i notice with cruise set at 100 km/hour pulling camper tranny will try and downshift going up hill. why doesnt it when cruise is off? if cruise is off at 100 km going up hill tranny wont downshift?

 

i use cruise when i tow and i can't say i've ever had that problem. honestly though i seem to turn off my cruise when i'm climbing anything beyond just a little hill. cruise trys real hard to maintain the speed you set it at and when i'm climbing hills i'll let the truck slow down some as i don't need to hammer the fuel in it.

 

When towing you never really want to put in cruise, for one you'll loose mpg and if you pull in not so flat terrain good way to loose a tranny and cause engine failure overtime. And never have it in cruise when pulling a grade, you could loose rpm's to fast then the truck could over compinsate or not shift and lug the hill. Always remember when pulling a hill keep your rpm's @2500 or so rpm's.

 

I have had no problems towing with the cruise set, except when triing to go real fast. If the tranny starts to hunt then either hit the OD Off button, set the Tow/Haul button or slow down about 3-5mph and reset the cruise. That will usually correct the hunting problem.

 

Cruise all the time, never an issue. I even like to use it going down hill. When I crest the top of a hill I set the cruise for 5 mph lower then what I want to run, it down shifts and holds my speed all the way down. This is on an 06 and your truck may be different but I see no issues with using it.

 

X2....I tow with the CC on all the time tho I don't tow heavy at all, my trailer is right at 6K

 

I tow about 7k-8k a couple times a year from San Antonio TX to Wellington OH and back , 1400 miles each way, and have never had any issues yet. Truck is almost at 64K now.

Have always used the cruise in fact have to insist upon it when the wife drives. On one of our earlier trips with her driving I took a nap only to be woken up while going over some rough part of road somewhere in Tennessee. I glanced at the speedo and she was doing almost 90mph while towing the TT!!! Calmly (never upset a 4'10" 85lb woman, don't ask me how I know) I asked her to slow down and explained all the potentials...

 

I use the cruise when towing/hauling. My typical load is about 6000-9000 (camper, trailer, ATV's, Jeeps). Like several have said, I don't use it in steep hills or mountains, but it works well on moderate terrain. Tranny stays cool, EGT's are fine, fuel mileage isn't bad. Not sure why you wouldn't use it.

 

I tow about 11K close to 75% of the miles my truck is on the road. I use cruise on any long run to ease fatigue on my legs and hips. The cruise does try to downshift on uphill pulls to maintain speed so I cut it off to allow a bit of slowdown.

Dan

 

I run with it on and watch my boost and the pyro gauges and shift it when needed !

 

thanks for all the replies..good info

 

I'll tow my TT with the cruise on if I'm on flat ground, but up in the mountains I'll cut it off... my first trip through the foot hills of the blue ridge, it was down shifting quite a bit while going up hill. Didn't seem like much of a problem, but I noticed that my trans temp quickly got over 210* after a few hills! so I took it off and just feathered the pedal to prevent downshifting while climbing and my temps went back down...

I know 210*-215* isn't very bad, especially when towing, but it was the first time I had ever seen my temps that high (towing or not) so I didn't want to take any chances at ruining what was already a great fam vacation!

 

Depends on how the mood hits me but most of the time my cruise is off towing. If I am in the hills I do the old gather the speed up on the downhill and have an easy time on the grade uphill.

 

I tow in tow/haul. Sometimes run the cruise in relatively flat land to keep myself from speeding. Turn it off in the hills. I drive slow towing, 60-65.

 

16-18k pound toyhauler, ALWAYS on cruise. No problems here...