What gears to limit towing 5th wheel

[joeycamp]

Truck details in my sig. First time taking my fifth wheel long distance. About 12,000 pounds. Traveling I81 through PA,VA and TN. What gears do you limit? And do you limit any on level roads?

 

[AH64ID]

Use TH and you’ll be in the correct gear. The only time I limit gears is on certain rolling hills or winding mtn roads where it will up/down shift frequently.

 

[tchur1]

Truck details in my sig. First time taking my fifth wheel long distance. About 12,000 pounds. Traveling I81 through PA,VA and TN. What gears do you limit? And do you limit any on level roads?

I honestly dont think you need to limit any. I would put it in tow haul and let the truck think for you. Some like to lockout 6th when climbing but i've never felt it necessary to do so.

 

[flan]

If I’m backroads or slow highway traffic I limit 5th when in the 50-60mph range and go to 6th when I’m above 60. I don’t need to but I like to. Still a 5 speed manual guy at heart.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I only limit top gears if it's in that "sweet spot" where it's frequently downshifting to maintain speed. Pulling only the 12K 5th wheel with the HO that doesn't really happen much but hooking the extra ~4K does make it more likely.

 

[joeycamp]

Thanks all. Didn’t think tow/haul did it. Guess it makes sense now.

 

[Jacob]

I just hit the tow and exhaust brake buttons and set the cruise.

 

[CdnHO]

I have towed 22K with mine for 12,000 miles. All I do is put it in tow/haul, activate the exhaust brake and go. Let the truck do its thing. Never an issue.

 

[Redfour5]

Truck details in my sig. First time taking my fifth wheel long distance. About 12,000 pounds. Traveling I81 through PA,VA and TN. What gears do you limit? And do you limit any on level roads?

I hate driving behind people of all stripes towing or not who have zero clue how to drive in the mountains. Constant red brake lights makes me cringe when I know there are still 20 miles to go. Upon occasion, I've pulled over I thought it was bad and they were endangering themselves and anyone in or near the vehicle. I pulled over because I didn't want to be the guy behind them when they killed themselves and maybe someone else out of ignorance and/or stupidity. I'm OK coming up on it or getting caught in the line of traffic stopped because of what predictably happened... I've only seen it happen once and fortunately it was in a flat area and they simply slid off the road because their brakes were gone and hit a tree at an angle, so no obvious deaths or bad injuries... So, I don't care what the guy behind me thinks as I let the load, and capabilities of the truck dictate my speed... I also pull over if I get more than three or four cars piling up behind me. The roads I'm talking about almost always have pull offs for just this purpose...

So, tow haul is always on for me going down even when I don't have the trailer as the engine braking aspect of tow haul can be a valuable tool as you drive often irrespective of a load in the mountains. The tranny in tow haul pays attention to your braking and can adjust accordingly to a degree. My goal is to find that sweet spot in the transmission where I very seldom have to hit the brakes. So, this is when you start using the manual switches and If you go too low, the transmission will let you know. Too high and well, you will speed up and have to use the brakes a lot. So, find the sweet spot, cringe at the guy in front of you as you stay with him doing nothing to the brakes and IF an emergency of some sort rears its head, you will have fresh brakes ready to use whereas the ignorant/stupid will have nothing but Gods good will. And that is a chancy thing at best...

Oh, and the ones that crash are often the same ones who will look for something besides themselves to blame...if they live through it. Twice I've pulled into stations behind hard brakers in the mountains with flatland license plates and offered some advice but only twice in very specific situations where I was pretty sure it was ignorance and not stupidity involved. Both took it well and listened never having a clue what all those gears and modes were in their vehicles.

 

[joeycamp]

I have towed 22K with mine for 12,000 miles. All I do is put it in tow/haul, activate the exhaust brake and go. Let the truck do its thing. Never an issue.

This is exactly what I did all day today. Worked great.