When to use Tow Mode

[nsane]

Greetings all,

Let me get the introduction out of the way..

<stands up>

Hi, I'm Jason, and I'm a PSD newb.

<sits down>

Quick and easy question for you all - how do you decide if you need to be in tow mode? Weight? Terrain? the combo?

I just upgraded from a F150 5.4l v8 to a new F250 PSD. I pretty commonly pull around 3500 / 4000 lbs (7x14 dual axle w/ brake enclosed trailer, bunch of atvs) which required the f150 to be in tow mode all the time.. for the F250 that really feels like nothing at all for weight. Assuming the majority is highway travel, without a lot of hills is it still a good idea to be running in tow mode?

Thanks much in advance!

-J

[Maintain]

4 G's is nothing... I wouldn't use TOw mode till your truck either hunts for gears, or is downshifting because of the terrain or you carry in excess of 6grand in the back.

[purduefarmboy460]

I agree with Marty on this one. Unless your tranny is gettin really warm from slippin or hunting gears, keep it in OD so your RPMs will stay down!

[heloman27]

I tow skidsteers ect. (most are small, 4k... with trailer 6-8k) all the time for work in a e-450 service truck or f250 both psd's, and I rarely shut off overdrive unless I'm towing heavy like 7+ thoudsand, however...when going up good hills and she starts to work I'll let up on the throttle and push the button but as soon as I'm going easy again I turn it back on. Also, at times I've had quite heavy loads on (10k) and I'll shut off OD untill I get up to freeway speeds and when she doesent seem like it's working too hard I turn OD back on. I'm very hard on my trucks, I'm always in the trottle towing or not and I've have not had much trouble, but these are work trucks and I dont have to pay if they break, when I'm towing heavy with my personal F250 I take er' a little easier.

[sbrennan007]

I've also used it for engine brakeing when towing as well.

[2006KR]

On any SuperDuty with the 5R100 (TorqueShift) tranny, using tow/haul will not disable overdrive - can't be done. The only thing tow/haul does is up the line pressure to reduce slipping and improve cooling, and give you the feature of 'engine braking'. Fifth gear in the TouqueShift is overdrive and no way to lock it out unless you manually do it via the gear shift, but then you would also lock out 4th which is the final gear (1:1).

You need to read the owners manual - it specifically states that you 'should' use tow/haul anytime you have anything in tow, or are carrying any significant weight in the bed.

Yes, you can run without putting it in tow/haul, but if at some point you have driveablilty issues and you tell the dealer that 'it happens when you tow', their first question will (and I guarantee it) be 'are you using tow/haul?'

It's on the 5R110's for a reason ......

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by 2006KR

On any SuperDuty with the 5R100 (TorqueShift) tranny, using tow/haul will not disable overdrive - can't be done. The only thing tow/haul does is up the line pressure to reduce slipping and improve cooling, and give you the feature of 'engine braking'. Fifth gear in the TouqueShift is overdrive and no way to lock it out unless you manually do it via the gear shift, but then you would also lock out 4th which is the final gear (1:1).

You need to read the owners manual - it specifically states that you 'should' use tow/haul anytime you have anything in tow, or are carrying any significant weight in the bed.

Yes, you can run without putting it in tow/haul, but if at some point you have driveablilty issues and you tell the dealer that 'it happens when you tow', their first question will (and I guarantee it) be 'are you using tow/haul?'

It's on the 5R110's for a reason ......

To add to this.....there is has always been the "when to take it out of overdrive" discussion with the E4OD/4R100. Basically when you can to and allow the TC to lock up and when you cant....the princaple behind the "tow haul" function is to take that that human judgement out of the equasion and allow the PCM (actually TCM which is internal to the PCM) to controll the function for you based on load, speed, throttle position...etc. It basically makes it so you can get the most optimal fuel milage, least amount of wear and tear on mechanical componants, best breaking, etc, etc while towing

[mpvoss]

Okay, one other question. Why does the owners manual say not to use cruise control when in the two/haul mode?

TIA,
Marlin

[MG at FEW]

Bump, Bump...I'd like to know the answer too?

[StarDriver]

NEVER use cruise control when your towing, if something happens, the time it takes you to react and shut it off, can be too late.

FYI, never use cruise control on slick roads either.