Tow Haul

Patch6713 · November 2, 2011

I was talking to someone recently and they recommended always having the truck in Tow/Haul mode when the plow is on. He said it has quite a few advantages. One it changes the shift points so that it won't be changing gears as often and be at a higher RPM. Second it will cause less wear and tear on the motor and transmission. And third it will keep the engine and transmission temperatures lower.

This all sounds plausible to me. I can see where this guy was coming from, but I don't know if it is true or not.

What I want to know is how people both drive and plow with their plows on. If you do drive and/or plow in Tow/Haul, do you see any benefit? Do you think that using is better for the truck, or does it just make this guy feel better?

BTW: I have a 4 speed. But I think information from 6 speed owners will be relevant.

wavery · November 2, 2011

I was talking to someone recently and they recommended always having the truck in Tow/Haul mode when the plow is on. He said it has quite a few advantages. One it changes the shift points so that it won't be changing gears as often and be at a higher RPM. Second it will cause less wear and tear on the motor and transmission. And third it will keep the engine and transmission temperatures lower.

This all sounds plausible to me. I can see where this guy was coming from, but I don't know if it is true or not.

What I want to know is how people both drive and plow with their plows on. If you do drive and/or plow in Tow/Haul, do you see any benefit? Do you think that using is better for the truck, or does it just make this guy feel better?

BTW: I have a 4 speed. But I think information from 6 speed owners will be relevant.

Plowing or just carrying a heavy load will have a lot of the same impact on your truck as towing. The fact is, the truck needs more torque to perform it's duty rather than just normal driving where your T/C is allowed to lock & unlock at a more "relaxed" pace.

I don't see where engine and trans temps would be a concern while plowing snow but I do see where a more efficient shift pattern would take stress off of the engine & trans.

BTW, Tow/haul mode also increases the alternator output. I could see this being an advantage if running at low speeds with extra lights on the vehicle......... just a thought.

Patch6713 · November 3, 2011

BTW, Tow/haul mode also increases the alternator output. I could see this being an advantage if running at low speeds with extra lights on the vehicle......... just a thought.

Increasing the alternator output definitely would help as the electric plow motors draw a lot of juice and all of the extra lights.

FargoZ71 · November 3, 2011

If I was to run a plow system, I'd definitely upgrade my alternator anyways, and they have brackets where you can install a second one like on the Dmax.

wavery · November 3, 2011

If I was to run a plow system, I'd definitely upgrade my alternator anyways, and they have brackets where you can install a second one like on the Dmax.

I don't know the 1st thing about plowing but wouldn't a good, Series 31 deep cycle, auxiliary battery be sufficient? Seems like upgrading the alternators is a lot of work & $ just to achieve extra amperage for a few hours of plowing......... I don't know , just thinking.

I can see where running high amp electric motors could put a lot of stress on a stock alternator because the vehicle's starting battery is not designed to handle that sort of service. It just seems to me that upgrading the battery system to handle the sporadic high demand should eliminate the stress on the alternator and allow the alternator to do it's job as designed, just keeping the batteries charged.

Short term high demand should never be placed on the alternator, the battery system should always be adequate to handle that type of demand,

FargoZ71 · November 4, 2011

Auxillary battery would work to i'm guessing, but if your truck didn't come with the h/o alternator that would be a fairly easy / cheap swap.

Kodiak450 · November 4, 2011

I always keep the tow haul button engaged, even for transport. and you are correct about the shift points, easier on the trans and gears. Feels more torqy as well.

Patch6713 · November 4, 2011

Thanks for the replies. I'm definitely gonna use Tow/Haul from now on, or at least try it out. It seems to have a few different benefits for both transport and plowing.

Kodiak450 · November 5, 2011

On my truck while driving, if I engage the button I can hear the truck's difference and feel it after pushing the button in. You want maxium power and TQ when plowing (especially heavy wet snow). Not sure if you ever drove a F250 before, but after engaging the button, I never really noticed much of a difference, or for that matter felt a difference. With my 2500HD it's a different story.

Patch6713 · January 23, 2012

So we finally had our first plowable snow this past week and put about 15 hours of plowing on the truck. I had the truck in tow haul from when I started the truck in the morning untill I finally turned it off at the end of the day and was much happier with the truck. The entire day the transmission ran cooler, both plowing and driving, than when I didnt have it in Tow/Haul. I also found on the long pushes it stayed in first gear instead of up shifting into second like it did before. Definatly much happier with te performance.