# Towing With A Titan



## briggsman1 (Jan 2, 2007)

I have a 2006 Nissan Titan SE with the big tow package, I getting a little confused about what gear to tow in. I tow a 25' RSS Outback, after reading the fourm no one is saying the same thing. Any body tow with a titan if so what gear do you tow in on flat ground .


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Oh Doug....he s talking to you


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## jolarsen (Apr 10, 2006)

newone said:


> I have a 2006 Nissan Titan SE with the big tow package, I getting a little confused about what gear to tow in. I tow a 25' RSS Outback, after reading the fourm no one is saying the same thing. Any body tow with a titan if so what gear do you tow in on flat ground .


I towed my 26RKS in 4th gear, It pulled the best performed the best and pulled the hills real good (Kansas Hills). I hope I helped you some. Any other questions let me know but there are several Titan owners here. Take Care...


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Hi newone,

I tow almost exclusively in fourth gear. It keeps the torque converter locked up, which in turn keeps the transmission temps down to near normal levels. Sometimes in the mountains, you may need to drop to third to keep the transmission from searching. I find that on the really steep grades, I end up going up the hill faster than most anybody in order to keep the revs in the right place to hold a gear (it's kind of fun watching the looks on the 'oil burners' faces too!).

You can run in fifth on the flats with no headwind, but you really have to keep an eye on the tranny temp. Anytime I have done that, I keep one hand on the shifter, just so I don't forget I'm in fifth. All in all though, it's really not worth the effort. At freeway speeds the difference is only a couple hundred RPM, and that's not going to gain you any noticable MPG.

I think you will be very pleased with your Titan's towing ability. I have never been left wanting from ours!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Airboss (Jul 14, 2007)

PDX_Doug said:


> I find that on the really steep grades, I end up going up the hill faster than most anybody in order to keep the revs in the right place to hold a gear (it's kind of fun watching the looks on the 'oil burners' faces too!).


Doug,

You are refering to the 'oil burners' with 18 wheels, right?


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## marks (Nov 20, 2006)

I have the Titan and 25 RSS too. I take Doug's advice and tow in 4th. I figure when in 5th, anytime you apply some decent power, it drops to 4th anyway. I believe the switching puts more strain on the trans.

On a few long climbs in 4th, I noticed that the trans temp was rising. I immediately dropped down to third and the temp drops. I read here that the higher revs allow the oil to flow more through the trans cooler. I am a believer.

MarkS


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## aantolik (Apr 8, 2005)

I have the tow package on my Titan & tow in 5th w/tow/haul mode on. Haven't had any problems in towing in hills (mountains to some) of western PA.


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## Fire Chief 2 (Sep 5, 2007)

I have an 08 Titan and 25RSS also. I have yet to haul it anywhere so I am watching this thread with great interest. There is another forum web site called titantalk.com. It is a forum much like this one (only not as good of course) and it has an entire topic regarding towing. Based on that forum most that pull 6000lbs or so like the 25RSS seem to pull in 4th as recommended in this thread. I live in Denver so I start at 5000 feet and if I go west I go straight up. I'll be anxious to hear how it goes.


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## ranier1315 (Jan 4, 2008)

I have an 04 titan 4x4 se and we towed our 21RS for the first time last week end. I did notice the temps getting hot comming over a mountain and down shifted to 4 and this helped a lot. I found a web site for titans that explained it pretty good. The way it was described is that the torque converter's stall speed or rpm roughly equals 62 mph in overdirve. This pretty much means if you are not traveling 62 or faster the torque converter will be trying to slip at all times. When you down shift it allows the converter to lock up at the slower speed keeping the temps down.

On another note. This is the heaviest thing i have towed with my titan to date. What kind of fuel milage do you guys get? I got between 8 and 9 mpg depending on how many hills there were.


