campingliz
Bay Area, California
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Joined: 04/23/2005
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I use cruise control to keep my speed down on the freeway. Here in CA the limit while towing is 55, but we have lots of excess tow capacity, so the big V8 keeps trying to tow at 70 mph. If I set it to about 58, it keeps me close to legal.
Happy Camping!
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rldcjd
Madison, WI
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Joined: 08/25/2003
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Nice gauge wet-up Chuck. But I hope you're not going to tell us that you were in the hills when you took that pic of you temps. Looks more like a parking lot.
Just curios, what temps do you run when towing in hills?
Randy
Don't take life too seriously, no one gets out alive!
Randy, Cheryl, Andy, Troy & a sheltie named Squirt
2003 232 Rockwood Roo 
1999 Chevy Express 1500
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Mousefart
New Jersey
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Joined: 08/15/2004
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"I only use tow/haul mode (or O/D) when I feel like it becuase I know better than the engineers that designed it". 
One of the many reasons why I won't buy a USED vehicle any more! 
I'd rather pay the depreciation up front on a brand new truck. It's still cheaper than a blown tranny or engine later becuase of the previous owner's half-baked ideas or snake oils that were used in the engine or tranny.
I will tow with cruise control only on flat level highways. Rolling hills will cause it to shift too much becuase it ALWAYS tries to maintain the set speed. My foot will allow it to slow down and speed up on the hills without shifting.
Paul (Mouse)
2007 Flagstaff Shamrock 17 Hybrid (heavily modified for boondocking and winter camping).
2007 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4x4, 4.7L HO, factory tow, 3.92 gears.
Equil-i-zer Hitch, Prodigy.
Yamaha EF2400 Generator (quiet, cause I care!)
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whitetruck
Boulder City Nevada
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Joined: 12/01/2003
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Our diesel truck is new to us but have discovered that as long as the transmission is not hunting for a gear to travel in we leave it in OD.
When we approch long steep hills, will select the tow hall mode as this puts it in 3rd for us. In general, we travel at about 1600 rpm (about 60 mph) and have found (so far) very little need for shifting into tow hall when towing the HTT and more often with the 5er.
bob and jackie
2007 Jayco 341 5th wheel 4 slides 14000 lbs gvwr
2002 Wanderer 192 HTT
2004.5 Red QC CTD 11500 GVWR 3500 dually LB AUTO 3.73 325/600 Prodigy brake controller magnaflow
1999 Chrysler LHS
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1kennyOG
Port Credit
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Joined: 01/22/2007
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I use tow/haul mode always and sometimes use cruise control on flat roads.
I go by the book and trust those crazy engineers at Chevy 
65, 68, 02, 03
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lovetogocamping
Colleyville, TX
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Joined: 10/17/2005
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Most owner manuals suggest turning off overdrive and NOT using cruise control while towing. That's pretty much a standard disclaimer. That said, towing a trailer should never be taken lightly. It's never a relaxing drive when you're always having to make corrections for wind gusts, traffic, varying terrain and road conditions, and weather. So, when I'm towing long distances, I need to loosen up a little and turning on the cruise control on fairly level roads is one way I can move my legs around a little. But when the terrain is hilly, I would rather manually anticipate hills in advance and control how the TV downshifts rather than let the hills sneak up on the cruise control. Remember, the cruise control when set at a certain speed is going to try to maintain that speed no matter what gear it causes the TV to downshift to.
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Chuck_S
Broadview Hts, OH, USA
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Joined: 03/15/2002
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Quote:Most owner manuals suggest turning off overdrive and NOT using cruise control while towing. Where'd you come up with this? 
I'll give you "some." But not "most."
For example, the Ford Towing Guide (that includes a lot of vehicles) states:Quote:DRIVING WITH AN AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE TRANSMISSION
• With certain, automatic overdrive transmissions towing – especially in hilly areas – may cause excessive shifting between overdrive and the next lower gear.
• To eliminate this condition and achieve steadier performance, overdrive can be locked out (see vehicle Owner Guide).
• If excessive shifting does not occur, use overdrive to optimize fuel economy.
• Overdrive may also be locked out to obtain engine braking on downgrades.
NOTE: With TorqShift® transmission, select Tow/Haul mode to automatically eliminate unwanted gear search and help control vehicle speed when going downhill. {Emphasis added.}
NOT use cruise control?!
From Ford again:Quote:DRIVING WITH SPEED CONTROL
• When driving uphill with a heavy load, significant speed drops may occur.
• An 8- to 14-mph speed drop will automatically cancel speed control.
• Temporarily resume manual control through the vehicle’s accelerator pedal until the terrain levels off.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland
Our Photo pages
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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I use mine whenever I tow. If it kicks out in the mountains I just hit resume.
Transmission hunting is controlled with the shift lever going to 2nd or 1st and I rarely tow in OD for long as it will kick down fairly easy.
2001 F150 SuperCrew 5.4 Lariat Offroad 4x4 Tow Package 4.10 Truetrac
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
12K SuperGlide, KGE3000Ti 2.3kw rated 2.6kw max
Frank's voltage booster, Prosine 1800 powered by 4 GC2 batteries
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stfnwuf
Vacaville, CA
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Joined: 02/21/2007
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DH uses cruise control on the interstates and highways that are fairly flat. We don't tow too far or up into the mountains as we are pretty much maxed out on weight with our set up. And....since my Pilot is our main vehichle, I baby it when I can.
2005 Honda Pilot
2006 Antigua 185SB
Food source for one beagle, one cat and a fish with attitude
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redrunner&roo19
winnipeg manitoba
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Joined: 01/07/2007
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I gave up on cruise as I'm running near max load all the time and the pedal just ends up floored trying to pickup 1 mph, where my foot reads the terrain. Bizarrely enough I seem to get better mileage towing in the mountains (4000-10,000) than on the flat prairies. Come to think of it using cruise wasn't any better with the 2000lb pop-up either.
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