kendive

I could see that. I never tow a trailer without brakes. Use to long time ago when I owned boats but don't own boats anymore.

FLSTFI Dave

If you tow any long mountain passes, going down hill for many miles the bold is very important. Over heat your brakes, and you have no brakes. Thats why they have the run off's on long mountain grades.

Use engine braking to maintain down hill speed, then you have brakes when you need them. Use your brakes to maintain speed over many miles going down, you will soon loose them.

BlackBoost

Yep, it's called brake fading, and many people don't know about it. When it happens, there's nothing you can do.

tcp2

The problem with tow mode is that if you even touch your brakes, the transmission downshifts. If I'm running along at 3000rpm on a steady downhill in tow mode and approach a corner that requires slightly less speed and i touch my brakes to set that speed, the damn engine is now running at 5000rpm and wont shift back after the corner. I don't need 5000rpm for the rest of the downhill run. Manually locking out gears works infinitely better. Haven't tried sport mode, but will shortly.

BlackBoost

You could also switch to manual mode and completely take control. This is my first vehicle with an automatic transmission and I still don't like it. I really wish they still made halftons with stick shifts. So much better. In my last few vehicles I was able to make the clutches last over 200k.

flyinghappy

I hear you on the manual transmissions. I really miss the ones I had a lot. I actually keep my truck in manual shift mode and sport mode exclusively. I haven't used D in my truck in so long, when my wife drove it a few days ago and put it in D I almost thought she forgot how to drive! I actually get my best gas mileage this way as well. I tried normal mode in D, tow mode in D, sport mode in D and then all in M and Sport mode with M did the best for me.

kendive

Sounds like the issues I am having... I will never use tow mode again.

I hate it. Ford screwed the pooch on this one for sure.

I would like to upgrade the front brakes to the power stop kit. I have read on here that they love them.







.

wolfpack219

I hate it. Ford screwed the pooch on this one for sure.

Well I disagree Ford screwed the pooch on tow mode. I enjoyed it and had no issues with the engine braking. It made my towing trip more enjoyable to me.

kendive

Glad you are enjoying it and think goodness they put a switch so we can decide to use it or not because they sure could have just had it on when a trailer was connected. BUT we could probably always disable it with FORScan.

So all is good we can decide to use it or not...

dalola

Interesting experiences here... With the 2.7, I've found sport mode to be a bit more harsh than tow mode when towing. If I'm really mentally into the drive, I'll typically use the normal mode, and shift/hold gears manually. If I'm not interested in paying so much attention, I will use tow mode. Other than the downshifts, I find it very good overall for heavier loads.

The great thing about these trucks? Choices! A mode for everyone!