I have a '15 F20 6.7 and am getting ready to tow a 7Klb TT. I have read on the on board towing info and in the owners manual that we are not suppose to use CC when towing. However, I have read a few posts that say they are using CC. I hate the idea of having to keep the foot on the gas for a long distance if I don't have to. Opinions?

 

That seems ridiculous to me to not use CC. I have a 2000 F250 7.3 diesel that tows a 10K lbs travel trailer with CC on just fine. I towed it 7500 miles from GA to Seattle and back this past summer and used CC as much as possible. I could not imagine going across SD and Montana without CC.

You will be just fine with a new 6.7 and that weight. The truck won't even know it is back there. Set the CC and enjoy the ride my friend.

 

In the "old days", this was true.... using cruise would cause the tranny to kick out of cruise because the vehicle just didn't have the guts to hold it at a steady speed...

Now that is just an old wives tale. Enjoy.

 

New modern diesels with better tranny's. Use cruise control. So much nicer to roll down the road that way.

 

I use cruise control while towing in the same situations I do when not towing.

 

In use cruise to tow my 7000# TT with my 08 5.4 and it works great. A new diesel probably won't even have to downshift so hell ya, lock it in and enjoy your ride

 

Cruise control, tow haul mode, and lock out sixth gear.

 

What reason do you lock out sixth? I wouldn't think that was required.

 

I don't lock out 6th gear. Only reason would be if you are gear hunting.

 

Most of my towing has been through northern Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas. Lots of hills. Fifth and sixth gear are both overdrives. So except for flat country with a tail wind, I keep it out of sixth gear, and use the manual mode to down shift to Fourth gear at the base of a hill instead of waiting for the truck to downshift to third or second half way up the hill.

 

Common sense applies here, weather permitting, traffic density.

I anticipate hills so I will occasionally drive without CC.

 

I tow heavy cross country. I use tow/haul. Plenty of power.

Steep descents then I will use the manual mode to control the speed.

 

Cruise control almost always but do kick it off when I pull our 12K 5er in hilly areas as I want to be the judge of when the transmission shifts plus want to limit rpm to something reasonable - I will let the speed drop as necessary. I seldom use Tow/Haul and instead rely on the manual shift feature which I found, doesn't have to have the lever in the 'M' position to work. As a note, I wish that manual function, 'M', was on the steering wheel instead of the shift lever where I have to kinda grope for it rather then have it in plain sight and under a thumb.

 

Follow-up - just towed trailer from Tampa to Ft Lauderdale. Dash info for towing said we don't need to use T/H mode on flat land. That route doesn't get much flatter, so didn't use T/H but did use Cruise Control. I initially locked out 5th for about half way then opened 6th the rest of the way. Kept an eye on trans and oil temp. Oil - 200-210 and trans - 195-205.

 

On flat land, there's zero reason to lock out any of the higher gears unless you find the transmission to be hunting. I prefer to run in T/H, although in conditions like you describe, it probably doesn't make much difference.