Question about OD
 

Towed the camper for the first time with the ol' 7.3 and I have a question about The OD.
with my OD off I'm doing 2000 RPM at 45 MPH so when I'm going up hill, well Richmon Va. has no hills lets say a slight grade. With OD off I seem to be doing to may RPM 2500 to stay at 55 MPH, but with OD on the truck seems to be bogged down and want to kick out of OD, my Camper is only 4.5K I figured when I bought this truck it would pull my camper like it was nothing. My F350 is totaly stock. is it time for a chip.:humm:

your not supposed to tow in od

Ok, but keeping the RPM at around 2000, not going to get that far at 45 MPH.

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All I want to drive is 55 while towing, but at 55 I'm pushing around 2400-2500 with OD off is that too high?

If the transmition is not searching for gears Id keep the OD on 2k on a diesel is not bogging

No, thats perfectly fine.

Thanks allot for the info.

as long as you dont let your rpms get up too high you'll be fine without OD.
Do you have gauges? you may want to consider atleast a trans, egt gauge if your keepin it stock and towing a camper.
And also nothing wrong with a chip to give ya a little more power:tu:

Guages and 4" exhaust is the next project. Thanks so much for the info. This summer we will be taking the camper over Afton Moutain in the western part of Virginia and I want to do it right.

i would also include an upgraded air filter as well. you dont need to go out and buy one of them cold air intakes thats like 300+ bucks just go to your local auto parts store and get a big cylinder filter then make your own with that

I would deff say go with a cold air intake! I got mine it runs sooo much smoother and makes a huge diff in how it shifts (well at least with my trans) if you want to tow and tow right, go with gauges, dp, and cold air intake, in my opinion

maybe even a cheap aftermarket trans cooler?

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and fresh high quality fluids

Took the Trailer out on the highway today and tried to stay at 55 and no OD...Just could not do it. I had the pedal almost to the floor and that was just to hold it at 55 and I was pushing 2700 RPM and the Good ol' PSD was screaming at me. I figure I can only do 45 with out OD and at that speed everything seems to run smoothly. Is something wrong?

i know where you're coming from. i haad a 96 cc lb. PSD. it coudn't pull my enclosed aluminum sled trailer up i 70 towards georgetown, CO it was just way under powered. the trailer weighs about 3,000 tops. when loaded. no trailer, that truck screamed.

Although I can't really answer your question... Keep this in mind...

Your OD shift is roughly 35-40 mph or about 2000rpm So if you want to run at 55, you are going to be pushing quite a few rpms with OD locked out. If you want to run with OD off, you can't sit right on the near side of that shift point without lugging it.

So... I guess if it were me, Either need to increase speed and get into OD or stick with the high rpm OD off. Or get a chip with a tow tune and see how you like that.

Hope that helps a little...

Thanks for all the reply. I think your right, I'm just going to try and keep the RPM at 2000. My trailer is not that heavy, most of the time I'm only pulling my utility trailer and that weighs 3900. so I'll use the
OD off and on to keep it at that RPM. I think one of my problems is I'm not pulling that much weight. I bet if I was pulling 8 or 10k the RPM would be at the right range with OD off.

When my 97 was stock I pulled a 32 ft cattle trailer loaded up some good hills (17,000lbs). Pulled it good, you could still feel it behind ya though. Either get up speed or take it slow, you just gotta know your truck and how it pulls so you can asjust to the hills and pulls you drive. But a chip would really help just get gauges to be safe.