I am considering buying an F-350 Crew with 6.0l and Torqushift. I know that Torqushift comes with the tow/haul mode engine brake function. I was wandering if anybody can give personal experience if this breaking is really efficient on long downhill grades (7-8%) with heavy trailer (more than 12k).

Thank you

 

The Torqueshift is a great tranny. I love the tow haul mode. The downshifting really does reduce how often you use the brake pedal. After driving crappy company trucks for a landscape and plow company for 10 years, it make driving/towing with my SuperDuty all that much more enjoyable.

 

I had a Dodge with the B&D TorqueLock and Exhaust Brake. This was a far more efficient braking combination than the Ford TorquShift. With that said I'm finding the torqushift to be satisfactory but not sufficient for a 7 to 8% grade. Warning: on a long grade you'll drop down a gear at the top of the hill and by the time you get to the botom of the hill you'll probably want to apply the brakes more. If you running around 30 mph at the bottom of the hill the tranny will downshift once more and shoot your RPM's over 3500. Scares the cr?p out of me and I don't like it. To make things even worse you have to accelerate another 5mph to get the tranny to upsift. Instead I take off the tow/haul, let the tranny upshift then return to tow/haul.

I pull a 15,000# trailer BTW

 

I'm pulling a 10,000 lb trailer and am finding that the T/H feature works well for me on most grades. Some of the 8% or higher grades will require a bit of additional braking, but I get by with very little added brakes most of the time.

Very happy with the feature.

 

I don't pull that much weight....
but it is a novel concept that we would have to use our brakes to brake

the tow/haul does work well for me...
I just rest my foot on the brake and apply a "little" pressure to drive it down into the next gear....
I find that if I let it do it on it's own accord, it isn't doing what i want....
but it still does it fine....

I've even had to do some near panic stops
(because of the idiots driving around DFW that feel they have the right to pull over in front of me and stop )
and as I apply more brake it will notch down thru the gears reall quick to assist my brakes and brings me to a stop suprisingly well for so much weight....

 

The T/H mode works beautifully. I have descended 6%'s with the car hauler with very little need for brake input. The transmission has buoyed up well to anything I have thrown at it so far. I never even considered any braking improvements to the engine (a good thing, Ford says it's a no-no), that's how impressed I was.

 

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I pull with more % than that and it works GREAT, you will love it

 

That is what I thought: if you do not pull over 10k could be enough... Is anybody tried exhaust brake? Works good? I could not find exhaust brake for '05.

 

On long (note long 5-10miles) downhill grades you need to press brakes very often and that puts significant stress on the brakes. If you overheat pads would be very difficult to stop.
Have you ever seen brakes in fire?

 

With the T/H mode on you do not need to do that...

 

I have seen brakes shooting sparks and flames out the side of the wheel from video of my 93 mustang. There are very few, if any 6 or 8% grades in my area, but I look forward to the towing capability of this new truck over my Lightning I used on occasion to tow the stang. I'll only be pulling a 2800 lb car....nothing like a 10k load, but look forward to utilizing the T/H mode.

 

The tow/haul mode is helpfull, but is absolutely no comparison to the braking power of my jacobs brake on my cummins. 15k behind my 05' dually requires lots of use of the service brakes, which heat up PDQ. I'm definately aware of the runaway truck ramp locations on IH70...

 

I will be driving on I70 daily (Rocky Mount.). I saw few time big trucks on the runaway truck ramps on the I70...

It looks to me exhaust brake is necessary.

Thank you to all.

 

I'm not sure if an exhaust brake is allowed by ford. You may become your own warranty station if one is installed.

If warranty is a concern, better check with ford.

 

Safe traveling is the most important. But your advice is well accepted. I’ll check with Ford dealer: if they said no to exhaust brake I will think twice what to buy.