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Tow/Mode and Exhaust Brake question

gregus73
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gregus73 Enthusiast

gregus73

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Just a question when towing my boat.

Best to use Tow/Mode when towing my jet boat, and use Exhaust Brake when going downhill when you want to let the engine slow you down and save the brakes?

 

Turn the Exhaust Brake off, when not going downhill. Or use the Exhaust Brake all of the time when towing?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

 

 

Random Enthusiast

Random

Posted
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I use tow/haul mode every time I'm towing heavy. Starts you off in 1st gear and changes the shift points to keep the RPM's up. If pulling a light trailer, I wouldn't even bother, as it's just going to hurt your fuel economy without providing much benefit.

 

The exhaust brake only really shines when going down some long steep grades, like in the mountains. I've made it a habit to turn it on whenever I'm putting it in tow/haul mode and just leave it on. It doesn't hurt anything to leave it on, as it only works when necessary.

gregus73 Enthusiast

gregus73

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Posted (edited)

Thanks for the replay, that helps a lot.

 

My boat is about with trailer is about 3500 pounds. Worth it to run in tow mode?

 

Also plan to get a 6-7 ft trailer for yard and tree cleanup.

Edited by gregus73
Another JR Senior Enthusiast

Another JR

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If your truck is a 2500 or 3500hd and your trailer is 3500 lbs, I would not use tow/haul mode. Won’t hurt if you do, but the shifting will be smoother in normal mode. Try it both ways, and see which you prefer. 
 

 

gregus73 Enthusiast

gregus73

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Thanks again for all of the assistance. My Suburban and last 2 trucks were 1500s.

First time 2500 and Diesel.

Random Enthusiast

Random

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Posted
On 7/8/2022 at 6:55 PM, gregus73 said:

Thanks for the replay, that helps a lot.

 

My boat is about with trailer is about 3500 pounds. Worth it to run in tow mode?

 

Also plan to get a 6-7 ft trailer for yard and tree cleanup.

 

3500 pounds is a light load, considering you can tow 5x more than that. Wouldn't bother with the tow/haul mode. You can still play around with the exhaust brake though. When you are using cruise control and have exhaust brake turned on, it'll automatically kick in to keep you at your set speed when going down a steep grade.

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted
On 7/7/2022 at 8:09 PM, gregus73 said:

Just a question when towing my boat.

Best to use Tow/Mode when towing my jet boat, and use Exhaust Brake when going downhill when you want to let the engine slow you down and save the brakes?

 

Turn the Exhaust Brake off, when not going downhill. Or use the Exhaust Brake all of the time when towing?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd leave both on when towing.  Exhaust brake will put in extra work on the downhills to regulate the descent, but it will still give assistance on flat ground.  

Njmurvin Enthusiast

Njmurvin

Posted
Posted

FYI ... if you use T/H, turn the truck off and restart it within ~4 hours, it will automatically start up in T/H mode.  However, the same is not true for the exhaust brake.  You must restart it every time you restart the truck if you want it active.

gregus73 Enthusiast

gregus73

Posted
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Posted (edited)

Thanks again for all of the replies.

The funny thing is that at the dealer the 2500s were better discounted than the 1500 Silverados.

1500s were 8k above MSRP and 2500s were $5500 below.

Made more sense to just go with the 2500 with diesel. Plus the 2500 looks so much better to me and room to grow if I ever get a bigger boat.

Edited by gregus73

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