Steep grade braking and use of Transmission

[Falcon35]

To switch on tow haul push in the button on the end of the gear shift leaver.
A Tow Haul indicator will show up in the instrument panel.
Tow haul changes the shift pattern of the transmission.
I find it really helps with maintaining our speed without overworking the brakes.
As you use it you will find other times on hills and stop and go driving.
Most of the time I do not have it on but always when I go down mountains or large hills.

[trell]

Guess I don't have tow/haul on mine as when I push in the button no lite on dash only lite on end of shifter arm that says off. I'm assuming that mean cruise is off.

[Trempert]

Originally Posted by trell

Guess I don't have tow/haul on mine as when I push in the button no lite on dash only lite on end of shifter arm that says off. I'm assuming that mean cruise is off.

You are correct that you don't have tow haul mode. What "Off" means is that your overdrive is turned off. If the transmission continues to shift in/out of overdrive, you should turn it off so it doesn't burn the torque converter and transmission up. Turning it off is often needed when towing with even slight grades or into a wind.

[Falcon35]

trell:
I see you have 2001 and believe that predates the tow haul transmission.
I had the same transmission in my F350. Switching off the OD will help a little to hold you back on a hill. On a very large hill I would slow down at the brow of the hill so that I could safely shift into second. The old rule is go down the hill in same gear that you need to go up. Better safe then sorry.

[bend302]

Trell:

Your '01 and my '05 only has the overdrive selector on the column. The coach will still work up quite a speed rolling downhill if you don't watch it even with the OD selector off. I agree, shift down at a slower speed if the hill is steep.

Another anomaly is that the cruise will kick out when under a heavy pull uphill.

I don't think our tranny's have auto downshift when tapping the brakes either. If someone knows better, I would like to hear about it.

Bill

[trell]

Originally Posted by bend302

Trell:

Your '01 and my '05 only has the overdrive selector on the column. The coach will still work up quite a speed rolling downhill if you don't watch it even with the OD selector off. I agree, shift down at a slower speed if the hill is steep.

Another anomaly is that the cruise will kick out when under a heavy pull uphill.

I don't think our tranny's have auto downshift when tapping the brakes either. If someone knows better, I would like to hear about it.

Bill

Think you are correct ,Sir.

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by mkillora

A trucker's rule of thumb is to use the same gear going down the hill as you used going up it.

times 2
this works good in most cases
Mountainman

[cfsoistman]

Just looked at the Ford 2013 F53 Chassis at the Hershey Show and it now has brake ducts on the front. Spoke with the rep and he said it's standard on the 24,000 & 26,000 lbs rated chassis. It's just a tube facing forward and curves right into the back of the brake caliper. Looks to be 1-1/2" to 2" Tubing.