Steve replied:

can't honestly say I'm familiar with the Troopy as I've never driven one but I don't think many vehicles like being towed in 5th gear

Mine seems to perform ok in 5th too - but it doesn't do the driveshaft???? much good. I'm sure somebody will explain better than I.

Eric Experience replied:

Klaus.
The 5th gear probably won't last that long, so 4th will turn out cheaper in the long run. Eric.

mechpete replied:

don,t tow it in 5th , you will be repairing the
gearbox
mechpete

Topcat (WA) replied:

Hi Klaus, I have found with my Troopie (6.5 Chevy) that towing at 90km & keeping your revs around the 2000 mark and in 5th gear gives me the best economy .This is the best economy rev range of the chevy as I was told when fitted. Contrary to other peoples' comments, I also haven't had any gearbox problems towing in 5th. gear since I had the chevy fitted (17years ago) and drop down a gear (or 2) if the engine tend to labour on steep hills. Cheers.

Gone Bush (WA) replied:

V8 Troopie,

I've got a TDV8 trayback Cruiser and I have fitted a Scangauge. This plugs into the On Board Diagnostic port and gives all sorts of readouts including instant litres per 100kays.

On a long stretch towing my van (about 2500kg) I conducted some tests. I towed at 90kph in 5th, and at 90kph in 4th. Naturally RPM in 5th was lower than RPM in 4th and the expectation was that my scangauge would show a higher fuel consumption in 4th because of this higher RPM.

In actual fact the fuel consumption was IDENTICAL. This is because the engine is working easier in 4th. Towing in 5th makes the engine work harder. Fifth gear is on the wrong side of 1:1 and is designed for loping along without any load on the engine.

So, in order to prevent any damage to my 5th gear, I tow in 4th all the time now; and my scangauge has proven, to my satisfaction, that I'm not using more fuel.

tukka replied:

Heading to Wyndham ay, for a holiday or visiting someone? Excellent place to launch boat mate, fishing there is highly under rated, lived there for many years, best kept secret of the north if ya ask me. People just dont get to see some of the things that are there to be seen.

F4Phantom replied:

I have had 2 bmws with the instant fuel analog guage. What I have observed is that a car in a higher gear uses less fuel than a lower gear, eg 4th or 5th. Amazingly even with the 4th revving smoothly with lowish revs, the 5th still uses less under a lot of pressure and the engine spluttering with peddle floored. So to me the answer is a taller gear uses less fuel under any situation.

Outa Bounds replied:

In different cars wouldn't it also depend on gear ratios? I know some people change them at the same time when installing a Brunswicks Chev.

I know with the first car we did it with, hubby had them changed, it was a troopy, and all I know is that after the conversion you could generally take off in 2nd gear rather than 1st.

Steve replied:

I have spoken several mechanics on this issue. I suggest you do te same because some of these answers are what people want to think - not what is good for the car. You'll even find that a car travelling in 5th, particularly against a headwind is using at least as much fuel as in 4th.

Speak to somebody who is qualified to answer.