Tow/haul mode always when towing?

[SnowBlaZR2]

I recently did some experimentation on a 700-mile trip through Indiana and Illinois. Pretty flat with only small grades. I used T/H for a tank and didn't use it for one tank.
In T/H my truck almost never catches 8 th gear, stayed in 7th. Seemed to down shift on the slightest hill. In normal mode, gears changes were actually fewer.
Trans temp stayed the same. Sucked gas both ways. I am sure that in different situations, I will still use T/H to better control the truck, but I have learned that it is not requisite.

It may be that with 3.21 gears, it is advisable to use T/H always. I think a truck properly set up for towing (3.92) may not need T/H in as many situations.

What do you think?

What were you towing?

 

[WXman]

I recently did some experimentation on a 700-mile trip through Indiana and Illinois. Pretty flat with only small grades. I used T/H for a tank and didn't use it for one tank.
In T/H my truck almost never catches 8 th gear, stayed in 7th. Seemed to down shift on the slightest hill. In normal mode, gears changes were actually fewer.
Trans temp stayed the same. Sucked gas both ways. I am sure that in different situations, I will still use T/H to better control the truck, but I have learned that it is not requisite.

It may be that with 3.21 gears, it is advisable to use T/H always. I think a truck properly set up for towing (3.92) may not need T/H in as many situations.

What do you think?

I think that in a *towing* situation the benefit of Tow/Haul mode is that it adds hydraulic line pressure, which in turn reduces wear inside the transmission. Sure, it also uses engine braking more aggressively and it tries to avoid 8th gear to protect the transmission, but the main benefit is that it's simply healthier for the transmission via reducing wear on the clutches. I mean, Mountain Dew and purified drinking water will both quench your thirst on a hot day, but which one are you going with if keeping your body as healthy as possible is your goal?

 

[HSKR R/T]

I think that in a *towing* situation the benefit of Tow/Haul mode is that it adds hydraulic line pressure, which in turn reduces wear inside the transmission. Sure, it also uses engine braking more aggressively and it tries to avoid 8th gear to protect the transmission, but the main benefit is that it's simply healthier for the transmission via reducing wear on the clutches. I mean, Mountain Dew and purified drinking water will both quench your thirst on a hot day, but which one are you going with if keeping your body as healthy as possible is your goal?

I mean, I'd personally grab the Mt Dew.

 

[Rick3478]

I recently did some experimentation on a 700-mile trip through Indiana and Illinois. Pretty flat with only small grades. I used T/H for a tank and didn't use it for one tank.
In T/H my truck almost never catches 8 th gear, stayed in 7th. Seemed to down shift on the slightest hill. In normal mode, gears changes were actually fewer.
Trans temp stayed the same. Sucked gas both ways. I am sure that in different situations, I will still use T/H to better control the truck, but I have learned that it is not requisite.

It may be that with 3.21 gears, it is advisable to use T/H always. I think a truck properly set up for towing (3.92) may not need T/H in as many situations.

What do you think?

I assume you were towing something. Most of that sounds about right. The difference between 3.21 and 3.92 is about one gear, and at least to a first order approximation it will take the same amount of fuel to do the same job in any gear. And you have plenty of gears to work with. T/H mode is about optimizing performance to fit the job, and the improvements in efficiency or longevity may be small. For my part, I sometimes wish the truck would just stay in the gear I told it to use, and not downshift just because the throttle had to be opened a bit.

 

[Quint]

Personally, I use T/H mode anytime I'm towing because the higher shifting points makes the truck sound more badass. Protecting the transmission, braking, etc....that's all just gravy on top of my Ram poutine

 

[silver billet]

Personally, I use T/H mode anytime I'm towing because the higher shifting points makes the truck sound more badass. Protecting the transmission, braking, etc....that's all just gravy on top of my Ram poutine

That aggressive and rapid downshift as you are rolling up to a stop ...

 

[morrpar]

Sorry for the omission. The trailer is 25' toy hauler. It weighs about 5100 dry with a 690 tongue weight. GVWR is 7690. It was selected in part to be "towable" with the 1500 RAM.
Discussions on this forum helped me to better understand the payload limitations of these trucks. I expect the actual tongue weight to be just under # 900 when loaded. Since my payload limit is just under #1400, I did not feel comfortable going any larger on the trailer. Even then, we are close.

 

[Mr.Grid]

I think that in a *towing* situation the benefit of Tow/Haul mode is that it adds hydraulic line pressure, which in turn reduces wear inside the transmission. Sure, it also uses engine braking more aggressively and it tries to avoid 8th gear to protect the transmission, but the main benefit is that it's simply healthier for the transmission via reducing wear on the clutches.

You think wrong because you read someone here post this which is not true. You can’t damage the Ram 1500 transmission not using T/H when towing. And using T/H does nothing to the transmission line pressure. T/H changes the shift rpm map and allows almost no mph drop when in the cruise mode which I find obnoxious.

A friend using a 2017 Durango with Hemi, 8 speed, and rated to tow over 6k#, pulled his 4,500# loaded open trailer from FL to NC where I met him last month. That vehicle does NOT have a T/H mode. Imagine THAT!!!

Like I posted previous, I tow 7k# not using T/H by choice (over 15k miles towing now) and my transmission works perfectly and does not get any hotter not using T/H.