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## briggsman1 (Jan 2, 2007)

PDX_Doug said:


> Hi newone,
> 
> I tow almost exclusively in fourth gear. It keeps the torque converter locked up, which in turn keeps the transmission temps down to near normal levels. Sometimes in the mountains, you may need to drop to third to keep the transmission from searching. I find that on the really steep grades, I end up going up the hill faster than most anybody in order to keep the revs in the right place to hold a gear (it's kind of fun watching the looks on the 'oil burners' faces too!).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advise I'll try 4th gear and keep an eye on the temp and gas gauges and get back to you.


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## bigdisneydaddy (Oct 26, 2007)

Airboss said:


> I find that on the really steep grades, I end up going up the hill faster than most anybody in order to keep the revs in the right place to hold a gear (it's kind of fun watching the looks on the 'oil burners' faces too!).


Doug,

You are refering to the 'oil burners' with 18 wheels, right?








[/quote]

I know of one he isnt talking about


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I have an 04 LE with Big Tow. I towed the 25 RSS for a couple years with it. I almost always towed in 4th and used the Tow/Haul feature as well. I could very seldom get away with using 5th...even on the flats. It kept shifting up/down...and heated up the tranny fluid. Never a problem in 4th, except the mileage dropped to around 8-10 MPG most times. (windy around here)

Nissan Titan with Big Tow + Outback 25RSS + Equal-i-zer hitch + Prodigy = Great tow experience.


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## 4ME (Sep 11, 2006)

ranier1315 said:


> I have an 04 titan 4x4 se and we towed our 21RS for the first time last week end. I did notice the temps getting hot comming over a mountain and down shifted to 4 and this helped a lot. I found a web site for titans that explained it pretty good. The way it was described is that the torque converter's stall speed or rpm roughly equals 62 mph in overdirve. This pretty much means if you are not traveling 62 or faster the torque converter will be trying to slip at all times. When you down shift it allows the converter to lock up at the slower speed keeping the temps down.
> 
> On another note. This is the heaviest thing i have towed with my titan to date. What kind of fuel milage do you guys get? I got between 8 and 9 mpg depending on how many hills there were.


Mine is 2wd with a 21rs and I use the overdrive on flat stretches as much as i can. I get around 13mpg on average towing and 15.5 not towing.
I tow around 65 mph when flat with no traffic but slow it down when others cars are around or other conditions exist.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

Hi newone -

If you don't mind a few words from an Armada owner towing a 23RS (at about 6300 pounds loaded - 75% of Armada tow capacity), I'll share my thoughts with you.

I always drive in 4th and locked out of OD and here are my reasons:

Many, many moons ago I studied automotive engineering at Michigan Tech (not my current carrer). One of the things I remember the professor drilling into our heads was that service managers love people who tow in OD as they usually become regular service customers.







If you look at trans gear ratios the OD is just that - a ratio that is less than 1:1 (usually 1:0.85 or 1:0.9). This gearing was designed to allow for greater fuel economy when driving in a steady state mode with minimal load (i.e, level driving at constant freeway speed with normal wind, no hills, etc.). When you tow a TT in OD, the OD gear ratio (below 1:1) is putting a tremendous load on the engine to maintain speed - even at level driving.

Another thing to consider is this - when I drive the Armada and tow the Outback, I want to do this in the most efficient manner with the less stress on the engine. If you look at the HP/torque curves for the Titan/Armada engine, the "sweet spot" on the HP/torque curve is at about 3600-3800 rpm. I strive to stay near this when I tow up most decent hills and usually select 3rd (3600-3800 rpm in 4th is 70-75 mph; same rpm in 3rd is 55 mph which is a comfortable speed to climb hills). On freeways and level ground I tow in 4th at 60-65 mph and this equates to around 2500-2800 rpm.

My gas mileage is usually between 9-12 depending on the terrain and number and size of hills - we have some big grades hear in AZ.

The above notes may not work for everyone - but it works fine for me and I know that I am towing with the least amount of stress on the TV.

Happy Towing However You Do It!!!


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