what exactly does the tow/haul do? I know you are supposed to use it for towing etc, but what does it do to the vehicle to enhance towing?

 

Basically I just changes the shifting strategy of the tranny. It Holds the gear to a higher rpm and delays shifting to help prevent hunting. It also enables Engine braking. If you apply the brake, release and quickly reapply is will downshift slowing you down with engine braking as well.

 

My truck wouldn’t turn the trailer lights on until I engaged the tow/haul button. Took me a few minutes to figure that out.

 

Engine braking, actually. I would HOPE it won't "break" your engine to use it....lol!

Anyone else found the engine braking to be....very vigorous at times? I thought I was in a Duramax with an Allison tranny when I towed my boat thru Missouri a few weeks ago.

 

I like it!

 

No ****e? That's not true on my 09. Seems kinda whacky they'd do that. Suppose you have a light trailer and don't want to engage tow/haul. Not saying I don't believe you, just think that is a crazy assumption of Ford's part. By the way, I like the tow/haul mode a lot.

 

I've towed many small utility trailers without the tow/haul mode on and the lights worked fine...

I love the tow/haul mode for the engine braking..
I have several stop lights I go thru on my way to work and I active tow/haul if I see it turning to yellow.

Or just running thru the city and want some mild back firing/ engine braking.. It works well with my MBRP exhaust!

 

My 09 XLT lights up the trailer lights without T/H mode on. I tow my Sea Doo all the time without it on. I also used T/H driving through Yosemite for the engine braking. It worked nice even though I wasn't towing anything.

 

mine freaks out if I turn it on when I'm not towing a trailer, or a good deal of weight every once in a while it'll hold 1st or 2nd, and not shift at all; it'll get up to like 4 or 5 thousand RPMs and just hold it there but if I hit the button it'll go back to normal, OR if I just flick the throttle once it'll shift

but I just figured this out the other day

 

Are you guys using the big plug (7 pin I think) or the 4 pin one? I have only used the big plug with the brakes and everything built in and when using that one it will not turn the lights on without it in tow/haul. But it’s a safe assumption that if you are running brakes and the big plug it’s a pretty big trailer and should be in tow/haul mode.

I have the built in brake controler also, don't know if that is standard.