Tow haul for daily driving safe?

[Langwilliams]

Driver, Sport, Tow/haul...all good at 83K miles...just don't put it in 4WD on dry pavement and stop worrying... ?

I accidently hit the diff lock once. It didn't like that on dry pavement either!

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[Porpoise Hork]

I'm sure this has been discussed previously but couldn't find thread. Is it ok to drive 100% of the time in tow mode for daily driving like I would in regular D mode? FP tune installed if that matters

Perfectly fine to do that. Been using Tow mode on the 5* Perf tune for for 8K+ miles and not a single issue. It also gets slightly better mileage in Tow mode than regular Drive. The only detractors are the insanely bright trailer icon in the cluster when you have it enabled and the wife asking for the 50th time what's wrong with the truck cause the yellow light is on again....

 

[JohnnyO]

Gotta keep it simple for the ladies. My wife is the same. She will press the Auto-Stop-Start button, (on her car, not the Ranger) but that's about as complicated as her pre-drive prep gets. (And honestly, I think she skips it most times until the engine actually shuts off on her...)

Stuff happens, and she calls me to say "I have a light on the dashboard, what do I do?" Messing around with shifting modes to hack the transmission shifting schedule is not in the realm of ideas that she wants to explore. And her car has a CVT programmed to simulate "gears". We can't really go there, either... LOL

In any vehicles we have, my wife will turn on anything automatic that there is and I will turn off everything that's automatic. But then I can drive a 1963 Ford Falcon with a manual choke and three-on-the-tree. This causes problems such as my wife won't turn on the headlights in her minivan when it's raining because they're supposed to be automatic.

 

[FX4Offroad]

Perfectly fine to do that. Been using Tow mode on the 5* Perf tune for for 8K+ miles and not a single issue. It also gets slightly better mileage in Tow mode than regular Drive. The only detractors are the insanely bright trailer icon in the cluster when you have it enabled and the wife asking for the 50th time what's wrong with the truck cause the yellow light is on again....

I just started using Tow/Haul mode. My wife has not been in the truck since but I know that I'll get the same question. When I tell her why, it'll then turn to "but your not towing, why ..." or "is it good to do that?" or ... and so on.

I just use it when I drive alone - which is 90% of the time.

 

[AzScorpion]

It would be easier to leave them a sticky note for all the buttons you have to push. For Sid @Msfitoy it must be like pre launch of the space shuttle every time he's ready to drive. lol ?

 

[gwhalin]

I haven’t found a drive mode I love. Drive has the low rpm issue around 30-35 mph. Sport just seems a bit too intense at times. Tow mode is overly aggressive (for me) engine braking on all the hills around me. I tend to flip around between drive nodes but most of the time I stick to D and just control with my right foot.

 

[Msfitoy]

It would be easier to leave them a sticky note for all the buttons you have to push. For Sid @Msfitoy it must be like pre launch of the space shuttle every time he's ready to drive. lol ?

Good grief...you're right! If I were in a Le Mans race, I'd be the last one to leave...

Pre-flight Checklist:

1-Start engine
2-Seat belt on, sunglasses on
3-Turn on marker lamp, power to chassis cameras & rear chase light bar
4-Power on iPad Mini, connect to OBD Fusion app
5-Mount iPhone onto Ram, plug in USB cable, connect to Carplay
6-Access Simple Radio or Pandora or Amazon and/or Waze Nav
7-Activate Tow/haul + cruise, shift to S mode
8-Drive already...?

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

I've tried the Tow mode a few times, but it's too inconvenient being soooooo far away from the shifter, lol.

S and D are right in my hand, and interchangeable as required without having to hunt for the tow button in the cluster. If the lock button is depressed it's in S, if the lock button is free, it's in D. No looking, no big moving, just right there and a flick of the wrist for swapping.

Also plays a roll in why I don't bother with ASS button, or nightlight, etc. Leave it in D and use brake pedal pressure to control ASS, or slip to S if multiple unwanted ASS interventions are expected.

 

[FX4Offroad]

I've tried the Tow mode a few times, but it's too inconvenient being soooooo far away from the shifter, lol.

