Towing a small trailer and a light drift boat D or 4

Hey I have searched a bit on this subject but it seems most people are more concerned with max towing capacity. I on occasion tow a drift boat around 500 lbs should I be using 4 when towing this or would overdrive be fine.
Also I have a 1500lb trailer in this case would towing in 4 be the way to go?

 

My 2 cents worth, the boat weighs 500 lbs but you need to add trailer weight and any equipment weight to that. Even then I’d assume the total would be under 1500 lbs. I think with that or your other 1500 lb trailer you would be fine towing in D. If it’s a warm and you are climbing hills/mountains or long grades put it in 4. If you are on the level highway you are probably fine in D.
The owners manual does say when towing to tow in 4, it doesn’t indicate weight, just says to tow in 4.
I towed my 3500 lb boat and trailer for years in D in hot California weather. It was just recently that I found out that I should tow in 4, which I now do. I’ve got 90000 miles on the truck I’ve had no problems.
Again in your case with the light load I don’t think it really matters if tow in 4 or D unless you are climbing hills and grades and your tranny is hunting gears.

 

I flat tow a 1300 pound car. I use D most of the time, before starting up a hill of any size I bump it down to 4. At the crest back to D unless you want to engine brake down the hill.
Watching my scanguage the trans fluid will start to climb as soon as you do if in Drive, it will not go up any in 4.

 

Thanks a lot for the replies guys ! Good info.

 

Let the trans and the tach be your guide. If it wants to drop gears constantly go to S5 or S4. I wouldn’t use D except for the lightest of loads. I use it for my neighbors 6x9 utility trailer with mesh gate. The gate causes me to run in 5th due to aerodynamic drag not the 40lbs of load I put in the trailer.

 

Off subject a bit, but I didn't really realize how much a difference driving in 4 (instead of "D") makes. I was going over a mountain this weekend (just the truck, not towing) and my trans temp (out) went from like 158 to 198. I shifted into "D" and it immediately went back down to like 160 something. So you can only imagine what it is like when towing.

 

So you're towing a 2000# load, which is OK on a 4 cyl. You're at less than 60% of the capacity. The other part of your load is wind. And the fact that the boat is far more aerodynamic than a RV trailer is a distinct plus.

I'd follow Exracer2's advice. Let the machine tell you what's going on. Watch the tach, listen to the gearbox, and possibly monitor the ATF temps realtime. You might even look for one of those canvas boat covers to make the top of the boat as aerodynamic as the bottom.

By the by, are you towing from your bumper or a hitch ?

 

You confused me. Did you mean to say that you shifted into 4 (not D) and the temp went down?

 

Uh, yeah, my bad. I meant when I shifted FROM "D" to 4th, it went down.