Towing manual v auto

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Originally Posted by tdiBrad

Hi Joel,

The short answer is YES.

The reason I know is that my D1 auto trans has lockup in 3rd and 4th gear.
Lockup occurs at around 80kmph (though my GPS tends to say it's closer to 78kmph).

This is not standard, but the auto-trans guys at A&B Automatics, modified the auto-trans.
A&B are in:
12-14 Cahill Street, Dandenong South , VIC, 3164.
Phone: (03) 97683755

Give them a call, they really know the ZF automatic.

BTW, the mod certainly does help when you are climbing a steep hill. My D1 will happily hold third gear locked up with only the steepest hills proving an issue, so less stress and it also seems to help with economy on the open road, last trip I averaged a touch under 8 litres per hundred.

Brad

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=] sounds good

Do you recall the cost?

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Originally Posted by mcrover

Move the shifter to 3.....problem solved.

My reasoning, gearing is higher in the auto and 3rd is close to what 4th would be in the manual.

You could also adjust your kick down cable so it has a bit more tension on it which will make it shift into "4th as such but really just between 3rd and lock up" earlier as you feed the power on but this can be a pita when not towing as it can make it change up and down constantly at any slight load.

Yes it can be done and Rodney at wholesale has done ZF's before, thats where I have seen them pulled apart but he is more a Turbo box speciallist but is very very competant with all types of boxes.

If you locked it up in 3rd, it wouldnt do much more than skip the "4th" ratio and go straight to lock up so I dont think it is what your after.

I know people who have done it in Jeeps to lock the converter to have engine braking when decending hills but seems that 3rd is really your highest gear I dont see the point, just slip it up into D.

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Just out of interest I have always been confused about this apparent extra gear between 3rd and lock up o'drive..in mine it is only occasionally noticable but I have always thought that it is a good ratio. If you could control when it was in that 'gear' it would make towing much better...I think the mech at Romsey is able to provide a modicfication to get lock up in that ratio (conversation was a while ago now). Is there another way of getting more manual control over when that 'gear' is selected..ie with some adjustment or other...or a driving technique?

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Originally Posted by B92 8NW

=] sounds good

Do you recall the cost?

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Hi Joel,

Sorry, not sure how much it cost as it was included in some other work I had done at the time.

Still going strong after 140,000kms though :D