When do you use the tow/haul mode?

[Anon]

Originally Posted by Ken J

On my Avalanche the only thing tow/haul does it extend the shift times - I does not keep it out of overdrive. I also tow in 3rd rather than drive - my transmission place showed me the clutches in the transmission and after seeing how small the overdrive clutch is, I never tow in overdrive. Chevy says you can tow in o/d, but their warranty is only 36000 miles - if you keep the truck for the long haul, you will wear out the transmission

Ken J.

Same with my Safari. It just moves the shift points to allow for pulling a heavier load. In turn, this saves on the tranny.

[rickandsandi]

Greetings Tom-

This subject has been discussed many times here on the forum. Use the search function and you will see a ton of advice. But while I am here, We always have the Tow Mode engaged and Overdirve off when towing. It is in your truck for a reason and hence you should use it.

Rick

[Sky]

Originally Posted by rickandsandi

Use the search function and you will see a ton of advice

Oh poppycock. The search function on this site is worthless, but someone here told me about using google's search engine to search the airforums.com site. The google search syntax is:

xxxx site:airforums.com

where xxx is what you are searching for.

There you will find tons of advice.

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by Streamer1

We drive an F250 PSD and use the "Tow-Haul" mode whenever we tow (and don't forget to press the button). Probably would not be a bad idea for the pickup manufacturers to have an "idiot" light (what's one more light?) that recognizes that a trailer is attached and would ask you if you would like to utilize "Tow-Haul" mode at this time.

I agree because I often forget until we are under way and I don't think it is a good idea to press it while moving. It may not hurt it, but I think it best to be stopped, if not in park, when you engage the tow/haul mode.

I may have mentioned this already, but I wish the tow/haul reminder light were blue or green or some other color besides yellow. It makes me think something has gone wrong when I see it out of the corner of my eye. To me yellow and red are warning colors not reminder colors.

[bobkelly]

Reading the glove box manual helped me understand when to use TH.

The GMC Denali has an autoride system that varies the shock absorber valving to suit road conditions. The TH mode recalibrates this system for firmer damping. Therefore, I use TH w/o the trailer when traveling tight mountain roads. Gives it damping more like the great Z-71 suspension system which is only available on the 5.3 Tahoe/Yukon and not the 6.0 Denali Yukon.

[Kevbo10]

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

I have a 3/4 ton Burb too and use tow/haul when on the road towing all the time. I have yet to see and RPM increase due to tow haul on flat land at 55mph or faster. I do note that it shifts later and can hold the RPMs while in the lower gears, say 2nd, but after 40mph, it shifts to the next gear, then the final OD gear. What tow/haul does is keep the trans from overshifting when you come to smaller hills, etc. FWIW, I have 4.10s in the back.

mr winkie,

i'm surprised you find time to drag an airstream. i thought posting while driving was not encouraged or worse...

kevin

[byamcaravanner]

I agree... Sky's method produces MUCH better results!

Thanks!