Next month I am going to do about 1200 miles of towing with my 2017 F250 6.7. Having not used this truck for towing much other than smaller boats, the load will be about 8500 pounds. Not big for the F250 by what it can do, but will be freeway, mountain passes, and all around driving.

1) use tow / haul mode on the column shifter I would think yes?

2) Are there any gears I should lock out or not use such as 6th. My last truck I was told to keep it out of overdrive when towing much of a load, so that is what the tow / haul button did on my old Tundra, it just locked it out of O/D

 

use tow haul and put it in drive and go.


No need to lock out gears.


I tow on the hwy with cruise control on. I will turn it off if a lot of traffic though.


Don't over think this. I is not very much of a load.

 

I'd put tow/haul and let her fly. No reason to lock out unless you're hitting many downhill slopes. Enjoy!

 

The only reason you use the gear lockout is if you happen to be on a grade where the transmission keeps shifting. There's nothing wrong with that but it bugs some people so they lockout the higher gear.

 

If you don't tow much it may be stressful at first but you will get comfortable and settle right in. Just set your cruise control at 62 and enjoy the ride. Like Senix said its not much weight, your truck will handle it like a champ.

 

Thanks for all the info, just wanted to make sure there was no harm in using 6th gear or OD as I call it with a load on it. Have towed a bunch of stuff with other trucks including some wider than legal loads through SF Bay Area traffic, like 9.5 foot wide boats, just getting used to all the cool new stuff on this truck as I am coming out of a 2003 Toyota Tundra so there is a lot that is different. This truck is just so nice, it was one of those after I drove it moments, I sort of found it to be the truck I kept coming back to. Thanks for all the help and info on this board.

 

Set your exhaust brake to automatic for those mountain passes.
The transmission can handle towing in 6th gear. I tow my 18k 5er in 6th all the time.

 

What the above guys have said, and do not under any circumstances tow on dry rotted tires that "look" ok. Ask me how many times I've had to learn that lesson.

 

Ok so you will drive in California/Bay Area, one quick tip "stay away of third lane" except when freeway come together or separate.
I knew this before but I forgot about and the first time I tow with my new truck I got the reminder in grape vine by CHP