Cruise or not cruise?

[badkat]

We have been full-timing for a little over 3 years. I just read a thread about a long trip where they use cruise control.

We read somewhere to not do this pulling the AS. How many guys out there use cruise control?

[AtomicNo13]

Cruise control only under certain conditions....
Light traffic, no wind, good pavement, no rain...

[SeeMore]

Ditto Atomic#13.

[DanB]

I use mine basically all the time. That doesn't make me lazy or not aware.

Just pay attention to your driving!
+
Plus, it's easier to text while using cruise control.






j/k

[SeaLevel]

I use cruise control whenever I can on the open road.

[HowieE]

I find the governing factor on whether to use cruise control or not is the TV. The reason I say TV is that not all cruise controls react the same to changing road conditions. My Ford slams the transmission down a couple of gears on a railroad overpass. This is too much of a reaction.

If I am going to be on level roadway for the next several miles i will set the control and exercise my right foot.

If you TV cruise has enough range in the throttle before causing a kick-down, and not one that puts you in the back seat, it may work for you.

[Sbb]

I do not, but then also do not when just in car. I prefer to just drive, I think I would not pay attention on cruise.

[kdickinson]

I use cruise control towing when I'm on a highway outside of major cities and in good weather. For my truck I do not use overdrive and keep it in 3rd gear which is not great for mileage but saves the transmission

[Rich W]

When pulling the AS I rarely use it unless maybe in Florida where it's flat as a pancake. There are other times I can use it for short stretches but since I use the over drive feature, if I have cruise on and I come to an overpass or any kind of grade, the tranny wants to downshift to keep the set speed. This can be a gear or two.

Mostly, I use my educated foot and when I see an incline coming up I move the shifter to take it out of overdrive and drop my speed a little if necessary.

[Rgentum]

Only as "Overdrive" & when I don't expect to shift gears. For example:

1. Yes: On freeways or highways, with light traffic.

2. No: Heavy traffic in any conditions, or going up or down hills where I expect to downshift, which I would prefer to do manually (ie, before the Cruise would do so).

[D2LLIO]

I agree with AtomicNo13. I use mine all the time under those conditions.

[russingr]

I use cruise control frequently when towing. My 2013 F250 pulls great while using it, especially in mountains; just before I crest a mountain, I set the cruise control for the speed I want on the trip down, and the automatic exhaust brake kicks in, and the truck holds it at that speed (or very close to it). I find using the cruise control on the open highway to be very restful. My previous tow vehicle (2010 Tundra) did not do will with cruise control; it did quite a lot of downshifting and upshifting to find the gear it wanted, so I rarely used it with that vehicle.

[rucos]

I just returned from 2500mi trip and I use mine a lot .... not in the passes/hills etc or if the weather/traffic gets bad .... driving up hwy15 in Utah it was great ...set it about 60mph everyone else is going 70-90 and I could cruise miles and miles never touching the peddles as they all passed me ....im always curious about all the trailers going 70+ mph as I never seem to see trailer tires rated above 60mph? but thats another thread ....Love my cruise.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

Cruise control only under certain conditions....
Light traffic, no wind, good pavement, no rain...

Hi, same here.

[cazual6]

I use Cruise Control on open flat road. I know I shouldn't but I Cruise typically at 65MPH, I have done 80MPH on CC.

If you don't feel comfortable, don't do it, just like everything else.

[NWRVR]

Only on dry pavement, light traffic and reasonably straight road. As others have stated, it also depends on the TV. I only use 6th gear on flat terrain. In hilly terrain, I lock out 6th and my TV doesn't hunt gears plus, cruise works with the exhaust brake to maintain speed on downhill runs. I also find cruise keeps me at or under the speed limit as with the great ride we have, speed tends to creep up very easily.

[Al and Missy]

I didn't at first with my F-150 pulling the 2001 Safari 25 at 6300# but gradually started using it at 55, the speed I towed with when I had the F-150.

We got a Ram 2500 with the Cummins Diesel. I run in Tow/Haul mode which negates the 6th gear overdrive. 5th is still an overdrive, but the truck handled the 25 and our new to us Classic 30 S/O with no problem. Under good and safe driving conditions, including hills, I will use the cruise control towing at around 60. With the exhaust brake engaged in tow/haul it really controls the speed downhill.

Al

[xrvr]

Every vehicle I've owned with cruise stated not to use it while towing. This was in the owners manual in the towing section. You can do whatever you want.

[John&Vicki]

I use it frequently.

[badkat]

Enjoyed all the comments. We have a 2500 Dodge Cummins Diesel with Tow/Haul. The owner's manual says not to and we are going on 3 yrs of no cruise. Right now we are in CO so would probably not be a good place to start. Great comments!