Towing and 10 speed transmission

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Deadman

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Any rain, I'd put it on 4A. My wife spun out on a 4 lane leaving a gas station in the rain in 2H. The concrete was very smooth, and it was a 4 lane turning into an expressway.

The high torque and 3.73 gears can spin out the car before the ESC kicks in.
The factory tires are useless in the rain....
 

ColoradoJon

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Hi, I was towing this weekend and thought about something related to this thread and wondered what the forum thought. First, I tow in Colorado mountains and probably one of the most grueling passes is the pass along I70 that goes through Eisenhower tunnel down into Silverthorne/Summit County from Loveland Ski area. I find myself wondering if the manual shift mode or locking out gears is preferred to folks when braking downhill. The previous comment about tow mode and letting it work, doesn't work for me at the speeds and sharp turns that are on this route. I put it in tow mode and found the engine working to slow down for too long at times, probably just my preference but I left it in that mode. I have to intervene and worry about heating my brakes up to much. My TT is a 27 ft weighing in around 7500 lbs loaded. I generally would use the Manual mode other times but I was locking out gears this weekend and it seemed to work well. I think I was even more aggressive about keeping the RPM's in the 3-4K range going up the hill as it seems to be not feeling bogged down at those RPMs when climbing. What do people find themselves most often using when braking downhill? Average MPG out from Denver was 7.3... total average after coming back was 9 something. We camped near Leadville at twin lakes, beautiful spot
 

Lou Hamilton

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Hi, I was towing this weekend and thought about something related to this thread and wondered what the forum thought. First, I tow in Colorado mountains and probably one of the most grueling passes is the pass along I70 that goes through Eisenhower tunnel down into Silverthorne/Summit County from Loveland Ski area. I find myself wondering if the manual shift mode or locking out gears is preferred to folks when braking downhill. The previous comment about tow mode and letting it work, doesn't work for me at the speeds and sharp turns that are on this route. I put it in tow mode and found the engine working to slow down for too long at times, probably just my preference but I left it in that mode. I have to intervene and worry about heating my brakes up to much. My TT is a 27 ft weighing in around 7500 lbs loaded. I generally would use the Manual mode other times but I was locking out gears this weekend and it seemed to work well. I think I was even more aggressive about keeping the RPM's in the 3-4K range going up the hill as it seems to be not feeling bogged down at those RPMs when climbing. What do people find themselves most often using when braking downhill? Average MPG out from Denver was 7.3... total average after coming back was 9 something. We camped near Leadville at twin lakes, beautiful spot
TFL Trucks did a video on the 2018 Expedition and towing (I think) 8000 up and down the Gauntlet, which I think is the same pass you are traveling.

If you have not seen it, you may want to just check it out. Some people hate that YouTube channel, others don't. I personally don't mind it. They are sort of campy at times, but that is just entertainment purposes, IMO.

I do tow, but I have not had to in any sort of grueling mountain conditions. I am usually along the Atlantic Ocean coastline so it is very flat.
 

ColoradoJon

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Thanks Lou- I actually watched that video and it is what lead me to buy the Expedition. https://youtu.be/iotsvKYMOCU

Yes that is part of the journey I had this weekend in that TFL video, I actually did have a relatively similar experience coming down the pass in the video. The issue I have right now is that the pass is only two lanes out of the tunnel down to Silverthorne. It is hard to work with other people and trucks having to go different speeds... the roads are so jacked from the snow and plowing that there are huge pot holes everywhere. I re-watched that video to compare what they do and I think they utilized the tow/haul automated downshifting to control speed. I think in that test and probably normally I would have been fine to do that but I had a moderate amount of traffic to work around with people passing and then slowing down after coming back into my lane. Makes for a little bit of fun I suppose... There is a more harrowing decline coming up the mountains called Floyd hill, it is shorter but feels as steep or steeper with a significant turn at the bottom over a rickety bridge where HWY 6 merges onto the interstate. I feel more anxious with that part of the drive than the drive around the tunnel. Coming back up floyd hill, I was able to lock out gears down to 2 at about 20 MPH and accelerate to pass a line waiting behind a bogging motorhome. The shear power of that engine with the different gear ratios is just mind boggling, I don't feel like I stressed it that bad but I was probably getting 1MPG while doing it.

