Towing Q

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Mar 10, 2009 | 10:48 PM

NV250

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Joined: Sep 2008

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Towing Q

Got a Q on towing. I have a 250 superduty v10 on 38's with a newly rebuilt tranny. I live on the central coast of CA next to the dunes and recently I have been towing a lot of cars out of the sand that get stuck (sometimes big trucks w- trailers too). My Q is, How hard is this on the tranny and other components if I tow cars out of the sand regularly?

Thanks,

Nathan

Mar 10, 2009 | 11:14 PM

75F350

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Joined: Jul 2006

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This depends on how hard you are on your transmission during the pull. If you raise the engine rpm's and you do not turn the tires, you generate heat. Enough heat will eventually take its toll on the trans. Torque multiplication is a good thing and the auto trans is really very capable of mulitplying torque, but this process creates heat.
Biggest factors here is gear ratio and trans cooler. If you have a stock gear ratio with large tires, you are already putting a decent amount of stress on the trans, even in low range, you could use some mechanical advantage with the help of some deeper gears.
Fortunately sand is pretty easy to extract stuck vehicle from, so you may get away with this for a bit, but it can be hard on auto transmissions.
Large cooler is never a bad idea.