S and D are right in my hand, and interchangeable as required without having to hunt for the tow button in the cluster. If the lock button is depressed it's in S, if the lock button is free, it's in D. No looking, no big moving, just right there and a flick of the wrist for swapping.

Also plays a roll in why I don't bother with ASS button, or nightlight, etc. Leave it in D and use brake pedal pressure to control ASS, or slip to S if multiple unwanted ASS interventions are expected.

Maybe you can get your dog Jack, to press it

Just sayin'.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Maybe you can get your dog Jack, to press it

Just sayin'.

LOL. My dog is generally in the back seat, but when he was a pup I had my passenger seat out so he was on the floor there. In the drive through, I'd let him climb on my lap, and often he'd step on one of those buttons. I drive away from the window, and 4x4 binding or diff lock on and not be able to make the corner.

 

[dapakattack]

Good grief...you're right! If I were in a Le Mans race, I'd be the last one to leave...

Pre-flight Checklist:

1-Start engine
2-Seat belt on, sunglasses on
3-Turn on marker lamp, power to chassis cameras & rear chase light bar
4-Power on iPad Mini, connect to OBD Fusion app
5-Mount iPhone onto Ram, plug in USB cable, connect to Carplay
6-Access Simple Radio or Pandora or Amazon and/or Waze Nav
7-Activate Tow/haul + cruise, shift to S mode
8-Wait 5 minutes for wife and kid to get in...Drive already...?

From 3 to 7 vary....1, 2, and 8 are the norm

 

[rbern]

I totally agree. Bigger 4 cylinder engines (by which I mean >2 liters) are not smooth. This is especially noticeable at lower rpm, and in the Ranger, there's some kind of resonance at about 1200 rpm or so, and there seems to be some kind of additional resonance from the tires or something at about 30-35 mph. So 1200 rpm at 30ish mph makes a noticeably loud vibration, especially if you are slightly accelerating, but not enough to trigger a downshift. I never leave it in D (around town driving) for this reason. Over 1700 or so, it settles right down.

I use Tow mode or S mode for in-town traffic driving, as either one of these raises the rpm in the 30-40 mph speed zone, and like you said, the engine just "feels" and "sounds" better at a little higher rpm. It isn't really the engine that makes the noise. It's more like the vibration excites some body panel, like the roof or hood, or the floor, or the doors, Hell, maybe it's the bed or the fucking windshield for all I can tell. I don't know, but it's something big, and it just makes me dizzy. Makes my eardrums feel like they are pulsating. I "have to" make it stop...

Before anybody flames me with "It's not hurting your truck!", let me say "It's probably not, but I find it very unpleasant to ME, so I do what I have to do to make it stop." Hurting the truck is not my main focus on this, although I do have an long-standing opinion, generally confirmed by practical experience, that a smooth machine is a HAPPY machine, and conversely, when a machine starts up a resonance, my gut reaction is "That is going to break something." unless the machine is designed to use the power of the resonance to function, like a power hammer or something.

I am probably more sensitive than some people to low frequency sound or something. I can get nauseated to the point of throwing up if I have to ride in a car with only one back window down, and that low frequency pulsating sound starts up. Doesn't bother some folks, though. I get it.

Don't know if it hurts the truck or not, but I also don't care. I can't tolerate it for any significant length of time. So I search for solutions, and I find that NOT leaving it in D mode solves the problem pretty well for my purposes so far.

Did you ever figure this resonance out? I have this higher pitched resonance or vibration/rattle at certain accelerating rpm
Reminds me of an exhaust shield rattle.

 

[Superspirit]

Unleashed tune, problem solved! Drive all the time no lugging ever!

 

[Grumpaw]

Tow/Haul 100% of the time. BIG PLUS....it locks out that stupid stop/start cycle when you come to a stop....

 

[Motorpsychology]

I use T/H when driving in urban stop&go. I used to lock out 6-10, But T/H does a better job. We were in Custer State Park recently, driving 20-35mph on hilly park roads, and T/H matched revs ideally, keeping the rpm between 1500-~2500 RPM. Ford could'vejust made Tow/Haul the only shift pattern.

Off topic, but we were in the MN Arrowhead last week when we came upon a small boulder field with a shallow stream crossing. 4L and Trail Control set at 3mph for the win!

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