Question about towing

CoachBoone · 07-07-2004, 09:32 AM

Someone help me understand how I'm supposed to tow my trailer. I always read that you never want to tow in overdrive, so I take that to mean I should always tow in manual gears, right?
That much I can handle, but if I remember right, you have to be in "D" to enable the tow mode. So I'm driving along a flat stretch, towing my trailer and I come to a hill. Am I now supposed to shift back into automatic (D) and hit my tow mode? That just doesn't make sense to me, am I missing something?

Doghouse · 07-07-2004, 09:36 AM

Ok, Tow mode just changes the shift positions. So that if the computer down shifts, it will not up shift until you develop a lot more speed. You do not need to disable the tow mode, let the computer handle that for you. Put it in D unless it starts seeking gears then downshift to force it to stay where it should. Keep in mind that you should, in theory, never have to do that with these new style transmissions, but that is why they gave you a shifter.

CoachBoone · 07-07-2004, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doghouse

Ok, Tow mode just changes the shift positions. So that if the computer down shifts, it will not up shift until you develop a lot more speed. You do not need to disable the tow mode, let the computer handle that for you. Put it in D unless it starts seeking gears then downshift to force it to stay where it should. Keep in mind that you should, in theory, never have to do that with these new style transmissions, but that is why they gave you a shifter.

Just so I understand correctly, you are saying whenever I tow, leave it in drive and use tow mode, that the computer will figure out when to shift for me, right? And I'm assuming that it would never allow the transmission to reach overdrive? My towing buddies here are adamant about not towing in overdrive.
Thanks again.

Grok · 07-07-2004, 09:53 AM

I may be over cautious but i put it in tow mode and then turn on the manual shift (which put's it in 4th). I'm not sure exactly which is right either.

CoachBoone · 07-07-2004, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grok

I may be over cautious but i put it in tow mode and then turn on the manual shift (which put's it in 4th). I'm not sure exactly which is right either.

But the tow mode light wouldn't come on unless we were in DRIVE. I think the reason there is that the truck is saying if you want to drive manually, I'll just kick back and watch. It's when you're in automatic that it says move over, I'm shifting.........I THINK.

TuffTitan · 07-07-2004, 04:59 PM

I thought I read in the Owners manual that when towing, put the vehicle in 4th gear. At least in my truck, that is done by putting it into Drive, and then throwing the shifter knob to the left. I am pretty sure, I have had the truck in Tow mode and performed the same task and it allowed me to stay full time in "tow mode". Not sure if this helps.

Big Platinum · 07-07-2004, 05:10 PM

The reason why you should tow in 4th is because the torque converter locks out in 4th. In 5th, i doesn't lock out and there is slippage causing excessive heat and wear while towing.

cajunjimbo · 07-08-2004, 08:23 AM

tuff titan has it correct. put it in 4 (go to 'd' and then left). you can put it in tow mode like this and it will not go into overdrive. towing my 6000 pound boat like this i'll do about 2000-2100 rpm's to stay around 60. if i tow in 'd' with tow mode on i'll do about 1800 rpm's(od) around 60, but it'll jump up a gear for the slightest incline or tap on the accelerator, (which is what you want to avoid).

motoman · 07-08-2004, 08:33 AM

Want to make sure I got this. Is there anything inherently bad about towing in drive with the tow mode on (or off for that matter) while on a flat road where little shifting is taking place? I also read that its bad to tow with cruise control on, however, I'd think its the same issue...you just want to avoid excessive shifting. Bottom line, I towed my 1600 lbd camper in tow mode, in drive and with cruise contol on, but it was flat and very little shifting. Any issues with this?

CoachBoone · 07-08-2004, 09:53 AM

So you can see my concern. I have the shifter on the column, and to go manual you just put it in D and push the manual button on the end of the shifter which puts it in 4th. It then has a small "button" lever on the shifter that allows you to down shift from there with a flick of the thumb.
I will look into it more, but I could swear my boy said he couldn't see the tow mode button iluminate when he tried it on my command when we were in 4th.

campsmoke · 07-08-2004, 12:37 PM

There have been a number of threads addressing this subject - My personal findings and experience are as follows - I have an LE King Cab 4x4 - if you tow in "D" the tranny heat guage will move up quickly, which is not a good thing! So tow in "4" and your guage will remain at normal temp. I tow a 7000 lb - 28 ft 5th wheel and average 11 to 12 miles per gallon towing in "4" the only time I use Tow Mode and "4D" is in a parking lot or in city traffic.

