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I'm anticipating moving in the next month, fingers crossed. I'll be using my 93 Nissan pickup - King cab, 4 cylinder, rear wheel drive, automatic.
I've taken good care of this little truck since I've had it about a year and a half. New brakes just a few months ago, oil changes regularly, fixed everything to make it pass smog - new catalytic converter, air-intake manifold gasket, new tires a year and a half ago with hardly any miles on them. Runs great, but it will get a complete tune-up before I go. Nothing specific happening, although the fan belt is loose again already, and squealing. My mechanic will address that, too, before I go.
I went to a U-Haul place here yesterday and got a really knowledgeable person to help me figure out if it would be safe/crazy to pull a trailer. My truck has a hitch already on it. She knew how to read my manual to figure out how much I can safely haul, and I had my weight certificate with me from when I had it weighed to transfer title to CA. So, I know how much the truck weighs with me, the dog and normal junk in it. I just couldn't make heads or tails of the chart in the owner's manual about how much weight I could carry/pull, etc. She explained it to me.
I plan to ship most things, and only haul mostly furniture pieces, mattresses. I'll just be towing the 4 x 8 U-Haul trailer with some stuff in the bed, too. But, it should be under the max allowed by a fair margin.
That said, I will be driving from Crescent City, CA, up to Grants Pass, OR, then down Interstate 5. It's the best route by far as any other options involve roads that keep falling into the ocean or being covered in landslides - seriously.
But, this route means driving over the Siskyou pass (sp?) - the one by Mount Shasta. Without a load, my truck does okay, but it's no speed racer. Slow but steady, and doesn't overheat.
I grew up on manual transmissions, and have no confidence at all about when/if I should downshift an automatic. With a manual, it's so easy to tell when you should shift gears. The car is struggling, you shift down. When you need to shift back up, it's easy to tell because it's revving too fast. But, I don't have that same sense of what to do with an automatic.
If there is an RPM gauge, keep the revs in the midrange when going up a hill. You can shift an automatic similar to a manual. You should be able to limit what gear it'll shift to. Usually 1, 2, 3, D if there is no overdrive.
I'd start by locking the transmission out of overdrive. Then, watch the temperature gauge. Let the transmission do its thing. Lugging will foul plugs and overheat the engine.
check your owners manual to see if you have a manual overdrive shut off switch .. my 92 dodge truck would allow me to disable overdrive lockup in towing conditions so as to not overwork or overheat the transmission ..
as noted you want to lock out the overdrive when towing. as for when to downshift, the instant you feel the engine starting to lug a bit, downshift one gear.
I'd start by locking the transmission out of overdrive. Then, watch the temperature gauge. Let the transmission do its thing. Lugging will foul plugs and overheat the engine.
Towed about 2300 pounds with a 96 Ranger 4 banger a few years back across the Appalachians on I70 but it was a 5 speed. Few times I had to drop to second and go 35mph but it made it OK. Might want to install a transmission oil cooler for a trip like that.
Can you hear when the torque convertor unlocks? It's a subtle change in rpm, and more tellingly, once unlocked the engine rpm and vehicle speed no long become a 1 to 1 ratio. To me it's obvious, but maybe not to others. Anyhow, if you can tell that, then I'd let the vehicle guide you. You don't want to be driving up a hill with the convertor unlocked at low engine rpm, say anything below 2,500 rpm. Above about 2,500 rpm (not knowing the rated stall speed for your vehicle) and it doesn't matter if the convertor is locked or not; slippage (and thus heat generation) is relatively low.
After a few miles you may get a feel for when the truck needs to be downshifted for a hill. You might want to downshift just below the hill. Or maybe you'll just downshift because it's a hill.
Is this a flat utility trailer or an enclosed one? If it's enclosed I suspect locking out overdrive is best. Put into Drive or hit the OD button or whatever. Enclosed trailers are a bit like parachutes, acting like the proverbial barn door behind you. Utility trailers have less drag and it might be possible to push overdrive in flat sections. Enclosed and I'll bet you money that you're pushing 2nd gear on a number of hills.
keep your speed down. IIRC CA limits towing speeds to 55mph, which isn't a bad thing if you're new to this. You might want to keep it there once out of CA also. [I think all UHaul trailers have written on the 55mph max anyhow.] Pay attention to how the vehicle feels. You can poorly load a trailer by putting too much weight behind the rear axle, which will make the trailer want to sway--if that happens I'd reload after regaining control, putting more weight forward of the axle. If you have too much weight forward the steering of the truck may feel light--in this case, put some stuff into the bed.
There's probably more stuff to be said but that's off the top of my head.
Oh you guys are all so awesome! Yes, I can turn off overdrive with just a button.
Since I am familiar with what an engine normally sounds like when it needs to shift when I am driving a manual, it sounds like I should be able to feel what my truck wants as far as shifting it into a lower gear.
You all are giving me the confidence to do this. Thank you so much.
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