On the trailer brakes hit them hard a few times and work the gain down till it doesn't lock up the tires easily. I like it when it tugs the truck mildly when braking but needs to be provoked to lock up the tires.. Locking the tires actually stops faster.

Empty at 4500lbs I am at 3.5 gain. At 10,000lbs I am at 4.5. And getting up around 14-15,000 I am at 5 or 5.5. That’s probably dependent on the trailer though and may not apply to yours.

 

Honestly, just remind the boss to put engine brake in manual mode (one button press) tow haul on (one button press) and drive it like towing 10,000 lbs. manual mode or locking out gears works well to save on brakes but that comes with experience of how the truck acts and what load is actually on it. the more load, the more hold back. With previous towing I would leave it at that, like they say above, call (you have Sync, so blue tooth button and voice call hands free) All the systems work together, the towing experience is really good. Add cruise into this and it holds back from overspeed of setting as well. If you have all the steering wheel controls it works quite well, but it did take me some time to get used to it.

 

Although slightly come complex for me the above is the most noteworthy of the comments so far in this thread. Since the wife has experience towing weight I should think she would grasp the concepts quickly.

If she is already aware skip the following but another discussion I think appropriate here is manual (brake pedal) braking in emergency situations while towing.

Where I live animal intrusion into the roadway is common, deer strikes occur regularly. Your wife may need to confront this situation also on the trip.

First response often with a deer in the road is to avoid hitting it. I my opinion saving Bambi should not be the top priority while towing.

I have always taught my sons while not towing to never swerve to avoid an animal. Brake as hard as needed, focus on keeping the car straight, and take out Bambi if necessary. Swerving often leaves the car off the road, and likely Bambi gets hit anyway. Severe injuries and deaths occur every year here from cars swerving to avoid animals.

The same concept while towing. If Bambi shows up on a straight road brake hard and focus on the trailer in the mirrors. If it starts coming around let up on the brakes or even accelerate slightly if needed to put the trailer back in alignment with the truck. Bambi is on his own. The last thing we want is the trailer coming up alongside soon to take it and the truck into the ditch or on it's side.

In a curve the same applies but brake progressively with focus on the trailer. Continue steering through the curve and hopefully the trailer will stay behind, if not let up and drive the curve as usual.

Not intending to speak down to you and the wife here. Most likely you are experts on this concept already. It is worthy of mention however for those that may be new to towing. I see the results of bad decision making regularly where I am.

Most recent example on my way home last week from working with my son for a day in the Sacramento area. East bound Hwy 80 just past Applegate, CA.
Lots wrong here but worst of all was braking too hard in a corner and not paying attention to what the trailer was doing.

Best wishes on your trip!

 

If you’re worried about her driving the truck and trailer combo maybe you should put her behind the wheel of the MH. Heavy vehicle towing a car is a lot easier than pickup towing a trailer that outweighs it.

 

If the lady can haul “HORSES” all around the country, I don;t think she needs lessons in towing in general. She likely does better than some on here.
It also seems the couple (husband/wife) may also have experience with bigger rigs than Super Duty’s. OP’s comments about “Jake Brake” and “PAC Brake” lead me to believe this.

 

Just to clear up what experience my wife has, yes, lot's of horse trailer hauling around to various events in the western states, mostly from 1995 to 2005, using a F250 with just a brake controller. We also had a Holiday Rambler Endeavor (which had a PAC brake), and more recently a 42' HR Imperial with a 2 stage Jake. Her driving the coaches exposed her to exhaust braking, but her driving has mostly been on highways or freeways,. She is not all that receptive to driving the MH for this move in all the other (non-highway) conditions while pulling the car, and more specifically through the heavy traffic conditions through Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Sacramento, the 100 miles of crazy on Hwy 10 through LA, Riverside/Palm Desert, and finally the greater Phoenix Metro area getting thru to Apache Junction. She would prefer the truck as the better of two evils.

So what I wanted to give her was the piece she is missing and cannot practice before we leave next week. An in-depth description of what she can expect from the Ford braking system using the somewhat complicated combination of Drive and Manual gear selection, Tow/Haul, Manual and Automatic engine braking. Ridiculous! The 'KISS' philosophy was not any part of Ford's design as evidenced by all the various comments and experiences noted above.

A PAC or Jake brake is significantly more simple and intuitive for the user.

On a different note, I want to especially thank several of you for the extra detail and comprehensive approach you took in drafting your responses to help me on this. I have and will continue to share the best and most important takeaways of all your thoughts.

 

Good luck with your trip Stuart. My wife is too chicken to drive my F-350.

 

Give her only one other choice, a motorhome, and she'll come around.

 

And this is why I say to put exhaust brake in the “FIRST” or “MANUAL” position, unless it is totally different than my ‘16 F350 was, it seemed to be pretty much intuitive. With the cruise set it did an excellent job of kicking in whenever just a few MP:H over the set speed, or with the cruise off and the EB on, it would activate whenever foot was off the throttle. Step on the brake and unit would downshift and bring RPM’s up on its own.
With the trans in “M” I had total control of which gear I was in at all times.......no waiting for the computer to decide when to shift.

 

These are all set and forget buttons, unfortunately, the truck doesn't know youryour towing, which it should, to put on tow/haul, to engage the engine brake. Its the same, turn it on and drive. Everything is integrated and will work well. If your wife can haul horses all over the place, and knows how to drive for them, she will have no troubles whatsoever. FYI, don't have to use M mode to maximize engine braking, it is load sensing and will do what it needs to do. If you want more hold back, drop a gear in drive with the -/+ button. Remember to bring up the gears in drive, hit the + again and they will show, after a couple start cycles they will always show in drive unless you turn them off. If there isn't the RPM range it wont shift(just like in M mode) but i find it quicker than trying to move the gear lever the occasional time I need the extra hold back.

 

If I'm going to use M mode I have to get into it BEFORE I need it. My gear shifter is stiff and I find it difficult to get from D to M without going right past M to 2. When I'm barrelling downhill (I'm exaggerating slightly) the last thing I need is to be fooling around with a difficult gear shifter.

Consequently, keeping the Exhaust Brake in Auto mode, Tow/Haul on and then shifting with the +/- buttons, if needed, is how I usually travel.

 

Yep, I'd like to see a push button M mode vs. a gear shift for this reason...