mamentt

On my upcoming trip this summer, I will be towing my 26' TT out to South Dakota from North Carolina. We will be taking I40 west, and there is a spot on this road that is all uphill for at least a mile or more.

The truck has been great so far pulling the trailer, but I have never pulled through the mountanins.

Question, should I just leave the trans in "D" or put it in manual mode?
If the trans is in manual mode what gear should it be in?
I would like to keep the speed up to 45 going up the hill?

Thanks in advance

mamentt

I forgot the the specs on the truck; 2011, 5.0, 3.73

BCMIF150

Leave the truck in drive and let the truck decide what gear it needs to be in and how fast you can go.

c-fox

I would put a extra Trans cooler on it if your going to be making hard long pulls. The lower you keep the Trans temps the better. To answer your question about gear put it in drive and turn off your overdrive! There should be a button to turn it on and off on your gear shifter.

ilmo

I would suggest you put it in "D" and "Tow/Haul Mode". That is what it is there for.

tsleevez

I have a 2001 Ford F150 5.4 (Harley Ed.) and recently pulled my boat up the Baker grade (I-15) Calif This grade is gradually but I have to put it in 2nd gear and keep it at about 42 mph. I also have a heavy duty transmission cooler.

kozal01

iTrader: (2)

Use the tow haul and let the truck pick the gears.

RRF150

Your only going up hill for a mile? I cant go a mile without hitting a hill, haha. So if your going 60mph it will take you 60sec to go 1 mile. I highly doubt going up a hill for 60secs will make any difference at all. I climb mtns in Oregon and sometimes climb for miles on end. Make sure your in tow/haul mode all the time your towing and just push the pedal down till you get to the top of the hill. You will probably be in 4th and doing 55mph.

Jetta03

I think you'll be fine either way, that truck should have plenty of cooling capacity and one mile is pretty short. We've taken our 2010 5.4 litre over the Coquihalla hwy in B.C that has up to 8.5% grade for miles. 30 Deg C temps coming out of Kamloops, 6000lb trailer, truck fully loaded with kids, bikes, kayaks, gear, water, constant 100 km/h etc. I monitored trans temps and coolant temps with a scangauge to make sure we didn't push it but no issues. Then we worked the brakes down the other side, automatic engine braking is cool

Good truck, does it's job well, just put it on cruise and go.

mamentt

Well I did what everyone recomended, just left in "D" and no problem. I pulled my 26 foot Surveyor up the hill at about 50-55 mph, at around 3,000 rpm. The trans temp never moved going up the hill.

I pulled the trailer out to St. Louis and the high heat had no effect on the truck, hit 107 today. We are headed to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota then back east to Mystic Ct then back to NC.
So far the truck "can do" the job.