I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask but I will anyways. I am planning a trip from the Phoenix area to Albuqureque, NM area for a horse show this Friday and I have a couple of questions regarding the tow/haul function.

We are hauling a 3 horse slant trailer with three big horses 1200 # each, all our tack, some feed etc... The trip out of Phoenix to Flagstaff has some pretty big hills to climb and I was wondering do I drive with the tow button on all the time or do I engage it right before we start to climb the big hills?

Any help would be great, sorry for the short notice.

Johnny

Personally... I use tow/haul mode on any incline or sharp decline and no O/D. If on flat or slight down grade tow/haul is off.... for mpg reasons. I believe the tow/haul mode keeps the trans in a lower gear longer as compared to no tow /haul. I also like the "engine braking" feature when negotiating a fairly sharp decline in tow/haul mode. If you have gauges your eng temp and EGT's will help ypu determine what mode/ gear you should be in... rv.net "towing" has good info....do search. Hope this helps.-Stan

Thanks Stan for the info. I am looking forward to our first road trip this weekend. We have only had the truck a couple of months and I have not has a chance to add gauges yet, but they are coming very soon.

Johnny

Start the truck, hit the T/H button (That's the hard part) and off you go.
Going up hills if the truck starts bouncing between 4th and 5th lock out 5th (OD). In cruise with those tires it may also wait to long before it down shifts, mine does anyway, so if I think it's going to down shift I lock out overdrive which forces a down shift, then unlock it and it will up shift when ready.
Down hills, set the cruise and lock out over drive. The engine will hold you back on most hills so you will not have to use/heat up your brakes. If you do have to use the brakes the grade braking should kick in and that also helps you get down the hill with out riding the brakes.
Most of my towing is in Cal. where we are stuck at 60 mph. Once you get above about 65 you can ignore everything I just typed...:rolleyes:

:exactly: Use T/H whenever towing. Around southern Ohio, lots of hills and some flats. Sometimes use T/H when driving unloaded also..

I use it when ever I'm towing but if I feel that its holding the gear too long I'll cycle it off then back on to force a shift. Other than that I let it do MOST of the thinking.

Just hit the botton when you start your truck. Let the truck do the work for you and just sit back and enjoy the drive.