Hey gang,

Going to be taking our first family camping trip in a few weeks. We have a 4100lb 26ft travel trailer (well, that's what the tag says it weighs). Campsite is about 2.5 hours away.

At what weight do you start using the tow/haul mode? I know the 4100lbs is pretty light for the capability this truck has overall, but is it enough weight to require the tow/haul mode?

Thanks!!

 

Sometimes I find it usefull, sometimes not. Mostly helpful for me on decel and braking. I haul about the same as you are talking about. Just tinker with it. It wont hurt to turn it off and on. I bet you'll like the way it works.

 

I haul a 7500# Travel Trailer behind my V10 Excursion and I always use it in town and hills n' such. Usually when I hit the nice level stretches of road I'll disengage it and she rolls on just fine. 4100# would be a dream to pull. Probably wouldn't even notice it's there.

 

I tow my 28.6ft TT, it weighs about 7500, and I carry about 1000lbs in my E350 and I use the tow haul PLUS the 93 octane tow program from Mike @ 5 Star.

Absolutely wonderful on every road, hill and decent I've been on.

 

There is no weight where tow/haul mode is required. Try it both ways and use the one you like better. You won't hurt anything either way. The truck was designed to tow at max weight in both modes.

 

Give it a try and see which mode you like. I would certainly recommend it if you're in a hilly area. I turn mine off if I'm stop-n-go city traffic.

Rob

 

For me it's more about the terrain than anything else. I just got back from a trip to the Ozarks in sw missouri pulling my boat. It only weighs 4-4.5k so it's really no big deal but when you get in the hills the tow haul mode is fantastic! You hardly ever have to touch your brakes. Same with heavy traffic. The downshifting slows you down so easy you don't ever use the brakes. On the flatlands it was much more pleasant to leave it turned off.

Also, on the semi-hilly parts of the trip, it was more comfortable to leave the tow haul and cruise off. It would downshift on a slight hill to try and maintain 65 mph. With cruise off, I would gain some speed going downhill and just let it ease back to the speed limit on the uphill part without downshifting. Worked great.

Another thing I noticed. Sometimes it would just unlock the TC and not make a downshift. Pretty cool!

I know, I know, it's only 4.5k lbs. But when you get in the hills you will know it's back there. Level cruise? Set it and forget it.

 

I have a 7500lb trailer and I use tow/haul all the time. The only thing I don't like about tow/haul mode is that when I am climbing hills and have to pull over to let traffic pass, I have to manually shift into 1st gear and so forth to get back up to speed. If I'm in 3rd gear going up hill and come to a complete stop, I can't get rolling again without dropping gear. This only happens in tow/haul mode.

 

dougsale, that doesn't sound right...

 

My 2008 seems to do the same thing but it doesn't matter if it is in tow/haul mode or not. My take on it is when you put it in a number gear it seems to only be in that gear, it will not upshift or downshift. With every other automatic vehicle I have owned when you put it in a numbered gear it just won't upshift beyond that gear, but will downshift. Seemed very odd to me.

 

That is how Ford does it.

When the shifter is in 2, it starts in second gear and won't upshift or downshift. Second is the only gear available.

When the shifter is in 3, it starts in third gear and won't upshift or downshift to first or second gear at a stop. Third is the only gear available.

 

Can you help me understand exactly what the reason for tow/haul is then? Thanks.

 

Tow/Haul will hold gears longer while accelerating, downshift more readily, and hold lower gears while decelerating to use utilize engine braking.

 

I put the shifter in 2 when road conditions are slippery, ice and or snow, it helps to prevent wheel spin.