I'll throw it in N when stopping on ice or snow to keep the rear wheels from 'pushing' me through a stop.

 

I use all of them when city driving. I feel like I have more control.they really aren't gears as much as ranges. If you have it in say "3", it will stay in 3 when driving, but when you come to a stop, it still down shifts through 2 and low.

 

when slowing down from freeway speeds when my rotors were warped lol

 

I shift from drive to neutral at most stop lights if I'm on flat ground so I don't have to hold the brake. Will occasionally turn OD off if I'm going uphill, because my 3.superfast has a lot of power Also will use my gears when I'm trail riding.

 

My truck shifts gears anytime I drive it. It's not like it's badass or anything. Drop it in "D" is good enuf for me.

 

What is overdrive and what does it do? From what I've just read seems like it isn't good for towing but what does it actually do?

Thanks

 

I'm no expert, but say you have a 4spd auto, like my truck has, I believe overdrive is almost like a 5th gear but it's not really a gear. It might just change the gear ratio

Anyway, all I know, is when I turn it off my truck goes faster but gets way worse gas mileage

 

For city driving i will almost always just use D. For trails, downhill, and snow/ice i will select the gear i want

 

It is a gear.

so your gear ratios are typically lower (numerically higher) than 1 to 1.

I have the 5 speed auto, so my ratios are

1st 3.52 to 1
2nd 2.04 to 1
3rd 1.40 to 1
4th 1 to 1
5th 0.72 to 1

The 1st 3 gears have a mechanical advantage by trading speed for torque, ie the motor has to turn faster but can make more torque. The 4th gear is even, and 5th is overdrive, where you should have enough momentum to not have to worry about needing the torque, and you can run at a lower rpm in an attempt to improve fuel economy. The reason you don't want to tow in it, is because your load (the trailer) now has a mechanical advantage on the drive train and it will put more wear and tear on it.

 

Yep. Pretty much what I said in the bold, you just explained why

 

I will manually downshift into 3rd or 2nd if a downhill section is coming with a stop at the bottom. Normally I will shift down while accelerating on the uphill side before the transmission reaches 4th. This means the transmission is not really downshifted manually, it's just held in a shorter gear which helps the downhill deceleration. Hope this makes sense to someone... in other words, I won't force it into a lower gear, but I will hold it in a lower gear before it upshifts.

 

If you tow anything on the highway that is remotely close to 1000 lbs you should leave it in '4', the tranny will just keep searching for gears and over heat.

 

I pulled 5200lbs and was able to cruise at speed without it searching for gears.

 

Out of curiosity what elevation do you guys live at? I live around 5000 ft and my trans would gear hunt bad at 75mph (unless I was going down hill) when I put my 33's on just under it's own weight. Not that I was lacking power by any means, it just didn't maintain 75mph very well in 5th. I have since regeared to 4.88's and I cannot spin my tires what so ever on pavement. Not even a chirp from one tire, yet from what I have read the guys at lower elevations have no problem spinning a tire on the factory 3.73's.

I'll bet you guys that don't see gear hunting are at a lower elevation than those of us that do. If not, then shit if I know. haha.

 

Same for me! I also use my lower gears to slow down in ice and snow.your engine has more controlled stopping in slippery conditions if you have good tires and think ahead. The abs in these trucks can really suck at times, but as for all pick up trucks traction is always an issue.

 

Around 15-1700ft or so.

 

I'll bet the power differnce between our rigs right now is pretty crazy. It's surprising how much elevation affect HP.

Got ya.

 

Go forced induction lol

 

One day! Superchargers are still impacted by elevation, though not as bad as N/A is. You have to have a turbo with a good tune for your elevation to truly overcome it.

For now I have 4.88's gears which is more than enough to over come it because not only do they give the rear wheels more torque than the 3.73's, but they run me at a higher point in the power band (ie higher rpm at 75 mph).