I always get a kick out of the people that don't know any better that say "oh my 35's with 3.73s are not bad" are you kidding me??? those gears with that size of tire is brutal....Until you get at least 5.13's you will never know how bad that set up of yours is...It's kind of like having regular TV and getting HD TV and realizing how the hell you watched that old fuzzy regular crap.. Anyhows I had 4.10s with 35's and had to leave the OD off most the time..Now I have 5.13's and still wish i had put in 5.38's..

 

I have been running my 35's (w/ 3.73 gears) with OD off always for 2 years with no problems, definately alot better with it off because it was always searching for the right gear. On top of turning off O/D, I would reccommend a Procal or superchips to adjust tire size and fix the speedo. This helped my shift points on the auto a ton.

 

Glad I found this thread. After having the tranny replaced about 5K miles ago (different issue) I continue to be frustrated by the hunting issue as the thing bangs away even at highway speeds if a slight incline. I am running stock 4.10's and stock Rubi tires. I will start just leaving the OD off and watching to see how that affects mileage....I was about to trade it off.

 

To clarify a few things: If you're just driving around town and that doesn't include any highway speeds (or you're driving off-road), the OD on/off issue doesn't even apply. You can leave it on, or off, because it's not going to even try to shift into the higher gear.

The OD only comes into play at highway speeds to drop the engine down to a lower RPM to increase gas mileage.

 

I live in the Foothills or Northern Los Angeles, so anytime I come home there's definitely a climb on the 2 Freeway. I only turn OD Off when approaching such hills, don't need it otherwise imo. I'll just hit the button a little before I know it's going to watch to shift, then just leave it off till it levels out.

 

That is how you prevent the delayed downshift. It is much easier on the transmission, and keeps a more consistent speed.

However, since I have been driving on mountain roads, (paved, 50mph, O/D off), I have noticed all shifting schedules have improved. Now, when on the highway in O/D, the downshift to 3rd on hills happens more readily and much smoother.
Also, on non-highway roads, with O/D off, the downshift to second happens with less pedal input.
The transmission behaves more in line with how I previously had to make it behave.

edit to add:

I have noticed the fuel shuts off going down steep hills. Mine never did that before. I had tested for it in the past.