3051s tow/haul switch

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by phelpo

ok,boys and girls, I have driven two Fords, v-10, I found the cruise to be a pain
and a good thing. Living in Florida the only real hills we have are bridges.
When I have the cruise on and see a hill coming I just switch it off
till I have crested the hill then reply the cruise. Maybe this is old school
but I don't really care either.

Phelpo

ps I like to keep the warranty as is

If you plan on staying in FL then it's probably not worth it. I do like better throttle response and according to my scangauge, it helps with .5 - 1 mpg, but if it's actually true it will take way too many miles to make it cost effective.

[awwall]

I also have the 5 star tune and love it. When in real hilly country, I will still kick off the cruise control. I prefer sometimes to let the speed decrease and hold a constant throttle. Don't bother me in the least to slow down some. On smaller inclines the 5 star performs. It shifts into 4th gear that ford forgot and you don't get the 4000 rpm climb. Before getting the 5 star, I looked high and low for a simple throttle control, but no where could I find a tune that did this simple act. If I could find something I could program in to modify the cruise control, I would get in it in a second. Just lock the throttle at the current position and don't move it. This is exactly what I do when I take control from the cruise control.

To the OP. I only use tow/haul when in real hilly country and in town. The auto control of the transmission downshifting helps a bunch. Just tap the brake and tow/haul does the rest. On flat land I don't believe it does anything. On start ups, I think it holds lower gears longer. The 5 star also does this.

My 2 cents...

[phelpo]

good stuff, coming down from Ohio I got 8 mpg towing a
2007 Saturn Vue. didn't even know it was back there

Phelpo

[USNMM1VETERAN]

Ok yea i am not to worried about mpg, It's gonna suck, didn't join this lifestyle to worry about mpg, i know it will be somewherw between 7-9 and maybe if lucky 10 in the plains. The cruise control is interesting, cause in my car when i have cruise on and head up a hill it always seems to rev rpm's really high, but i assume the V10 can handle high rpms. Well heading to somerset county today for memorial day weekend and have some pretty steep and long hills on Pa. Turnpike to deal with. I will let you know if I end up on the Runaway Truck Ramp. Lol.

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[alparmer]

Originally Posted by USNMM1VETERAN

Ok yea i am not to worried about mpg, It's gonna suck, didn't join this lifestyle to worry about mpg, i know it will be somewherw between 7-9 and maybe if lucky 10 in the plains. The cruise control is interesting, cause in my car when i have cruise on and head up a hill it always seems to rev rpm's really high, but i assume the V10 can handle high rpms. Well heading to somerset county today for memorial day weekend and have some pretty steep and long hills on Pa. Turnpike to deal with. I will let you know if I end up on the Runaway Truck Ramp. Lol.

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I don't know how many times I've heard "not worried about MPGs", including myself. For some reason, I'm always checking it as if I can make a difference, and always looking for cheapest gas station. It's in our nature since oil runs through our veins.

The V10 shines when revved up. I think the problem is that it does it more than it needs to.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by phelpo

good stuff, coming down from Ohio I got 8 mpg towing a
2007 Saturn Vue. didn't even know it was back there

Phelpo

That's pretty good Phelpo. That's about what we get if we are in no hurry. If we keep up with traffic we loose a couple. A lot cheaper than having to fly four of us and put the dog in a kennel...and we don't have to take travel size stuff.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by awwall

On smaller inclines the 5 star performs. It shifts into 4th gear that ford forgot and you don't get the 4000 rpm climb.

You nailed it. That's exactly what ours was doing. It's like downshifting from 5th into 3rd. With the tune, it now utilizes 4th and overall shifting seems smoother.

[USNMM1VETERAN]

You are right man I complain about gas prices and love low gas and get gas cards when cashing in rewards, but I was not going to give up my dream of traveling the country because of gas prices. Once I got over the sticker shock of mpg and realized I can do it with some planning and pulling a toad that gets 26 mpg, then it wasn't the most important thing, relaxing is.

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[phelpo]

hey the biggest problem we have is when towing
finding a gas station to get into and out of. Forget the next exit book when it says rv friendly. I had to
pull a u turn and jumped the curb to get it done.
With my Vectra, no problem pull in with the truckers.

Not so with the gasser. We ended up cruising the
stations and putting a eye ball on them.....such
fun!