LE King Cab - Smoke - Big tow - loaded {except for Nav System - DVD - Moon Roof - Reverse Sonar} add ons Bug Deflector - Truxedo Lo Pro tonneau Cover.

Happy towing!

Campsmoke

Steamguy · 07-08-2004, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campsmoke

There have been a number of threads addressing this subject - My personal findings and experience are as follows - I have an LE King Cab 4x4 - if you tow in "D" the tranny heat guage will move up quickly, which is not a good thing! So tow in "4" and your guage will remain at normal temp. I tow a 7000 lb - 28 ft 5th wheel and average 11 to 12 miles per gallon towing in "4" the only time I use Tow Mode and "4D" is in a parking lot or in city traffic.

<thread added>

So you can see my concern. I have the shifter on the column, and to go manual you just put it in D and push the manual button on the end of the shifter which puts it in 4th. It then has a small "button" lever on the shifter that allows you to down shift from there with a flick of the thumb.
I will look into it more, but I could swear my boy said he couldn't see the tow mode button iluminate when he tried it on my command when we were in 4th.:

My experience is the same as Campsmoke. I tow in 4, and still use the Cruise effectively. Gas mileage hasn't suffered. Tranny is cooler.

The cruise will kick out when you get about 11 MPH below the set point. From there, you can stab the gas and take it back up to speed. In the hills, you can keep the cruise on and just shift down one gear manually (toggle down once) to let the engine pull you back up to speed if you see the speed dropping too much. Then toggle up to '4' once you hit the top of the hill. This has been working for us on our last few outings. You can't toggle up past '4', so if you're watching the rev counter and can't see the display in the bright sunlight, you'll be just fine. Our trailer weighs about 6800#, and the Titan handles it better than any other 1/2 or 3/4 ton truck I've owned.

The following is not intended to criticize anyone: Personally I don't understand what the big deal is about towing with the cruise ON. We went from Washington to Colorado and back, towing at all kinds of speeds -- even 75 MPH (to avoid tornados) -- with the cruise on. No problem, unless I had it in 'D'. {The tranny just keeps trying to find the right gear -- not 'hunting', mind you, but just continually changing gears with each little hill.} Just got back from the East side of the Cascades, towing with cruise ON and in '4'. No problems.

We've been towing for at least 20 years with all kinds of different trucks, trailers, and cruise controls; dumb ones where you set the speed with a knob, and all kinds of smarter ones. No problems. It is really wearing on you as a driver to have to 'right-foot-it' for a long drive without the cruise.

Now, as with many other things in our lives, with cruise you want to be intelligent where you use it: light traffic, or if you're going slower than at least 75% of the traffic, or anywhere where you will not be creating the possiblility of an accident by having not having control over your vehicle.

You're also right, you cannot engage tow mode when in Manual. Tapping the button on the shifter drops you into Manual mode. I tried it both ways, and there is no difference as to shift points when you are in Manual. Hence my original gripe about Tow Mode in the thread about our long trip.

In any case, you have the best half ton truck out there to be setting out with on an adventure. Have FUN!

campsmoke · 07-09-2004, 11:08 AM

I now have 8000 kilometeres on the truck - {thats 4,971.1054 miles} on my last trip towing in "4" got 11.591437 miles per Canadian gallon - without the trailer got 16.7168 miles per gallon Canadian. The Imperial gallon converts to 4.54611 litres.

Regards

Campsmoke

Grok · 07-09-2004, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoachBoone

But the tow mode light wouldn't come on unless we were in DRIVE. I think the reason there is that the truck is saying if you want to drive manually, I'll just kick back and watch. It's when you're in automatic that it says move over, I'm shifting.........I THINK.

I don't remember exactly what the proceedure was but I was able to be in 4th and tow mode at the same time.

cajunjimbo · 07-12-2004, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motoman

Want to make sure I got this. Is there anything inherently bad about towing in drive with the tow mode on (or off for that matter) while on a flat road where little shifting is taking place? I also read that its bad to tow with cruise control on, however, I'd think its the same issue...you just want to avoid excessive shifting. Bottom line, I towed my 1600 lbd camper in tow mode, in drive and with cruise contol on, but it was flat and very little shifting. Any issues with this?

motoman, you shouldn't have any issues towing a load that light. hell, the titan probably doesn't even know it's back there!

also, you do not need to use the tow mode for a load that light. the manual recommends using the two mode when your trailer is something like 70% of the towing capacity of the truck (not sure the exact number, but you're no where close). using the tow mode changes the shift points and you're probably getting a little worse gas mileage than if you didn't use it....