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Apr
I always use cruise towing and unless on a very steep grade leave it there but Im only doing 62 pulling a camper with tires limited to 65 MPH. But if towing closer to the GCWR or on highways with lots of up and down hills or a mountain pass Ill turn off cruise control to prevent the tranny from downshifting because it cannot pull the trailer in top overdrive gear up steep grades.
Nearly 5 million vehicles including 2014-2019 Ram 1500 2014-2018 Ram 2500 3500 pickups and 2014-2018 Ram 3500 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs may have a defect that could prevent cruise control from disengaging.
Use cruise control while towing. Having said that using Cruise Control on moderate downgrades can depend on the tow vehicle. Our 2015 RAM 2500 Tradesman 67 Cummins Diesel DOES auto-downshift if our speed exceeds the Cruise set point by 4 to 5 MPH and it will shift down several steps if the first doesnt start slowing things down. Cruise control is NOT designed for all road conditions especially when towing caution needs to be taken.
It would probably be best to the use of cruise control to the flat open highway in good weather and drive normally cruise control off as you would anywhere else ie. City driving winding roads heavy traffic slippery roads bad weather dirt roads etc. Yes you can use cruise control when towing in towhaul mode in many cases.
However your truck will likely do whatever it takes to maintain the assigned speed. This means when you hit an incline your vehicle could get very upset with you. Cruise control is NOT made for all road conditions especially when towing.
It would probably be best to confine the use of cruise control to the flat open highway in good weather and drive the tug normally as you should anywhere else ie. In heavy traffic city driving slippery roads winding roads bad weather unsealed roads etc. First can you use cruise control while towing.
Heres a school of thought where most folks whove had cruise tend to agree. Towing a trailer with cruise control is fine with certain caveats. Towing on the flat is a snap and may save you fuel if your cruise control handles the accelerator.
Is it safe to tow with the cruise control on– Russell. I dont see why not. All the cruise control does is keep your speed steady.
And if the vehicle is otherwise capable of towing the load it shouldnt have an adverse effect on anything. The only exception would be if youre towing in a hilly area. In that case in order to keep the truck at a precise constant speed the cruise control may force the automatic.
Absolutely as long as you observe safe driving habits and are familiar with the trailer and its load. Trailers change the characteristics of a vehicle from cornering to braking. You should allow more space when towing but cruise control is a helpful tool so you can focus even more on the road.
When is it okay to use Cruise Control while towing your fifth wheel or travel trailer. Generally speaking again because it really depends on the factors mentioned above ie. Tow vehicle trailer terrain whenever youre on a flat section of highway and you can drive at a higher speed meaning youre not in stop and go traffic or construction zone you can use cruise control.
I use it while towing my bass boat on more level areas. Going up mountains the cruise will kick off. So the answer is yes and no.
No cruise control goes back to the days of 3 and 4 speeds that didnt have electro-mechanical controls. Modern trucks change the shift patterns to keep you from hunting gears or blowing out the overdrive and torque converter. Cruise is fine just make sure you have towhaul turned on.
I almost always use both cruise control and towhaul mode while towing my 5k TT or my 5k to 7k cargo trailer. But if towing closer to the GCWR or on highways with lots of up and down hills or a mountain pass Ill turn off cruise control to prevent the tranny from downshifting because it cannot pull the trailer in top overdrive gear up steep grades. I use cruise all the time when I tow.
It lets me concentrate on the road and whats going on without pissing off all the other drivers by speeding up and slowing down. On any newer F150 with the tow package selectshift allows manual selection of whatever gear you want. For me M5 cruise control at 65 mph and all is well.
I always use cruise towing and unless on a very steep grade leave it there but Im only doing 62 pulling a camper with tires limited to 65 MPH. It seldom gets to 6th gear anyway and likes to stay in 5th. Im also constantly watching my temps to insure they dont rise too high on hills and will use manual and drop gears to keep them down.
7 May 2 2015. I tow heavy a LOT use cruise most all the time except maybe when there are lots of hills one after another but always go back to cruise as soon as possible. 2015 RAM 2500 LoneStar Mega Cab CTD 2WD Air Ride PRAIRIE PEARLCOAT 02092015.
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. When used strategically cruise is a great feature that can alleviate the strain of long driving stints. Use cruise control when there is little to no traffic.
Cruise lets you enjoy those clear roads and helps you maintain a consistent speed. Speaking of speed use cruise control only when the speed limit stays the same for long periods of time. Adaptive cruise control using towhaul mode.
Select a different vehicle to begin a new search. Thanks for the feedback. Glad we could help.
Tell us why it wasnt helpful and well work on making it better. Didnt apply to my vehicle. I have a 2011 3500 CTD towing just over 10K.
There are no cautions in the owners manual against using cruise control or OD while towing. It recommends using tow haul with the EB but warns against using CC or the EB in slippery conditions which makes perfect sense. Tow haul with the EB work quite well and the truck will tow in 6th gear on the.
The reason is that the transmission will hunt which means it will keep shifting up and down to control the vehicle speed. This will cause the little trailer to jerk back and forth slightly each time the shift occurs even on level ground. Use your right foot to control the vehicle while towing and forget about cruise control.
If your vehicle has a manual transmission using cruise control while towing is fine. If it has an automatic transmission it will drop into a lower gear when going up hills which puts wear on. Found this gem.
Nearly 5 million vehicles including 2014-2019 Ram 1500 2014-2018 Ram 2500 3500 pickups and 2014-2018 Ram 3500 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs may have a defect that could prevent cruise control from disengaging. No mention of anything that locks out cruise control on Rams are you using the towhaul mode and are you locking out. As noted some tow vehicles may really race the engine trying to keep up using cruise control my hemi did this.
My 12 ram diesel does an awesome job with cruise and the exhaust brake activated. Keeps me from busting speed limits and better mileage. I prob wouldnt even use towhaul for 5k if its relatively flat terrain.
I use cruise all the time towing. The engine braking does a decent job of keeping the downhill speed under control. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.