Tow Haul Mode- Overdrive

[OshawaDave]

I'm curious to know what others do realted to towing in Tow/Haul Mode.

My tow vehicle has a 6 speed transmission and I always tow with it in Drive and Tow/Haul mode, thus NOT locking out overdrive. I've not had issues, but, a couple of buddies with similar trucks indicated thet they put their shifter in "M" for manual and put it in 5th gear, locking out overdrive and they use TGow/Haul as well.

Just curious to what others do related to towing.

[Hoopy Frood]

I put our 6-speed Ram dually in Drive and Tow-Haul mode. Makes no sense to me to lock out 6th speed, can't help fuel mileage wouldn't seem. It's not like the Cummins lacks for power.

[Gronk1]

Same with my ford. Tow-haul, don't lock out 6th gear. Use cruise control except up or down hills.

[uwskier]

On my 10 speed GM, I tow in M8 (or M7 in strong headwinds).
On my previous 8 speed GM, I towed in M6.

I'm less concerned with the durability in the new Allison-branded 10 speed than the previous 8, but if you can eliminate unnecessary shifting or using of the torque converter, it's probably not a bad idea.

[traveldawg]

My theory is that the manufacturer has already figured out the shift patterns. So using tow/haul alone without selecting any specific gear is the thing to do.

Having said that I did manually lock out 6th gear in my Ford a lot of times, especially in the mountains in the West and hills of the East.

Now, with a 1- speed, I tend to do the same - let the pre-programmed shift patterns do their things. But I still lock out 10th when out West; not so much in the East.

[trailrydr]

We use tow/haul mode in our 23 F250 CREW 7.3 gasser 10spd when towing our 5er in hilly/mountainous highways. Otherwise, on flat highways just use standard mode for our 5er.

Our 13 F150 6.2 SCREW 4X4 w/6spd used tow/haul all the time when towing our same 5er.

Both tend to locked out over drive 9/10 in the 10spd and 5th in the 6spd when under any duress. Also seemed to engine brake on downhills when in tow/haul too. Did not like to use cruise.... wanted to be able to regulate throttle myself so as to not super-rev the motor up/down hills.

[Riverbug]

Maybe ask them if theirs shift in and out of overdrive when towing and that's why they do it? In my 2004 F150 I had to take it out of overdrive and it would still shift pretty consistently with any headwind or slight/modest hills, and even then it struggled to keep speed. But I realize 1500 series trucks have changed alot since with bought ours 20 years ago.

[kb0zke]

I normally leave the transmission in Drive with both the exhaust brake and tow/haul mode on. There are some grades that are just steep enough that the transmission won't shift until my speed drops more than I would like, so I shift to manual and select the gear I want.

Over the last six weeks we drove the same route from Las Cruces to Quartzsite and back so I had a good idea of what was coming up. The computer in the transmission can't look at the road ahead and change gears, it can only respond to what is happening at that instant. I can look ahead and decide that I need to manually downshift because there is a hill coming.

[COGrandDes]

I'm curious to know what others do realted to towing in Tow/Haul Mode.

My tow vehicle has a 6 speed transmission and I always tow with it in Drive and Tow/Haul mode, thus NOT locking out overdrive. I've not had issues, but, a couple of buddies with similar trucks indicated thet they put their shifter in "M" for manual and put it in 5th gear, locking out overdrive and they use TGow/Haul as well.

Just curious to what others do related to towing.

I think the right answer depends on your powertrain, your loads, and your pulling terrain. Gas and diesel powertrains react differently which will therefore cause different trans shifting specifics. I pull mostly in the mountains of CO other than some occasional road trips to other western destinations and always pull in OD with Tow/Haul enabled on my new 2022 GMC. If I want all the torque enabled off the line, tow/haul must be enabled on the new GM trucks. I pull 80+ MPH here in the west without issue and never shift into other gears. I leave the cruise control and the exhaust brake enabled and let the drivetrain and computer do it's thing. Everything is engineered to work together. The PCM will not allow the trans to exceed temps from erratic shifting like we used to deal with in the past so I just don't worry about that any longer. I've had a number of diesel GM trucks and never had any issues with shifting or taking them out of OD and my last Keystone Montana was over 16K towing weight. Diesels and gas engines have many differences including their power bands, engine braking vs exhaust braking, gearing, and such. Each will pull differently and offer pros/cons especially as it relates to how they pull hills. The GM Allison 10-speed trans does a wonderful job of knowing which gear to be in for what's being requested for power/speed.

[OshawaDave]

I think the right answer depends on your powertrain, your loads, and your pulling terrain. Gas and diesel powertrains react differently which will therefore cause different trans shifting specifics. I pull mostly in the mountains of CO other than some occasional road trips to other western destinations and always pull in OD with Tow/Haul enabled on my new 2022 GMC. If I want all the torque enabled off the line, tow/haul must be enabled on the new GM trucks. I pull 80+ MPH here in the west without issue and never shift into other gears. I leave the cruise control and the exhaust brake enabled and let the drivetrain and computer do it's thing. Everything is engineered to work together. The PCM will not allow the trans to exceed temps from erratic shifting like we used to deal with in the past so I just don't worry about that any longer. I've had a number of diesel GM trucks and never had any issues with shifting or taking them out of OD and my last Keystone Montana was over 16K towing weight. Diesels and gas engines have many differences including their power bands, engine braking vs exhaust braking, gearing, and such. Each will pull differently and offer pros/cons especially as it relates to how they pull hills. The GM Allison 10-speed trans does a wonderful job of knowing which gear to be in for what's being requested for power/speed.

Yes, I agree and I probably should've included that I'm interested in those with a gasser engine. However, good to hear from all.