Tow/haul mode experience

[Casflynn]

Been doing quite a bit of towing the last month with my 17 SWB limited and a 5000lb camper. Do you guys ever see 6th in tow/haul? Seems that mine stays in 5th. Central PA ain’t exactly flat, and I only go about 65 on the interstate, just seeing what you guys think. Does anyone tow without it turned on? I have been monitoring trans temps, nothing more than 205 which seems normal compared to everyday driving.


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[DExpy17]

My camper is a bit heavier and on flat and downgrades, my expy is usually in 6th in tow haul. Western MD here, but have towed up US 15 to Harrisburg, then 76 to Morgantown. Headed to Shawnee State Park and Shanksville this weekend.

 

[coolzzy]

Yup, my trailer is 6200 and on flats I'm in 6th most of the time, even over gently rolling hills with cruise set at 65 or 70. I'm running a 5 star tow haul tune and 91 octane fuel when towing so that might help. Loooove that turbo!

 

[shane_th_ee]

I usually only see 6th while passing through to 7, 8, 9 or (rarely) 10...

 

[JExpedition07]

I usually only see 6th while passing through to 7, 8, 9 or (rarely) 10...

Can’t wait for the new 12R80

 

[DExpy17]

Been doing quite a bit of towing the last month with my 17 SWB limited and a 5000lb camper. Do you guys ever see 6th in tow/haul? Seems that mine stays in 5th. Central PA ain’t exactly flat, and I only go about 65 on the interstate, just seeing what you guys think. Does anyone tow without it turned on? I have been monitoring trans temps, nothing more than 205 which seems normal compared to everyday driving.

I was in 4th and 5th thru the mountain sections of the trip this weekend, flats and rolling hills was mostly 6th. Typically, Tow/Haul mode doesnt make a difference on flats or small rolling hills. The main thing it does is keep the tranny from constantly shifting on steeper/ longer grades. It also will down shift more aggressively when braking and holding constant speed down hill.

 

[gtncpa]

I spent the weekend towing a car on a trailer 320 miles with my 2017 Expi. It is a route I have done many times with my 2014, but this was the first time with my 2017.

The good and the bad about the Ecoboost.

• It tows better than my 2014
• It does it quieter and with less drama (less down shifting)
• Stays in 6th a good deal of the time. (6 speed transmission)
• Gets worse gas mileage than my 2014 while pulling the same load over the same route.

Despite the 2017 getting better gas mileage then my 2014 in normal driving, it gets worse while towing. I think the reason is the fact it is easier to stay at highway speeds with the EcoBoost ... but by doing this ... it negatively impacted my mpg's.

Over all it was a two thumbs up experience! What are the groups thoughts?

 

[coolzzy]

Eco only applies when not towing. Put a trailer behind it and the truck turns into an ecoBEAST instead. I get roughly the same mpg as my 5.4 F150 got towing the same trailer on the same routes but as you said quieter and much less downshifting. No more worrying about losing speed climbing a hill or hearing that v8 roar at 4k rpm on hills.

 

[JasonH]

I towed 1500 miles from CA to TX when I purchased my 2017. I didn't use tow/ haul mode, because I missed the button. For a 300 mile trip I just took, I used the tow/haul mode. The truck uses sixth more frequently when it's not in tow/haul mode. Part of the reason I went looking for the feature was because I thought it upshifted too frequently to sixth when towing. Having said that, it will still use sixth in tow/haul mode, just less frequently and only at the right combination of speed and grade. Sometimes I wished it would upshift because I was following a truck on level grades doing 65. Overall, the truck did well while towing in either mode, but with more frequent gear hunting in regular driving mode.

 

[Michael McC]

I always tow in manual mode. Easier on the transmission, and you can put it in 6th and it won't downshift unless you really lose a lot of speed. If it won't hold the speed, shift to 5, then shift back to 6 when conditions improve.
I recently took a trip with a friend in his Suburban with 150,000 miles. After listening to his transmission work overtime I gently suggested using manual mode. Wish I had been more forceful. The trans temp light went off and dash started beeping. He found his trans temp gauge, and it was over 260 degrees. We were able to limp to where we were going, and had a friend pull the boat on the return. Suburban made it home but needed a transmission rebuild.
Don't let your transmission shift too much, and watch your trans temp when towing.

