I know, that was just my lame attempt at humor. I try not to take anything here too seriously.

 

Me too! All we need is high blood pressure and more stress than we are provided on a daily basis anyway.

 

The only thing about T/H is your fuel economy sucks when you're using it.

Dad and I towed a CAT 236B skid back to CT from Ohio with his 06 6 liter DRW F350.

A 236B series II weighs in around 7,000 pounds so I'd imagine a 236B wouldn't be too far off.

The tow/haul was great for highway off-ramps to stop for fuel or anything else. And steep grades were nice too.

As for using T/H mode when towing 500 pounds.

Would you use T/H mode if you had 2 fat friends in the truck? Because that's equal to or greater than 500 pounds of extra weight.

 

Good point. I don't haul fat friends though.

 

No worries here, come on were all like family
Ive got a ques
Ive got a prodigy and don`t know where to mount it,I did search

Hanklin

 

Just kidding about the fat friends thing. Pete has a good point too. It doesn't make sense to use the T/H mode unless you're hauling or towing heavy. It will keep the RPMs up in order to keep the truck in the powerband and will tend to suck up more go-go juice in the process.

 

The only inconvenience I find with my 99 is that when I am lightly loaded and climbing a hill it has a tendancy to shift down when its not necessary. I guess thats where the DP Tuner would work. Am I correct?
Bob
PS: is it possible to get my user name changed and still keep credit for my posts?

 

I almost forgot I am not on the 99 to 03 forum.

 

I second that, coming down a mountain road with two sleds on the back. It decided to downshift at the same time as I touched the brake. I just barely managed to keep it on the road. If there is any chance of ice or snow being on the road, leave it off unless you are climbing a hill, just manually select your gear for breaking.

 

You don't use gearing or any type of engine brake/retarder when the roads are slippery.

That's one of the first things drilled into your head when you get your CDL.

When you do that you are braking the tow vehicle, but not the trailer. If it's slippery then the trailer will try to push the tow vehicle. That will cause one of several things. It could cause the trailer to go around and be next to you. That might pull the back of the truck with it and that makes for a bad day.

Or it could cause the trailer to push the back of the truck around and then you've got problems too.

Those are both situations if you've got a bumper-pull. If you've got a gooseneck/5th wheel you could flip it around so that you'd smash the front of the truck on the trailer.

If you use the brakes and have the proper brake controller then the trailer brakes will apply and that will keep the trailer from trying to push the truck around.

 

"Two sleds on" means two sleds on the back of the truck with no trailer. You awlays got to gear for the conditions and I have seen brakes overheat and because people were scared to gear down on long descents, it led to a trip to the ER and a totaled vehicle in one case.

 

Still trying to get a straight forward answer since I'm fairly new to diesel trucks.

I have an 02 F250 7.3 Powerstroke. It has rediculous power but I feel like I'm just wasting gas when I tow my boat. It's about 2500 lbs. total. I also have a travel trailer that is closer to 7500 lbs.

From what I'm reading I should for sure use it coming down the mountains (I tow the sierras in CA a few time a year). How about flat ground or going up the mountains (its about a 7400 ft elevation change to the top)?

Am I hurting the tranny not using it?

Thanks, I'll absorb all the rookie comments for trying to get specific answers.

 

Using tow haul changes the shifting patterns. It allows it to stay in gear long to prevent hunting and excessive gear changes which also create extra heat.

For 2500 lbs I would not bother unless going down a hill or steep grade. It will then help to save your brakes from excessive use of that.

For the TT i would use tow haul and leave it on unless conditions are wet.

It does not use anymore fuel as a whole however since it holds the lower gears a bit longer maybe it does. Personally use which one feels better according to the seat of your pants. For me it is tow/haul for anything over about 5K pounds.

 

Actually, you don't have tow/haul on an '02. All you have is an overdrive lockout. But the answer is pretty much the same. If your transmission is shifting up and down from OD frequently, use the lockout. On that transmission, I would leave OD off all the time when pulling your heavier trailer. The tranny will run cooler.

 

Wow this is an old thread...I can't believe that my Silverado has Tow/Haul and its an '01 model. How did GM beat Ford to that?!