I think there may be MPG's to be gained in how you manage that inclines/declines with the engine braking with manual or locking out gears. Feels like locking out gears gives more versatility cause manual shifting only offers 7 speeds. Curious what others think, but maybe it is only specific to Colorado driving.
 

Gumby

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I wondered this when I hooked up to my new tow boat a few weeks ago (6200lbs with trailer)...in tow mode does it adjust the suspension stiffer or does it leave it as is? I know Sport mode will stiffen it up and was curious if I should switch it from TOW to SPORT in order to get a better suspension setup. I found the Expy struggled with inclines but on flat towing seemed ok.
 

5280tunage

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Speaking of this thread, getting ready to tow a pretty massive trailer soon, not super far but far enough. Curious what everyone's experience is when using tunes. Specifically, I right now have an adaptive 87 daily drive/tow tune from 5star. Good idea to leave it or remove it prior to towing? Just curious, in the past I've never had issues with previous vehicles and tunes/towing but I know these are pretty sensitive.
 

ColoradoJon

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I wondered this when I hooked up to my new tow boat a few weeks ago (6200lbs with trailer)...in tow mode does it adjust the suspension stiffer or does it leave it as is? I know Sport mode will stiffen it up and was curious if I should switch it from TOW to SPORT in order to get a better suspension setup. I found the Expy struggled with inclines but on flat towing seemed ok.

I have been curious about this, I think suspension matters a lot more with heavier loads and really has the biggest impact on ride quality vs acceleration/deceleration. I could see where a WDH isn't dialed in or significant tongue weight, it provides additional ride stability. I have wondered if there are other benefits. I certainly feel the trailer and have felt it in strong winds in Wyoming pulling the truck around but not really having an impact on steering or feeling stable. My first tow trip (Wyoming) I did toggle sport and eco and tow to see how I felt about each mode while towing. Honestly I didn't feel they made a huge difference that was more favorable than the towing mode and it's auto shifting to engine brake. Now, I think I may try having sport mode and lock out gears to control when it shifts when I want to so that I can verify the impact of tougher suspension/4wd. Probably more opinions than certainty on this but I appreciate the conversation!
 

ColoradoJon

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Speaking of this thread, getting ready to tow a pretty massive trailer soon, not super far but far enough. Curious what everyone's experience is when using tunes. Specifically, I right now have an adaptive 87 daily drive/tow tune from 5star. Good idea to leave it or remove it prior to towing? Just curious, in the past I've never had issues with previous vehicles and tunes/towing but I know these are pretty sensitive.
I don't have a tune yet, I managed tunes on my E350 7.3 PSD and really appreciated being able to adjust on the fly. Sounds like you don't have that option, I would do a trial run before your big trip to see what you like/feel about the tune and towing. I think if you are watching gauges (tranny temp, engine temp, boost, mpg) to see the impact, it would be fine to use it and be mindful of the stress you may be causing.
 

duneslider

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I don't have a tune but have done a fair bit of towing and I doubt a tune will cause a problem at higher speeds. The only issues I have seen are a result of not going fast enough. There is one particular camping spot we go to with a steep winding uphill with a posted speed of 25mph. This gets the engine and transmission HOT. If I am not stuck behind drivers going 25mph I may or may not increase the speed to 35+ and at that point there is enough air movement that the issues disappear. Once we hit the dirt I put it in low range and the temps drop to normal and I can go as slow as needed.
 

Pawpaw

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Pretty impressed with my FX4 towing our 7500 lb Cougar. I've been using the normal mode and it locks out 9 and 10. Flat roads and the winds have died down so towing this past week has been a breeze. The 10 ply BFG's aired to 65 psi have really took some sway out of the rig. Limit my speed to 60-62 mph range.
 

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