3.73 gears.........I never use tow/haul unless I will not be going faster than 45 mph. Why? Because if you are going much faster and you hit the brakes hard, the engine goes into super rev mode and scares the hell out of me!
I lock out 6th gear around town,loaded or empty. I have not as of yet had an opportunity to tackle a long steep grade loaded or empty. Just short hills.
Texas is mostly flat until you head out west like to El Paso. I had some trouble with a few of those hills..............but I wasn't the only one.
I remember it downshifted to 4th once on a steeper hill.
I think a 5 Star Tune would help out alot from what I hear. You may want to try it first before you bail out of your 6.2 Ford has this engine throttled back so much that it effects performance. I think a tuner is just what you(we,me) need. I may get it one day too as I am out of warranty at 150,000 trouble free miles so far.

 

I just think you are not use to the truck yet.

Also, when the studs break off, it's usually because the nuts got loose. The wheel will vibrate and break the studs.

 

You are correct. I had tire damage during my last mapping trip 4 weeks ago and had AAA change the tire. Guess which one ripped off the trailer? My bad for not checking the torque afterwards. Lesson learned. When you say I'm not use to my truck yet, can you elaborate please? Before this truck I had a 2012 F150 with 5.0l pulling the same trailer and probably covered 7,000-8,000 miles last year towing with it. I'm now tempted to use manual mode to see if this improves my experience. I love the truck and would prefer not having to get a diesel for several reasons but I need the truck to do well with my current trailer for now and whatever fiver the wife and I buy in the next few months.

 

When we pull, it is usually around 8,000. We have drive up multiple 6, 7, and 8% grades. I have even driven 70mph up one of those 4 mile long 6% grades. I was at 4500rpm.. I didn't lock out 6th, didn't put it in manual, and didn't use tow/haul. That just seemed to be the sweet spot. Yes, it was very loud. Some like it and some don't.

Rubiconrod-From your original post, it does seem that there was some sort of problem that is not quite normal.. I could have been just as simple as backing off the gas pedal just a little bit to let the tranny shift to 3rd or manually shift it.

Diesels are great for some and gassers are great for others, however neither are great for everyone. If you are considering a 14K fiver, pull several thousand miles a year, and want to be one of the first up the mountain, then Diesel is for you. No judgement here.. Personally I would like a F650 in diesel, however the Mrs. has other plans for that money.

 

I had a 2011 5.0 F150 and that engine loves to spin and sing! It was MUCH much quieter than the 6.2.
The 6.2 loves to spin also - it just makes a hell of a racket doing it.

 

This is the first truck that i didn't have a direct connection to the motor so it took awhile to learn how to drive it pulling a load. Your telling the computer what you want to do any it decides how to respond but it can't see the road ahead. I don't like the TH mode because it's too aggressive and will not shift when I think it should so I like to use the manual when pulling grades. With the 4.3 gears running in manual and locking it into 3rd I can pull about any but not all grades at 55 or above if I want to but normally I back off and run it at lower rpms to save fuel and maybe make the motor last longer, just because you know it can do it doesn't mean it's wise to do it all the time.

If your not using manual mode and and hold the petal to the floor it will rev until it hits the limiter but if you back off it will shift to a higher gear and either pull a little better or remain the same at a lower rpm. If you play with it for awhile you will be able to tell when your out of its power band and anymore rpm is just noise. Just remember it's just like any other gas motor if you let the rpms drop to far out of the power band it will have a hard time building them back up that's why when pulling grades I use the manual mode and downshift when it hits 3K and either hold it at no higher than 4500 or shift it depending on what's up ahead.

It's all in learning to drive what you have and anticipate what's up ahead, you won't damage anything by playing with it to learn what it can an can't do. I found out right away that's it's not a V10 and I had to learn how to drive it because it's a 6.2.

Denny

 

Maybe you have a bad hub or a brake dragging on the trailer.

 

^^ Well said, Denny^^

 

Very well said, and that is what I was thinking....just to lazy to type all that up

 

Thank you very much for the detailed response. Makes sense. I guess this is the very same reason why tractor trailers are manual and not automatic. I think I'll use my gasser instead of the diesel this weekend to pick up my repaired trailer 4 hours away and practice this technique. Much appreciated!

 

Thought I would follow-up on my post. I picked up my trailer yesterday and decided to use manual mode instead of "auto" w/tow-haul. Conditions were about the same as my other trip averaging about 100 degrees most of the trip. AC was on. I will admit a big difference towing in manual mode as I was able to keep the RPM's where I wanted. There's not doubt in my mind this is what is needed if you two with this engine in the mountains. There's also no doubt that if I had 4.30 gears and a 5 star tune all would be perfect. The only drawback (and a minor one at that) is I lost almost 2MPG in manual mode. Might not be because of manual mode as I had a really bad head wind for over 100 miles so time will tell. Appreciate everyone's input on the subject. Going to look at what might be our new fifth wheel next weekend which shows 8400 lbs dry on the yellow sticker.

 

That was the wind, I've seen that many times.

 

I have a 2012 F250CCSB XL and occasionally tow a travel trailer weighing just under 5500 lbs. Last summer we traveled from Austin to Fort Davis Tx. Only once on I10 did it drop lower than 4th and that was my fault. I was starting up a hill using the manual mode, with cruise and in fifth. At the top of the hill was a state trooper with his lights on. I became fixated with the lights and forgot to downshift into 4th. Before I knew it the cruise cut off, I glanced at the speedo and was doing just under 40mph. I quickly dropped it into 3rd, moved over to the left lane and sped back up. The manual mode works better for me when towing, but you have to be on your toes with it.

 

Yeah I just towed my first time with my new truck coming from a diesel a 6.4 tuned i was more then happy. I used T/H which after reading here ill try M next trip it did shock me hitting 3rd gear at 70mph lol. I never lost any speed at all climbing but boy those RPMs were wicked. But all in all this 6.2 is a beast it has *****! MPGs aren't to bad coming from the fuel loving 6.4 and yes going down hill in T/H is a scary ordeal LOL.

 

I think you will be happy going up and down grades in the M mode instead of TH.

Denny