Tow/haul mode
 

New to towing with F150....I just towed my 28ft Jayco for the first time. I think my 2013 F150 Eco did a pretty good job doing it. I noticed that while towing in TOW/HAUL mode cruising at about 60mph that it would not shift into sixth gear....Always staying around 2500 RPM Is this normal or should I be concerned. Reading the manual It says that the mode reduces accsessive shifting. and should I always leave the TOW/HAUL mode on while towing..... Also I was always checking the tranny temp...what temp would be considered overheating on the tranny. Let me know what you think.....

Unless your truck has the HD Payload Pkg with the 17" 7-lug wheels, you're probably overloaded with that trailer. The tranny will not shift up into 6th gear until it senses the engine won't be overloaded with the taller gear. In Tow/haul mode it will be even more reluctant to upshift if it senses that will just have to downshift again soon.

But 2,500 RPM is probably not 5th gear. Sounds more like 4th gear (depending on your rear axle ratio). So either you were climbing a slight grade, or else your trailer is really heavy, or maybe something is wrong with your drivetrain. But if you don't notice an lack of shifting into 6th gear when not towing, I suspect you're just overloaded. (I'm slightly overloaded with my TT that grosses only 4,870 pounds, but mine shifts into 6th gear often).

However mine will not cruise at 60 MPH in 6th gear very far without downshifting again for every little rise in the road. I usually cruise at 65 or 66 MPH, so I have a few more horses pulling than if I slowed down to 60. So mine stays in 6th gear a lot on the plains when I'm grossing less than 11,500 pounds with 7,200 pounds on the 4 truck tires.


If you don't have a CAT scale ticket to show your weights when wet and loaded on the road, get one so you'll be an informed RVer.

I don't notice any difference using tow/haul mode on the flats, so I normally click on tow/haul mode only in hill country or in mountains.

The analog tranny temp gauge on the dash is a dummy gauge, with green, yellow, and red zones. But the colors on it don't mean what you probably think they mean. Greens means go, so you probably guessed right on that one. But yellow means you're too hot, so stop as soon as possible and allow the tranny to cool off, with engine running with engine RPM elevated to at least 1,200 RPM. Red means you've probably already cooked your tranny, so plan on major surgery soon.

For the digital tranny temp in the gauges module of your display, up to 210° is normal, 210° to 225° is hot but okay. 225° is the red line, so don't allow it to go over 225°. If you ever see 225°, you'll also probably notice that your analog gauge jumps from green to yellow at about that temp.

Mine seems to hold 5th for a while but will upshift into 6th. You can always disengage the tow/haul on the flat and it will upshift into 6th and then you can reengage it. You could ask you dealer about it and see if there are any transmission updates.

The Tow/Haul mode does a couple of things. 1 it locks up the tq conveter for the tranny which keeps the fluid circulating faster, thus keeping the tranny cooler. 2 it changes the shift points electronically in the tranny, which keeps the tranny from up shifting at too low of a rpm. Helps keep the truck working in its power band. For us, towing in 6th is about 1900rpm, 5th is about 25-2800rpm and 4th is 32-3500rpm pending your speed. Personally I would never disengage the T/H towing anything over 1000#, it just helps the truck perform better under load. If youre towing on the flat and you disengage the T/H, I have found that either my truck stays in 6th, d/t lack of resistance, or it will start to hunt for gears. A lot of guy had found that actually locking out 6th gear gives them better fuel mileage.

Ya I have the same experience with our 31' 7000lbs trailer, and our 2013 Max Tow 3.73. Pulls most of the time in 5th with tow haul engaged as well. As others have said the computers in there are pretty advanced and will do their best to get things right. I typically only get into 6 th on slight down hills or very calm days on the flats. I find the slightest bit of head wind will never go into 6 th. For me it's not an overweight thing at all, just the nature of the beast.

X2.. I lockout 6th and with the cruise set between 60-65mph i cruise along at 2200rpms. It will climb 80% of the hills in 5th and i have averaged a best of 10.6mpg towing 7500lbs.

I definitely shoot for 2400-2800 RPM cruise and whatever if going up hill just so long as it is not above 3500 sustained. Anything past that and I back off. I also lock out 6th gear as 5th and 6th are both overdrive gears so in a sense I enable 1 OD and not the other. When moving I glance at all my guages regularly just to see if things are starting to go wrong. If I see 75% of scale on any guage than I back off and monitor. If it continues to rise than I pull over and let the engine run so that it can cool. Outdoor temps can make quite a difference in cooling but if continues to be a problem than I go for a bigger cooler. I think than FORD coolers are modular so upgrading is really easy. The real hazard with overheating is actually shutting the truck down. I learned that at a truck stop when I shut the engine down. When I started the truck back up the engine temp. and tranny temp were both off scale high even though they were both perfect when I stopped....no pump to move the hot fluids and no air moving over the coolers. Traffic doesn't seem to cause this as the big rad fan is still sucking air past the coolers but if it overheats in traffic change the cooler. I use tow/haul 100% of the time when towing even if its just light stuff. I believe that if you use it and exercise it than you know it works, if you do not use it than you run the risk of not knowing if it works on the day that you do need it besides, its not like using it is going to do any harm. I also believe that not using tow/haul when towing is just foolish. FORD gave you a great truck with features tailored specifically for your truck and what you are doing with it....why would you ignore it.

I just put mine in D, t/h, and let it do its thing. Our trailer is 28 ft overall, about 6500 lbs loaded for camping. My truck will not shift in to 6th unless I'm at about 65 mph. I assume this is because slower than that and it is only turning rpms below the torque curve. At 65 or so, it will shift to 6th and generally stays there unless I'm going up a hill or step on it to pass.

Regarding transmission temps, mine is between 195 and 205* when towing. I've had it as high as 215* towing up a 7 mile 5-7% grade where I was seeing if the truck could keep it above 65 mph the whole way up (it could, quite easily!). Actually, it is around 195* all the time even unloaded, and surprisingly, barely increases when I hook the trailer up to it.

new here, looking through the threads - lots of good info..

Anyway, the manual says not to use the t/h mode when the roads are slippery or low traction and 95% of my towing will be hauling my 2 snowmobiles so I don't get the point if i can't use it (?).

Roads are slippery up here!

First F150, reg cab XLT 4x4, 3.7, 6.5' bed, 2014

any advise / comments?

thxs, Jim

Since the T/H mode increases the shift points, making the rpms higher prior to shifting, there is a greater chance of wheel slippage/traction loss. With a sled trailer, I dont think I would be too worried as there is no wind resistance. So I would not use it unless you find the truck hunting for a gear.