 

[WXman]

You think wrong because you read someone here post this which is not true. You can’t damage the Ram 1500 transmission not using T/H when towing. And using T/H does nothing to the transmission line pressure. T/H changes the shift rpm map and allows almost no mph drop when in the cruise mode which I find obnoxious.

A friend using a 2017 Durango with Hemi, 8 speed, and rated to tow over 6k#, pulled his 4,500# loaded open trailer from FL to NC where I met him last month. That vehicle does NOT have a T/H mode. Imagine THAT!!!

Like I posted previous, I tow 7k# not using T/H by choice (over 15k miles towing now) and my transmission works perfectly and does not get any hotter not using T/H.

That's because the lighter duty models (Durango, Gladiator, Wrangler, etc) are programmed to automatically switch into a towing program when weight is detected. This was stated directly by engineers in videos when the new models debuted a few years back.

If Tow/Haul mode weren't beneficial, it wouldn't exist.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

Like I posted previous, I tow 7k# not using T/H by choice (over 15k miles towing now) and my transmission works perfectly and does not get any hotter not using T/H.

Do you think it might be because you've only towed 15k miles?

 

[HSKR R/T]

You think wrong because you read someone here post this which is not true. You can’t damage the Ram 1500 transmission not using T/H when towing. And using T/H does nothing to the transmission line pressure. T/H changes the shift rpm map and allows almost no mph drop when in the cruise mode which I find obnoxious.

A friend using a 2017 Durango with Hemi, 8 speed, and rated to tow over 6k#, pulled his 4,500# loaded open trailer from FL to NC where I met him last month. That vehicle does NOT have a T/H mode. Imagine THAT!!!

Like I posted previous, I tow 7k# not using T/H by choice (over 15k miles towing now) and my transmission works perfectly and does not get any hotter not using T/H.

Imagine being annoyed that your vehicle maintains a steady speed when using a feature meant to maintain a steady speed

 

[Rick3478]

Imagine being annoyed that your vehicle maintains a steady speed when using a feature meant to maintain a steady speed

I think he may have been trying to say that it downshifts a lot of times when just a bit more throttle would have been sufficient. I am also annoyed by this and sometimes turn off cruise to prevent the excessive shifting. I'd like to have a "manual" mode where it just stays in the gear I select.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I think he may have been trying to say that it downshifts a lot of times when just a bit more throttle would have been sufficient. I am also annoyed by this and sometimes turn off cruise to prevent the excessive shifting. I'd like to have a "manual" mode where it just stays in the gear I select.

It's better to downshift than lug the motor. And if it's downshifting that often then just lock out the higher gear. Last time I towed, there were a couple areas with more hills where I set gear limiters to 6th gear to prevent constant shifting in and out of 7th

 

[silver billet]

I think he may have been trying to say that it downshifts a lot of times when just a bit more throttle would have been sufficient. I am also annoyed by this and sometimes turn off cruise to prevent the excessive shifting. I'd like to have a "manual" mode where it just stays in the gear I select.

I don't use the basic CC for exactly this reason. It sucks, it has one mission, keep your speed as close to possible to one speed. I don't have the adaptive thing so I can't speak for it.

So when I'm towing anything resembling a TT, I use T/H, set my gear limiter to 6, and just run without CC. Humans are still better at judging speed and distances and upcoming hills or traffic slowdowns (speaking for myself anyway), and I find it much easier on the truck to just bleed off speed slowly when required, and gain speed slowly when required.

I would never tow without T/H, that's just nuts. You miss out on power and engine braking and probably other goodies like increased line pressure (though apparently the ZF's are smart and do increase pressure as needed I don't know if that's the same thing as when using T/H).

It's better to use T/H and lock out to gear 6, then to not use T/H and let the engine lug in 7th and do more shifting back and forth.

He's got it completely backwards. Use T/H always, then use the gear limiter as needed. CC is optional but will work perfectly fine if the first two steps are done first.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

I think he may have been trying to say that it downshifts a lot of times when just a bit more throttle would have been sufficient. I am also annoyed by this and sometimes turn off cruise to prevent the excessive shifting. I'd like to have a "manual" mode where it just stays in the gear I select.

That's an issue with how the cruise control in the Ram works. Even unloaded, I was never a fan of using it for anything but flat highway cruising.

 

[CalvinC]

It's better to downshift than lug the motor. And if it's downshifting that often then just lock out the higher gear. Last time I towed, there were a couple areas with more hills where I set gear limiters to 6th gear to prevent constant shifting in and out of 7th

^^ This 100%. T/H doesnt make it shift more, per se,but rather it is more likely to put the trans in the optimal gear to avoid lugging. Lugging not so much an issue unloaded down the highway. Worse the more load / work it's doing. Especially bad for a turbocharged gas motor. Plus, higher RPMs move more coolant through the block.

 

[bigdodge]

I'd like to have a "manual" mode where it just stays in the gear I select.

truck is equipped with this feature

 

[JF19Longhorn]

truck is equipped with this feature

Unfortunately, it only lets you lockout gears.. it will not let you select a gear and stay in it.

 

[Darksteel165]

truck is equipped with this feature

Not unless you have a TRX or GT.
Gear limit is not manual shifting mode.

 

[bigdodge]

Not unless you have a TRX or GT.
Gear limit is not manual shifting mode.

i down shift manually and up shift manually all the time