Which Gear for Towing?

[Z7Mike]

I recently purchased a new Silverado 1500 LD with a 6-speed transmission and will be towing my boat (Nitro Z7) soon. On my old Dodge Dakota, when towing I would turn "overdrive off", but that is not an option on the Silverado. I have had several service advisers at the car dealership tell me to just tow in Drive, and use the Tow/Haul mode. But my Mercury mechanic who is also knowledgeable about trucks said he puts his in the 4th gear for towing.

I was wondering what the majority of you do. Do you tow in Drive, or do you put it in the 5th or maybe even the 4th gear when towing? My concern it that I do not want to damage the transmission by towing in too high of a gear. There are a decent amount of hills on the route to one of my favorite lakes.

I hope everyone is staying healthy out there.

[jc2bg]

5th gear. Keeps rpms where they nee to be, plenty of power, and even better fuel economy than towing in overdrive.

[bassfisher444]

You can lock out overdrive by putting it in manual shift mode. If you have it in 5 it won't go into 6th gear.

[jbh3]

I use L5 with tow mode engaged. Mine is a 2018 w/5.3 and 6 speed. With lots of hills, I might consider dropping down to 4th to get the additional engine braking.

[Bassnailer]

Back when overdrive transmissions became common many trucks came with a warning sticker to tow in drive rather than overdrive. This was because drive, or 3rd gear on a 4 speed overdrive transmission, was a 1:1 coupling inside the transmission from the input to tailshaft. This 1:1 gear was the strongest mechanical coupling in the transmission. As a result, I have always towed in 3rd gear and never had any issues. An added bonus is the higher RPM which results in less (and even no in most cases) downshifting. Looking at the specs of your 6th speed transmission, however, it appears there is no 1:1 coupling. I would be interested to see someone with knowledge of these new-fangled wang-biz transmissions chime in as it doesn't look like you can bring the conventional wisdom of the older overdrive transmissions to bear on this problem.

[smoken86]

Just put it in gear and go the computer knows what to do better then us most of the time. These are not the transmissions of the past any longer. If you see a lot of shifting in and out of 6th just do as others said and run it in 5th.

[wmitch2]

If you have a "Tow Mode" it will take care of it for you. On long open stretches, use the Cruise Control. If it seems to be shifting up and down a lot, then put it in 1 gear lower.

[Ben Danbleume]

Check the manual, tow/haul mode may be recommended or a lower gear. Tow/Haul mode is recommended on my 1500, but the 2500 with 6sp Allison is only for trailers over 5000 lb.

[Jaredn]

It’s a 1/2 ton pickup and an 18’ bass boat..... You are overthinking it. Put it in drive and go. Hell, I don’t use “tow/haul mode” while pulling my 16,000lb trailer

[jc2bg]

Tow/haul is recommended on my Silverado for loads 75% or more of the towing capacity, which is around 8,000 pounds. My rig doesn’t weigh half that. Tow/haul is also geared so low that it’s annoying [to me] to drive, and at least 10% reduction in fuel economy.

[n2ratfishin]

Tow haul isn't a gear, and the 6 speed doesn't have a 1-1, at least mine didn't. If it tows alright in 6th then let her eat. If it's downshifting a bunch drop it to 5th. 5th gear was still an overdrive in my 2014.

[Upstate Gamecock]

I use L5 with tow mode engaged. Mine is a 2018 w/5.3 and 6 speed. With lots of hills, I might consider dropping down to 4th to get the additional engine braking.

This . Been doing it for years with various GM trucks with no problem .

[mactlman]

i towed with my 5.3 in od and never had any issues. bassboats just aren't that much compared to max load ratings

[BOATS]

Tow Haul Button and go.

[A7T3C]

Tow mode is there for a reason, and i'm pretty sure the cpu in the truck knows best..

[justsomeguy]

I recently purchased a new Silverado 1500 LD with a 6-speed transmission and will be towing my boat (Nitro Z7) soon. On my old Dodge Dakota, when towing I would turn "overdrive off", but that is not an option on the Silverado. I have had several service advisers at the car dealership tell me to just tow in Drive, and use the Tow/Haul mode. But my Mercury mechanic who is also knowledgeable about trucks said he puts his in the 4th gear for towing.

I was wondering what the majority of you do. Do you tow in Drive, or do you put it in the 5th or maybe even the 4th gear when towing? My concern it that I do not want to damage the transmission by towing in too high of a gear. There are a decent amount of hills on the route to one of my favorite lakes.

I hope everyone is staying healthy out there.

Tow / Haul mode will not allow you to go into overdrive. It will also raise the shift points so you can build speed more easily, it can not change the gearing as that is set by your rear end ratio and what gear the transmission is in. If you go manual and set the top gear to 5th its essentially Tow/Haul without the RPM increase at shift points.

[gehol]

It will absolutely go into overdrive but, it will have a minimum speed to shift into OD. My Z71 with 3.42 gears will go into OD at around 70-72 MPH.
As has been said, in drive with tow/haul and let her eat.

[Jaredn]

Yes.it will absolutely shift into od

[JR19]

On the truck the OP is enquiring about the tow haul mode will increase the rpm shift point and also make the transmission shift with more force. This is also the same reason you do not want to activate tow haul with no load. Your transmission will shift too hard with no load and cause premature wear. However it's perfectly safe and recommended to use tow haul when towing a couple thousand pounds or more because higher rpm shift points and more crisp shifts are needed when under a load. It will go through all 6 gears but it is very likely it will not see 6th unless its on a flat road and speeds over 65-70 mph. Another FYI...when in tow haul and you start over a steep hill like your going down to a boat ramp don't be surprised when your downhill shift assist kicks in. Your truck can detect what grade your on and it will detect the brakes are being applied. This will cause the transmission to downshift pretty good. On mine when this happens there will be a message that pops up on the DIC (driver information center). I can't recall the exact message but it does say something like downhill assist engaged.

[JR19]

I just now realized the OP is towing a Nitro Z7...a quick google search shows 18'7" and most have 150 HP. The weight of the boat/motor/trailer and all the gear will be somewhere over 2000 pounds but less than 2500 lbs the best estimate I can come up with. This is very similar to my set up 18'9"150 HP. I know when I got my 16 Silverado with 5.3 six speed I read what it said about towing and I can't recall the exact number but there was a number they recommend to start using tow haul and if my memory is correct it was over 3000 lbs. Read you owners manual and see what it says about when to use tow haul. In my situation I use it most of the time but when I fish the ramp that is only 5 miles from my house I don't use it. I really can't tell that much of a difference even when I pull on trip that has some distance but I think that is because my load is on the light side for what the owners manual suggest to use tow haul...I "think" your situation will be similar to mine. I suggest reading your owners manual to confirm what I said about when to use tow haul. The part I said in my earlier reply about shift points was a quote from a transmission mechanic I know. Most of that reply was from my owners manual or personal experience.