Phelpo

[RvBill3]

Flying J stations have RV lanes. Off to the side of the car pumps. They have water, dump station, both gas and diesel. Otherwise, I always look for truck stops--they usually have more space around the gas pumps also. Stations along interstates in more rural areas rather than in cities often are more spacious.

[USNMM1VETERAN]

That's something I thought of while driving out today, how hard is it going to be getting gas. Good point about flying j's and truck stops. And turnpike service stations are going to come in handy also I think

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[alparmer]

Originally Posted by USNMM1VETERAN

That's something I thought of while driving out today, how hard is it going to be getting gas. Good point about flying j's and truck stops. And turnpike service stations are going to come in handy also I think

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You'd be surprised how many places you can fit your coach into. There is one thing that you always have to be aware of...well, there are a couple, but the main one tail swing. The gas tank fill is one the left side. Ideally, after you fill up, you want to turn left and let the rear end swing out to the right. This could be a problem if you can't turn left as you don't want the tail to swing to the left and hit the gas pumps or pump guards. There are a couple of things you can do especially if you don't have a lot of room in front of you to clear the pumps. Don't get too close to the pumps. Pull in as far as possible from the pumps so that you'll have extra room for your turn. Now, if you are sure you can't clear the pumps all you have to do is backup.

[Oaklevel]

Back to your original question about the tow haul mode. The operators manual should tell of its proper use. I turn it on my turn if towing.

As far as warranties I found out the hard way adding anything not stock can & does void warranty & or extended warranty. Cost me over $4K.

[alparmer]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

Back to your original question about the tow haul mode. The operators manual should tell of its proper use. I turn it on my turn if towing.

As far as warranties I found out the hard way adding anything not stock can & does void warranty & or extended warranty. Cost me over $4K.

Wow, what did you do that voided the warranty?

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by alparmer

Wow, what did you do that voided the warranty?

Had a Bully Dog tuner & to make matters worse it was on the truck when I bought it.

[RhoZeta]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

Had a Bully Dog tuner & to make matters worse it was on the truck when I bought it.

Were you unable to return it to stock configuration before a dealer visit? I have had the 5 Star (SCT) Tuner on my truck thru out it's warranty period and before any dealership visit I would always reinstall the factory tune. Never had even a hint of a problem for any warranty issue I had. If they had some way of telling I had a tuner they never mentioned it and I am inclined to believe that if they thought they had an out on performing my warranty work they would have used it.

BTW My tuner stays in my center console, all they had to do was open it up to find it...

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[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by RhoZeta

Were you unable to return it to stock configuration before a dealer visit? I have had the 5 Star (SCT) Tuner on my truck thru out it's warranty period and before any dealership visit I would always reinstall the factory tune. Never had even a hint of a problem for any warranty issue I had. If they had some way of telling I had a tuner they never mentioned it and I am inclined to believe that if they thought they had an out on performing my warranty work they would have used it.

BTW My tuner stays in my center console, all they had to do was open it up to find it...

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It was put on the truck by the previous owner. No Info was left in the truck & Bully Dog was of less than no help. The truck was throwing a code & no one around here would touch it other than the dealer. Esp not Cummins they were friendly but they could not touch any newer than an 03 Dodge.

[ATVer]

Have not researched 5 star but most tuners that actually change the computer program do void the warranty and leave a trail in the computer even if removed. There are brands which plug in between the various sensors and change the inputs to the computer to make the operational changes desired. Thus the computer just responds to what it sees and there is no traceable impacts to the programing. As long as the system is removed before the dealer sees it, no problem.
Unless the warranty issue could be related to what the programmer changed, such as burned piston, overheated component, etc they probably wouldn't even look.
Also depending if your state has emissions testing, most don't for large vehicles, they could pick it up then.

[ATVer]

Originally Posted by USNMM1VETERAN

That's something I thought of while driving out today, how hard is it going to be getting gas. Good point about flying j's and truck stops. And turnpike service stations are going to come in handy also I think

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Be careful on Pa turnpike rest stops if you follow the signs for trucks it often bypasses the gas pumps and you can only get to diesel pumps. I had to come back up the exit ramp against traffic to get to the gas pumps once. I now follow the signs for cars at all Pa turnpike rest stops if I need fuel.

[Itsthetwoofus]

Not sure what your driving but if your towing use the tow haul switch. I find that if I forget to turn it on it effects my braking and downshifting. By all means if your towing use it, that's what it's for.