L/C 100 Towing

Blacky, personal experience sugest that it would not be advisable on any vehicle,not that i have any failure's. Your'e own instinct's would tell you if & when you are overloading the motor therefore overloading the gearbox. Bob.

The posts I have read have said that if it is an Auto trannie it tends to overheat the oil and burn it but when referring to a manual they say that the 5th gearing cog is a smaller one and is more prone to being chewed out over time....

Similar to sea dog's answer. Top gear in auto or manual is generally an overdrive and as such is a smaller cog inclined to be stressed, chewed up and spat out under the wrong circumstances (towing in particular). Some of the Iveco and other commercial vehicles do have a 1:1 top gear and can be driven under almost any situation without probs but if you look at the owners manual for your cruiser you will find 5th is an overdrive and I personally would not tow in that gear.
I rebuilt 5th gear in my manual 100 series cruiser twice for this exact reason you are talking about. Choice is yours.

Regards Trevor.

Blacky
I tow a 20' regent (about 2200 kg) with a troopy and an after market turbo.I find the fuel economy about the same if i lug it along in 5th. I only put it in 5th either downhill or dead flat road with no headwind. I find the troopy is quite happy to sit on 90k's an hr all day in 4th.
Regards Bob.

More fuel is not as costly as a gearbox rebuild, be it auto or manual. Doesn't say it in the manual for Patrol either, but we still heed the advice of experience and don't tow heavy loads with either cruisers or patrols in top gear (or overdrive). I would consider 2500 as getting to be a heavy tow. Overdrive is not built for towing.

Hi Blackmax11,
It’s ok to tow in O/D if your doing the speed and your converter is locked. If it unlocks, then drop down a gear or it will heat up very quickly. As we all know the biggest killer of autos is heat and locking the converter drastically reduces the heat build up.
Driving in O/D with the converter unlocked causes the converter to flare excessively and this is what generates the heat and causes the fluid to “boil” which varnishes it to loose its hydraulic properties and eventually burn out the transmission.
If your van is too heavy to allow your converter to lock, then don’t tow in O/D.
Chaz