New to towing more than in town towing. Questions...

I have a 2011 DCLB 4.0 automatic. I am going to pull a 16' tandem axle trailer to pick up a 48" zero turn lawn mower 2 hours away. I have no overdrive off button. What's the proper way. I know I can leave it in 4 but going 70 is about 2800 rpms. If I leave it in D it will drive about 2000rpms at 70 and if there is a hill it'll go up to 2300 or 2400 rpms and I think shifts to 5th out of OD.

Is driving in D and just making sure it doesn't go between 5th and 6th all the time and making sure it's at about 2300 rpms on hills the way or in 4 all the way at 2800 rpms.

 

The most the most important thing is that your transmission does not continually shift between ranges. So as you're pulling you may need to shift gears to find which gear does not make the transmission search for the right gear. You also might want to slow down a little until you're comfortable with how your truck is pulling your load.

 

I have a manual, but I do know you don't tow in "D" or "overdrive" for the entire duration of whatever you're hauling. If there is a "tow" button then use that while in D, it should keep the truck out of over drive.

 

I would choose the gear range for the lower RPMs and I would adjust my driving accordingly; which might mean slowing down on the bigger Hills to maybe 55 or 60.