2006 Laramie 4x4 48RE Tow/Haul problem

[ScottLewis]

Entering this discussion may be wading into dangerous territory. After HBarlow's comment, I re-read my owners manual section dealing with "Tow/Haul". There I found a section that refers to the feature locking out O'drive on models equiped with 4th and fifth gears, 5th gear being the one locked out. It appears that writers of the manual were told of a transmission with 2 overdrive gears, 4 & 5 while our 48RE has only 4.

I don't know if this clarifies or muddies the issue but the owners manual DOES refer to T/H locking out overdrive, just not ours. It appears everyone has a bit of correct in their comments.

 

[mwilson]

Entering this discussion may be wading into dangerous territory. After HBarlow's comment, I re-read my owners manual section dealing with "Tow/Haul". There I found a section that refers to the feature locking out O'drive on models equiped with 4th and fifth gears, 5th gear being the one locked out. It appears that writers of the manual were told of a transmission with 2 overdrive gears, 4 & 5 while our 48RE has only 4.

I don't know if this clarifies or muddies the issue but the owners manual DOES refer to T/H locking out overdrive, just not ours. It appears everyone has a bit of correct in their comments.

Thanks... .



I will have to head out to the parking lot at lunchtime and read mine, curious now. .



Mine has always worked as cerberusiam describes, one of the great features of the truck.



I have the shift display as one of my four choices on the Edge monitor, you can watch the T/C "padlock" symbol come and go as it shifts it way up or down thru the gears when in Tow/Haul.



Mike.

 

[cerberusiam]

Sure, the 545RFE has functioned this way as does the 68RFE. Since the bulk of the trucks built were gas with the 545 trans it is not unusual to see the Owners Manual itself simply not call out the diesel differences. Should have had a seperate booklet or addendum that actually denoted these differences. The FSM has different sections for the different transmissions where the OM is too general to call out the differences.



Owners manual is a good source for general information but as an absolute authority it comes up short too frequently. The FSM is not much better at times either so it comes down to a comparison of what is written to what is actually functional as the final authority. The 2006 FSM I have does not include the portion about OD lcokout, yet the press releases introducing the 2006 trucks included it on Dodge releases and Edmunds reviews:



A “Tow/Haul” mode, as well as “Overdrive Off,” delivers maximum trailer-towing performance by providing crisp shifts and reducing gear searching when climbing hills. These systems will also select a lower gear in downhill conditions in order to utilize the engine’s breaking capability.



I just happen to remeber this being a big deal because a LOT of us bought 05's and the TH functionality was a bit of a pain to deal with in certain towing conditions. We were all used to an OD lockout and now it was gone. It was even suggested there was a flash from Dodge to implement this in the 05's. Naturally, that was not in Dodge's best interest. #@$%!



Back to the OP's post, the functionality described with TH and OD off SHOULD be there. If its not then something is not right and its broke. Now, since the truck is new to him he may just need time to drive and experiment with it to see how and what works in what conditions. It took new owners of the 05's a bit of time to figure out how to use the TH functionality to their benefit and how to circumvent its more annoying features.

 

[Scottyg1]

hhmm... Harvey, maybe your 06 has an earlier control strategy. . my 06 does as every is describing above...

Single tap puts it in T/H where I have all forward gears, but with different shift points and much more aggressive rate of L/U...

Tap it one more time from T/H and it goes into O/D disable... have 1,2&3 plus lockup... . but NO O/D gear. .

I think there may be several versions in the last 3-4 years of the 5. 9L trucks...

Ditto as Wingate on my 07, 5. 9

 

[AH64ID]

Fortunately you can download owners manuals.

Here is the excerpt, and just to avoid any confusion diesels are not equipped with a 5th gear.

When operating in
“TOW HAUL” mode, 5th gear (if equipped) is disabled
and 2-3 and 3-4 shift patterns are modified. Shifts into
Overdrive (4th gear) are allowed during steady cruise
(for improved fuel economy) and automatic closedthrottle
downshifts to 3rd gear (for improved braking)
will occur during steady braking. Pressing the “TOW
HAUL O/D OFF” button a second time to select O/D
OFF will disable 4th and 5th gear completely, which
should eliminate any excessive transmission shifting.

 

[TFucili]

I just happen to remeber this being a big deal because a LOT of us bought 05's and the TH functionality was a bit of a pain to deal with in certain towing conditions. We were all used to an OD lockout and now it was gone. It was even suggested there was a flash from Dodge to implement this in the 05's. Naturally, that was not in Dodge's best interest. #@$%!

.

Yup, it fit right in with the promised reprogram to enable Jacobs exhaust brake for us '05ers. Poor ol' Carlton Bale got hung out to dry with us on that one.