do you turn your cruise control off when towing tt

[DDC]

I use it a lot on the highway with the setup I have now but could not use it too much with the Avalanche, the diesel VW just keeps going where as the gas Avalanche would keep change gears up and down and that's not good for a long transmission life.

[Sturgie]

DDC,
I'm tired of hearing all buddies at work brag about their diesel towing massive weight with the cruise control..... lol! If I would've know, i probably would have went that route. Someday I'm sure.

[Jammer3025]

When the TT is attached to my truck the T/H mode is on.

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

I just put my manual transmission in 6th and set the cruise at 62. No worries.

[keith_h]

I leave the O/D on for most of my driving. If I'm in a hilly area or going up a long grade I turn it off if I notice the TV searching for a gear.

[schrederman]

Tow/haul does not turn off my overdrive. It will go to O/D if the computer tells it to. It is often in 6th gear (O/D) on flat roads, especially if I have a tail wind. It does change my shift points, and gives me engine braking on hills. If your truck is older and just has the O/D off button, use it. Your transmission is not designed to tow in O/D if you have that button. It will shift way more often towing in O/D and this is what builds transmission heat. If you do not believe me, please read the owner's manual. It's pretty explicit. As to cruise, I use mine any time I am on the open road. I set it at 65 or lower depending on the situation. Cruise should never be used on wet roads.

Enjoy...

[dcheatwood]

I seldom use cruise with my half ton. Only long flat stretches.

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[Red Wolf]

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

Thread title says "cruise control", but text talks about "overdrive". I'll state both:
Cruise Control: I only use it if the road is dead flat, and slight uphills are not enough to unlock the torque convertor. If the convertor is unlocking, that equals less fuel economy, and more heat, so I'd simply use a steady foot. I can also watch my Scangage (% engine load)...once it gets to 99%, it's about to unlock the convertor and/or downshift. Not desired.

Overdrive: I leave it in overdrive, unless I'm in some serious hills, and the trans can't hold a specific gear. Biggest problem is that my 6-speed trans can't hold 5th. OD lockout button locks out both 5th and 6th, and 4th has the rpm too high for me on the expressway. So I'll let the trans do what it wants. Since I don't use cruise control in hilly areas, I can often avoid trans hunting. I also watch trans temp on the Scangage.

X2 all of the above for the same reasons.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I push my tow/haul button but honestly have no idea what it does/doesn't do.

On my tundra tow/haul holds you in each gear a little longer before shifting and provides some braking on down hill runs by holding lower gear. Allows you to use all gears for best mpg.

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[keith_h]

Originally Posted by schrederman

snip ... If you do not believe me, please read the owner's manual. It's pretty explicit. ... snip

Enjoy...

My OM doesn't have any restrictions about using overdrive while towing. It explicitly says not to use the cruise control. It also says to downshift on steep hills and grades to minimize shifting and heat buildup. As long as the transmission is not hunting for gears there should be no problem with using overdrive.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by Jammer3025

When the TT is attached to my truck the T/H mode is on.

X2

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[dsrace]

Originally Posted by Brother Les

For a F-250 7.3 2400rpm @ 60mph ,rpms is way to high and asking for trouble. You should go to a Ford Truck Forum and get into the thread are of your truck year and talk to them about what you have. It may be fine for you, (I don't know), but for me it would not be good.

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Ford truck and SUV owners and enthusiasts Community And Information Source.

a dp tuner adds trans shift points for pulling which is a huge plus and out of od in 3rd gear in that trans which is most likely a 4r100 or e4od trans at that rpm you must have 3.55 gears cause with 4.10's you'd be at 2800 rpm ish at that speed. i have had 3 ford 7.3's and 1 was an auto with 4.10's. if you read the owners manual in your f250 psd you'll see that it states to pull in od, i added a bigger and better trans cooler and gauge just so i knew. and the bigger cooler was real easy to install and dropped the trans temps down 25* on the interstate at 75 mph towing my toyhauler loaded at almost 11k lbs.

[Terier]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I push my tow/haul button but honestly have no idea what it does/doesn't do.

Me too. I only use the tow/haul.

Once I used the cruise control while towing and the ride was fine. On the return trip there was too much traffic so I didn't use it.

As to why I haven't tried it again is that I can't remember how to turn on the cruise control and I haven't care to look it up in the owner manual. Even worse I didn't know how to use the cruise control in my previous two cars either. (OK, I'm odd )

[boatman]

I just push the Tow/Haul button once on the Allison trans which modifies shift points and allows for trans braking on hills if you push button twice it
Locks out OD never needed to do that I set Cruise control as soon as I can at 67 mph

[Crusadernoob]

We always use tow/haul when hooked up, we also use cruise control when on relatively flat ground, I've tried it in 6th gear and 5th gear, it makes no difference on mpg for us.

[BamaBob]

Tow/Haul always on, flatline interstates Cruise always on. Hilly areas usually go to manual because I am more interested in gas milage than speed

[gmacklem]

I don't have a tow/haul mode, but I do turn OD off. From reading about it for Fords, it seems you can leave it on if you don't have excessive shifting. But I turn it off anytime I tow.

[Sturgie]

My tundra 5.7 won't pull 6th, and I don't want it shifting to 6th even on descents, so that's why I use manual mode and keep it in 5th. The 5.7 will struggle in 5th if there is a bad headwind. A diesel is pretty carefree about hills, wind, cruise control..... wish I had one : )

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by Sturgie

DDC,
I'm tired of hearing all buddies at work brag about their diesel towing massive weight with the cruise control..... lol! If I would've know, i probably would have went that route. Someday I'm sure.

Someday is today, for tomorrow will never come.

[keith_h]

Originally Posted by Sturgie

My tundra 5.7 won't pull 6th, and I don't want it shifting to 6th even on descents, so that's why I use manual mode and keep it in 5th. The 5.7 will struggle in 5th if there is a bad headwind. A diesel is pretty carefree about hills, wind, cruise control..... wish I had one : )

When it's time to replace the Explorer and my B3000 I have thought about going to a diesel pickup for my tow vehicle. It won't be anytime soon as we just got a new car for the DW and the Explorer is still running great. My guess is sometime after that we will start looking at 5th wheels to take advantage of the higher towing capacity.