Alright i took the Truck up to Arkansas to do alittle trout fishing. I was driving along the back roads doing about 60 -65 with the cruise control set. As i got more and more north, the terrain turned into rolling hills. At the bottom of one of those hills i noticed my speed had increased to about 78. My Sport trac would slow down when it went down a hill, does the 04 F150 not do this or do i need to bring it into the shop?

 

Cruise Control only controls the throttle, it wont apply the brakes.

 

Doesn't sound right LSU. I know what you're talking about when you mention the sport trac, it acts almost like its got an engine brake or something. My 2001 SD did the same thing it would maintaing a set speed on hills. I haven't had the chance to really test my 04 though, all the interstate driving I've done so far has been pretty much flat with only rolling hills. I hardly use cruise on 2 lane roads around where I live because traffic can be crazy and people pull out in front of you just to keep your blood pressure up!

 

Syro and others.....

The "electronic speed control" system in our trucks....commonly called "cruise control".....is supposed to control the vehicles speed regardless of whether you are going up or down a hill or going downa flat level road!!!! And it does a pretty good job of it for all but the steepest, longest uphill ascents and the steepest, longest downhill descents.

It will apply throttle as needed to maintain the set speed, or it will not apply any throttle, and use the engines normal "compression braking" capabilities on down hill runs. BUT, it does NOT apply the brakes in any which way, shape, or form.

Keep in mind that your trucks weigh somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000 pounds EMPTY.....and there is just so much "acelerating" that "automatic" throttle application can provide.....and just so much "slowing down" or "holding back" that normal engine compression can do.....so your "cruise control SET speed" will NOT ALWAYS be the actual speed the truck is travelling.

However, for 95%+ of all our driving needs, it works ABSOLUTELY FINE, and is almost always right on the money!!

Hope this information is helpful.

Fred

 

Just take it out of Overdrive, and the engine will do some pretty decent braking down hills. I did that on a recent trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

Exactly!!!

Russ

 

Doesn't taking it out of overdrive reduce your gas milage?

 

Yes it will a little, but its still cheaper than a speeding ticket!