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Actually, 388k now. This is a more recent picture. I took this shot about a month ago. (I looked out my living room window one morning, and there she was - posing! Lol)
Not to de-rail this thread but have you had any issues with your truck in 388K miles?
Used to drive truck and still have a CDL, so I have gone up and down a few hills loaded.
I took my first towing trip with my 21 F-350 W/ 6.7 , 3.55 gears and Adaptive Cruise towing a 8000 lb TT.
I was just playing when I set my Cruise at 65 and headed out to the Sierra Nevadas. I was quite confident it would not hold. I was amazed at how well the truck held speed up and down the hills, in traffic and on the open road! Switched between Auto and Normal engine brake modes and both worked well.
I have never been more relaxed towing a load in my life.
The last thing a professional driver wants to be called is a “Steering wheel holder”, but that is exactly what I am in my new truck…LOL…
Yes, but it does work DAMN well. Last week we were on vacation up in Big Bear Lake, CA with our 22' boat. Long story short, the dang trailer surge brakes have NOT worked at all in years. (Yes, I know I should fix.) I estimate that the boat and trailer is ~6,000 lbs. I pulled the boat home behind the 2018 6.7L F350... knowing full well, I had no trailer brakes. The start elevation is ~8,000' and the road takes you to about 1,000' in about 20 miles. I DO NOT drive slow - yet I barely used the brakes at all during the descent. What I found that worked surprisingly well (almost too good) was using the engine brake in manual mode while also placing the transmission in manual mode. The amount of "braking" needed was easily modulated by manually downshifting the transmission. Not sure I ever exceeded 3,000RPM, but the higher the revs the more "braking" you get. This system worked really, really well. I did have to tap the brakes literally only 4-5 times during the descent and only for a couple of seconds. Other than that it was all engine braking and transmission control. Very, very, impressed!!
I notice when cruise control is on, and tow/haul mode is on, the brake lights come on going down hill. I'm hauling a truck camper, so there are no trailer brakes. But, I'm wanting to use the engine to control the speed downhill on these 6-8 degree down hill, so as not to cook my brakes. So Cruise comes off when in the mountains. I also don't like how cruise will engage the brakes going downhill, when I'd prefer to let it coast, and then re-engage at the set speed up the next hill.
Which exhaust brake mode are you in? Automatic of Manual? Automatic is two presses of the button, manual is one. You get more turbo action, and therefore more "braking" in the Manual mode. On steep downhill runs, I use Manual mode of the exhaust brake and usually also use the Manual mode of the transmission, selecting which gear to be in.
Automatic exhaust brake mode works. It's just doesn't fit as well with the mountain passes I go over.
Side note: I have an issue with my 6r140 transmission where once tow/haul and/or the exhaust brake downshifts to 3rd, it won't upshift without a lot of RPM's. When I use the Manual transmission mode I don't have that issue. At the top of the hill I shift to Manual mode so I don't have to do that in the middle of the downhill portion.
I also usually put the tranny in manual mode for the curvy downhills around here when pulling my 5th wheel and engine brake on. That avoids shifts resulting in high RPMs just because I hit the brakes for a sharp curve.
With the transmission in automatic mode and the engine brake on, it seems to get stuck in 2nd gear without wanting to upshift without high RPMs. I contribute this to the inclinometer still indicating a downhill grade, which is correct. Once the truck levels out or starts uphill the tranny shifts out of 2nd without any trouble. The work around to get the transmission to upshift while still going downhill is to either switch the transmission to manual mode or temporarily turn of the engine brake.
Hi all, This post is old but relevant. If I can clarify my understanding and if not, please advise... I am towing a 5th wheel with electric brakes. I have experiences the high RPM issue and just turned off the engine brake as I did not like that. I was going 60 mph down a pass in Oregon. It is the speed limit so it was okay. Anyway, if I understand correctly to tow using the engine brake (lets just call it that for me at the moment if allowed) in Auto, the Mode set to Tow/Haul, and I need to use Adaptive Cruise control, plus my seat massager (okay, but I like it for long hauls....) my trailer brakes will work in conjunction with the engine brake an truck brakes if needed. I will be able to monitor the Gain on my screen that appears on the dash.
Is that all correct, or is there a better setup I should be using? I really don't want to have to go manual on the tranny, but can do so if it works with normal cruise control, etc.
Hi all, This post is old but relevant. If I can clarify my understanding and if not, please advise... I am towing a 5th wheel with electric brakes. I have experiences the high RPM issue and just turned off the engine brake as I did not like that. I was going 60 mph down a pass in Oregon. It is the speed limit so it was okay. Anyway, if I understand correctly to tow using the engine brake (lets just call it that for me at the moment if allowed) in Auto, the Mode set to Tow/Haul, and I need to use Adaptive Cruise control, plus my seat massager (okay, but I like it for long hauls....) my trailer brakes will work in conjunction with the engine brake an truck brakes if needed. I will be able to monitor the Gain on my screen that appears on the dash.
Is that all correct, or is there a better setup I should be using? I really don't want to have to go manual on the tranny, but can do so if it works with normal cruise control, etc.
I regularly tow at 30k and do a few thousand miles of grades a year. I kick the cruise control off, engage auto engine brake, set the speed I want and then re-engage the cruise control. Tachs out around 3800 revs on the big ones, holds whatever speed I want, doesn't appear to be using brakes. Don't overthink it, works great.
The engine brake itself does not engage the trailer brakes. If the adaptive cruise control is on, that will engage the trailer brakes. At least that's how it works on my 2017.
Hi all, This post is old but relevant. If I can clarify my understanding and if not, please advise... I am towing a 5th wheel with electric brakes. I have experiences the high RPM issue and just turned off the engine brake as I did not like that. I was going 60 mph down a pass in Oregon. It is the speed limit so it was okay. Anyway, if I understand correctly to tow using the engine brake (lets just call it that for me at the moment if allowed) in Auto, the Mode set to Tow/Haul, and I need to use Adaptive Cruise control, plus my seat massager (okay, but I like it for long hauls....) my trailer brakes will work in conjunction with the engine brake an truck brakes if needed. I will be able to monitor the Gain on my screen that appears on the dash.
Is that all correct, or is there a better setup I should be using? I really don't want to have to go manual on the tranny, but can do so if it works with normal cruise control, etc.
Electric trailer brakes only work if you engage the brake controller or the brake pedal, the exhaust brake, auto or full, tow/haul or adaptive cruise, does not engage the trailer brakes.
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