[Dagwood_73]

In towing my 5th wheel camper behind my 250 using the CC, when I come to slight hills on the interstate, it downshifts easily to keep the speed close to the CC setting. Is there a way to re-program to alow the truck to lose a little more speed rather than downshifting. Just like you would if I was using my foot on the gas pedal?? Or is that bad for the engine to lug it a little??

Does that make question make sense??

 

[powerboatr]

question makes sense
No you cant reprogram the cruise, sorry,
i just did a trip pulling mine and left cruise on through the mountains (north al) ran up at 70 mph, egts stayed right at 1250, climbed to 1300 and i backed cruise to OFF and just let her find the best speed up the mountain. flat land was a no brainer, let her run, of course mpg dropped to 10 from 16 so we stopped alot
rob

 

[OMCUSNR]

I'd let the trans do its thing. Its not good to lug these. I down shift whenever I feel it getting sloggy. W/ the 6.0 I try to keep the rpms @ 2500 up a hill.

 

[Clevelandjim]

Is lugging hard on the engine or the transmission?

 

[RockPSD]

[ QUOTE ]
Is lugging hard on the engine or the transmission?

[/ QUOTE ]

Makes the engine run hotter. (Less air through the engine)

 

[georgehilton]

Many folks use cruise control while towing. The bad thing about that is the cruise control is very abrupt and it seriously insists on holding truck at the "set" speed. My preference is to let the speed drift a bit -- especially on hills. When approaching a hill, let speed climb just a bit, and while climbing hill, let speed decrease somewhat. The cruise control is like using brute force to maintain speed.

So you can tell, that I am not a fan of using cruise control while towing.

 

[Fordman6]

I use cruise when towing 90% of the time and it works great. On steep hills I kick it out to avoid the severe downshift and to control EGT which would go out of sight (stock exhaust).

 

[Mike Lewis]

Not sure how it works on the newer trucks, but on an older truck I pulled in cruise just fine in the mountains of NM... till the truck lost so much speed up one that cruise disengaged... was going about 50mph, had cruise at 55-57.

Better be prepared if you run cruise up hills. If it disengaged and you weren't expecting it, you could be a serious hazard for anyone following you as you rapidly lose speed.

Probably not a good idea up hills, for that and other reasons.

 

[SmokeyWren]

143,768 miles on mine now. Just completed a 5,000-mile trip "back east", including lots of hills and what those uninformed folks call "mountains" in the MD panhandle, WV and KY. Use cruise control 99.9 percent of the time.

Cruise at 1,750 or 1,800 RPM on the flats, with cruise control and OD. Then let the truck's computer decide which gear is needed to maintain the speed for all conditions except comin' down the mountain. About 2,400 RPM when climbing in direct drive.

But I use cruise control because it's easy and "I've earned it". In hill country you can get a lot better fuel mileage if you kill the cruise and drive with common sense - speed up going downhill and let it slowly lose speed when climbing a hill. But go at least as fast as the truckers in the slow lane. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[belfert]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure how it works on the newer trucks, but on an older truck I pulled in cruise just fine in the mountains of NM... till the truck lost so much speed up one that cruise disengaged... was going about 50mph, had cruise at 55-57.


[/ QUOTE ]

My '99 V10 would kick out of cruise when the MPH dropped 10 below the set point. I was usually prepared for it, but not always.

I almost fried a diesel with a programmer set to 40HP using cruise. Towing a travel trailer through the Rockies with cruise at 60MPH I was passing everyone going uphill. I glanced over at the EGT gauge and it read 1600 degrees! I disengaged the cruise real quick!

Brian Elfert

 

[MXFAN]

I use my EGT gauge...OD, no OD, etc.... even had to use 2nd on a couple of really steep grades this trip. Kept EGT's below 1200, speed above 50, and trans temp good

why these gauges are not stock is a mystery....

I am more concerned about my truck then the speed....if i let cruise take over i would be in the red in no time...have a friend with no gauges who blew a turbo 4 months ago(warrenty) and a tranny last week.(warrenty over...)... just put his foot in it...

(BTW....towing a 37' 5th wheel at 13000 lbs...)

 

[OMCUSNR]

[ QUOTE ]
why these gauges are not stock is a mystery....

[/ QUOTE ]

2 reasons.

1) They cost more & the bean counters would have a flying coniption fit unless they could charge 3x what they're really worth.

2) Most of the drivers on the road never look at the instruments anyway. I'm not sure they even look at the speedometer. From my experience, I'm not convinced most of them can see past the windshield, so I'm not sure just exactly what they're looking at.

I'm glad there are guys/gals out there that do use 'em. Makes driving a lot more enjoyable if you know what your truck is doing.