Confirming tow/haul mode

[NEVERSWEAT7]

Hey folks,
I just read through as thread concerning trailer brakes and a bit about the tranny slowing the TV and fiver down. I have pulled once from warranty work to home.. 6 miles. I wold like a little info on the how best operate the tranny. I will start with what I think to be true.

1. put in tow haul
2. on grade and decending lift foot off fuel peddle and the truck will start slowing down on its own?
3. Truck will continue to drop gears ,slowing your set up down more ( or do I have to tap brakes?)
4. Use gear shift lever and manually drop into 3rd, and eventually into 2nd?
5. Keep light pressure on brakes?

I know there is a manual ( which I did not read on the tranny yet) I wanted to get a feel here so as i read it I can cross reference.. the more info I can get the better off I will be. I can decifer through the assistance here.

last though.. decending a hill and step down, no tapping pedal, will gradually take me slower and possibly drop an additional gear? How slow can I expect to end up?

Here is my thought. I have a friend how tows an Airstream with a 09 F350.. he says he taps brake and can hold whatever speed he dictates. No exhaust brake! The trailer is 12K.
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On that note.. any good or better word on Banks EB. usually by now there are posts as to yay or nay and warranty issues. I remember when it first came out and remembering mine on my 7.3L I really enjoyed having it. Never any problems. Is it or can it be used the same way? And what are warranty issues? Anybody loose a warranty because they had one and F just said no?
thanks folks

[senix]

Smotrs has the EB. He was the test truck for it. I think he has it down to a science now. See the vendor folder for his write up. Introducing the Banks iQ Dashboard PC display system

As for the operation of the tow/haul mode, I think you have it right. If heavy load or pulling more than about 5K just start off in tow/haul mode. Word of caution though..if it is icy or raining really hard you may not want to use tow/haul as there is the possiblity to lock up the rear tires if decending. Better to just really decend slow.

So back to decending, if you let off the skinny pedal it should automatically drop off some speed. I have found as you indicated from someone else that I need to tap the brake sometimes to get it drop down another gear. Yes you could manually move the selector and achieve the same thing.

I have found it hold the speed desired pretty good. Last summer I went to Woodstock NH. I took a trip up Mt. Washington, really steep grades, around 12% in some spots. I used tow/haul all the way down and was able to keep it around 15-20 mph. Very narrow roads, gravel in alot of it.

Saved the brakes. You should have smelt the brakes from the cars in front of me!

Hope that helps some.

[smotrs]

Without the Speed Brake, the only thing the Tow Haul mode does is eliminate the OD gear. If your coming down a hill and take your foot off the accelerator, the truck and trailer will actually increase speed rather then slow it down. So to maintain your speed, you would need to constantly apply or tap the brake as your descending. If the road is relatively level or a slight grade, then it will actually slow you down and walk through the gears. Otherwise, hang on tight.

There was a great article in the 4WheelParts magazine a few months back. You can read it in the following post, Exhaust Brake for 6.4L
Scroll down to "TECH - Testing the Banks Speedbrake" and the first part describes testing without the speed brake and how the truck and trailer behaved.

Long story short, truck and trailer weighed approximately 18500 lbs, 6% grade with truck at 55 Mph at the top of the descent. Truck approached 70 Mph twice and required operator to apply brakes to maintain speed.

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Now a bit about the Speed Brake itself. If you have the Speed Brake from Banks, there are 3 settings you can use to slow your truck down.

• Brake On
• Speed Control
• Interactive

The Brake On mode will start to slow you down the moment you lift your foot from the accelerator and will continue to slow you down all the way to first gear.

The Speed Control mode will require you to have a preset speed entered into the system before hand, default is about 50. Like before, it will begin to slow you down the moment you lift your foot from the accelerator and will continue to slow you down until it arrives at the set speed. At this point, it will maintain this speed +/- 2 MPH until you activate the accelerator again.

The Interactive mode will do both the above so long as your foot has activated the brake pedal. In other words, it will only activate if you are touching the brake pedal.

For an unladen truck, the third option is by far the best. It allows you to use the speed brake for everyday driving as well as use the cruise control.

For a loaded truck, I like the Speed Control method the best. Think of it as cruise control for your trailer.