 

[JExpedition07]

The GM 5.3 doesn’t have very generous cooling capacity compared to Fords 5.4L Triton. There is a reason the ford can tow so much more. Agreed, you have to tow cautiously.

 

[DExpy17]

All of GM's torque is at the higher RPM,s also, which causes them to heat up more under a load.

 

[Rosco]

I took my '17 expy to Georgia to pick up a trailer and haul it back to Montana. The Expy has the heavier payload and towing package. The trailer I picked up is about 10 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide. Although the Expy had no problems towing the trailer, it spent most of the trip in 4th and 5th gear with a whopping 6.5 mpg. I think I might use the truck next time.

 

[Habbibie]

Personally I cant stand the tow haul mode, it holds gears too long that'll take me over the boost threshold and these EcoBoost motors don't seem to do much at the top end of the rev limit, also the engine braking it does by down shifting a couple gears when slowing down is on part with the high revs issue....

Thses motors are just not ideal for top end grunt, at least not the way tow mode does it, I dont use the tow/haul mode, matter of fact I try not to exceed 4,000 rpms when towing, that leaves plenty of boost ready on demand for when a pass or a sudden acceleration is needed.

 

[JExpedition07]

Personally I cant stand the tow haul mode, it holds gears too long that'll take me over the boost threshold and these EcoBoost motors don't seem to do much at the top end of the rev limit, also the engine braking it does by down shifting a couple gears when slowing down is on part with the high revs issue....

Thses motors are just not ideal for top end grunt, at least not the way tow mode does it, I dont use the tow/haul mode, matter of fact I try not to exceed 4,000 rpms when towing, that leaves plenty of boost ready on demand for when a pass or a sudden acceleration is needed.

The EcoBoost doesn’t have a lot of engine braking which is why it downshifts in Tow/Haul down a hill. Engine braking is dependent on displacement (cubic inches) because it uses the rotational mass of the engine to slow the vehicle. Bigger the engine the more engine braking available. For example the 5.4L has relatively good engine braking, and doesn’t have to downshift a lot in tow/haul to slow it. In comparison it’s little brother 4.6L doesn’t brake as much with the smaller displacement and stroke. They are supplementing it with the transmission hence why you notice the revs. Without it you’d have to use the brakes a lot.

 

[shane_th_ee]

I love the engine braking, even if it's cheating by downshifting and use tow/haul mode exclusively when towing. We took a pass this summer that my father warned me to be careful not to overheat the brakes. I only had to touch the brakes twice! Of course, with the newer 10 speed transmission, there's no giant jump in RPMs between gears, so the truck stays below 4000 when engine braking...

 

[JExpedition07]

Indeed overhearing the brakes is no good, they stop working! These transmissions help a lot now. The V8/ 6R80 will occasionally downshift as well to assist slowing in tow/haul, just less often.

 

[ANGEL TORES]

We purchased our camper in Indiana and we had to pass through PA and just a few times I remember getting into 6th gear. Heading down I95 i definitely see 6th gear. I usually cruise at 60 mph just to conserve some gas. I get about 220 miles to a full tank at 60 mph and I use super (93 octane) with the tow haul feature.

 

[shane_th_ee]

FWIW, I just got back from our first real road trip with the trailer fully loaded*. In tow/haul mode and at 70mph over flat ground with little/no headwind, our 4th Gen will run ~1800rpm in 9th...

(*guessing 6k lbs based on GVWR. I elected not to weigh it because I didn't want to know.)

 

[DExpy17]

The only thing I don't like about the engine braking in tow/haul mode is that I feel it stays engaged to long. Often times I am accelerating with my foot on the gas and it takes a bit of time to up shift. I would think once you press the accelerator, it will shift to the correct gear much like when going up hill it shifts up once you back off the accelerator.