Towing in 5th

Do you tow in 5th with your D22? The reason I ask is I went away on the weekend towing my camper(approx 500-600kg). I tried towing in 4th but the nav just revs too high unless you sit on 80km/h. I found in 5th it pulled the camper easily and if it began to labour up hills, I would change down to 4th rather than put my foot into it.

Obviously 4th is the better choice for driveline longevity as the box is running 1:1 and not flogging out all the bearings. Has anyone done a monza of towing in 5th and not had any driveline issues?

Cheers in advance.

On the flats I have had 2.2t behind my Navara. Towing in 5 gear not a issue, before a hill I drop back to forth.

Dave.

A 4x4 mechinic I trust said just don't labour it, and change down ASAP when slowing. People say to never tow in OD, but those people don't have Navaras and don't have to tolerate the revs you have to do to tow at 100/110 in 4th. Labour it and your bearings will fail spectacularly, as mine did thanks to mostly to Previous-Owner and partly to Me-Late-For-A-Trailer-Registration-Appointment.

Having said that, the definition of labouring is different for everyone and mine is still going after being laboured a bit by other drivers with a 750kg trailer. With 500-600kg, that's the same as a full tray. Does anybody ever say "don't hit fifth with a trayload"?

Cheers guys. Pro-Nav2.7TDi you make some good points.

towed about 700kgs to qld and back, drove normaly, except dropped into 4th for hills. no dramas. power difference was amazing driving at night and then in 37c

joshy said:

power difference was amazing driving at night and then in 37c

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90% of my driving is night driving and yeah, its better to drive.

Dave.

we often tow 2000kg-3000kg. certainly have not had 5th gear issues.
5th in the navara is just another working gear rather than an overdrive.
it was only the D21 and some patrols that had 5th gear problems but thats due to a fault not because of use.

i think the idea of "tow in 4th" came from older vechiles (mostly petrol) where 5th gear was an overdrive (drop 500rpm) and was actually a weaker gear.

towing my camper(approx 500-600kg)

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thats the weight of an EMPTY trailer ! weight wise thats nothing, you have a very light camper.
concidering i quite often have 1000kg on the ute tray plus the trailer as well.

Weight wise the camper is only an on roader with 7ft tent, kitchen and 60l tank which is always empty while in tow. Also the missus and myself don't really bring alot of crap.

The trailer on its own without the camper only weighs 220kg so yeah it is a pretty light setup.

I agree with all you guys. I towed an 18' Jayco up to Karumba, across to Lawn Hill then down to Quilpie via Julia Ck and used 5th gear most of the way. As everyone says, 'don't let it labour, change down at the start of a hill' and there is no dramas.
Paul

tweak'e said:

5th in the navara is just another working gear rather than an overdrive.

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What's the fifth gear ratio in your Navara? Mine is 1:0.821, which is an overdrive. D22s and D40s will not have the overdrive tacked on the back of the transmission as an afterthought, I haven't seen a schematic but someone will confirm for me that OD is now on the mainshaft, making it much stronger? If that is the case, tow in fifth comfortably with loads the engine is happily handling.

A transmission rebuilder suggested to me that OD was bad for towing with gearboxes of my design because it presented the greatest multiplication of torque reaction within the gearbox and takes the most convoluted path through the gearbox via many sets of bearings, whereas fourth is straight through, saving all the bearings.

5th in the navara is just another working gear rather than an overdrive.

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sorry i meant more as ratio spacing rather than being over 1:1. eg most 5 speed vehicles i've had was more like a 4 speed with another gear to drop the revs a bit when cruising, where as the navara all 5 gears is like the old first 4 gears. use all 5 gears for normal driving and its missing the (6th) overdrive gear.

end of the day its down to how well built they are. regardless of bearing or how many gears it has to go through, if its built well it will handle everything you can throw at it.

tweak'e said:

sorry i meant more as ratio spacing rather than being over 1:1. eg most 5 speed vehicles i've had was more like a 4 speed with another gear to drop the revs a bit when cruising, where as the navara all 5 gears is like the old first 4 gears. use all 5 gears for normal driving and its missing the (6th) overdrive gear.

end of the day its down to how well built they are. regardless of bearing or how many gears it has to go through, if its built well it will handle everything you can throw at it.

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Yeah, fair enough, I agree with you. The D21 is crap because 5th was added on a smaller layshaft post design. The D22 onwards, I'd hope, is built for towing.

The 5th gear in the D22 box works between the main shaft and counter shaft just like the other gears rather than being tacked on the back of the box as an afterthought.

Shonky said:

The 5th gear in the D22 box works between the main shaft and counter shaft just like the other gears rather than being tacked on the back of the box as an afterthought.

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Well there you go. Thanks Shonky.