Cruise Control

[ctomwood]

Do you tow with crusise control
I do all ways to maitain speed.

[mhs4771]

Do it all the time, when traffic & roads permit. Our 2011 Chevy with the cruise braking feature allows us to go down some pretty steep grades and never touch the brakes or take it out of cruise.

[DQDick]

Same with our Dodge. I just hit the exhaust brake button when I start out and use cruise the whole way. If it gets really steep and the transmission starts hunting for a gear (rare) then I push the "tow haul" button, but still leave it on cruise.

[BB_TX]

Almost always on open relatively flat highway. Stays in OD almost all the time, even when towing. But if the terrain is hilly, I will take it out of cruise to minimize the downshifting. By controlling the throttle myself, I can keep it in OD sometimes where the cruise would most likely cause a downshift.

[Fire5er]

I use CC as much as I can when traffic and roads permit it. It helps me to maintain speed (no greater than 65 MPH) and to get the best MPG (between 10.5 - 11 MPG twoing).

[bullroc3]

I rarely use it. I sometimes find myself creeping up on a slower moving vehicle and I am not going fast enough to pass it. I find that I can blend with the traffic speed by not using it. I try to keep towing speed between 60 and 63 mph - sometimes slower and sometimes faster, although rare.

[Capt Kidd]

First thing I do is turn towhaul on then exhaust brake, then cruise control. I have an 07 Dodge MegaCab and mine never seems to hunt for a gear even going over big passes like Donner Summit.

[Captain Joe]

Having neuropathy (feet numb), I use CC just about everywhere.

[Ren]

I use Tow Haul mode all of the time when pulling, and use the cruise as much as possible.

[Art-n-Marge]

I only use CC when I'm on the open highway and don't need to be concerned about stop & go traffic. But there have been occasions when it has turned itself off if on a long climb and it's having difficulty maintaining speed. I also may turn it off on long steep drops to controlling braking and shifting. In other words, when the truck is getting stressed I don't use CC, but try to use it whenever possible. It certainly makes for less tired driving so it is a strong benefit being able to use it all the time.

On climbs, a heftier truck with a higher diff, or on descents, with an exhaust brake CC would probably work better.

Now, I'm only talking about our heavier duty trucks with our awesome diesels and I suppose if the gasser is a monster V10 or V8 gasser, but back when I had towables with a car, or a small minivan or underpowered SUV's V8 and using CC in those cases was much more of a struggle. Keep track of the RPMs and learn to listen for struggling & lugging and you'll know when to turn it off, but you can't beat its usage when towing long and flat or even on slight hills!

[Glenn the fifth]

I use mine when the opportunity presents itself (traffic and road conditions). Like Art, if I feel the truck is laboring at all, I turn it off. -Glenn

[richfaa]

We do use it most of the time. We find that CC and tow Haul tend to work against each other as the CC will attempt to keep it at the set speed and the TH will attempt to find the right gear. When on fairly steep grades we turn off the CC and keep the TH.

[HamRad]

Tom,

Only time I don't use it is in the mountains or in town. Dennis

[CamillaMichael]

Have used it in the past; however, no longer. I feel I can gain better fuel economy and have much better control of the truck/trailer combo by not using it. For example, when I know there is a steep grade (up) ahead, I will increase speed to take advantage of momentum...when I know there is a steep grade (down) ahead, I will slow to prevent excessive speed down the grade. Even with the tow-haul feature, down hill speeds could get out of hand.

[Crossthread]

I never use it. Bill

[DonandJudy_12]

With the Allison tranny in our GMC, we are able to use Tow Haul and Cruise without any problems- I simply set the tranny in Tow Haul and actuate the cruise when I reach cruising speed- If the tranny needs to change gears, it is smooth and automatic- The selected speed is maintained automatically, both up and down the grades- I just love my TV- JHMO- Don

[kylec2]

When towing, I use CC to give my foot a rest for a few minutes, but mainly tow without it. I prefer not to tow with CC as I feel I tend to pay more attention to my driving overall with it off than on.

[RickW]

Always use the cruise control.

[richfaa]

What Don and Judy said is exactly true. My 08 Ford will do the same thing. However as I stated the CC will try to maintain speed and the TH will find the proper gear. That works fine most of the time except on steep grades.The CC will attempt to keep you at your set speed and the TH will be looking for the right gear to maintain that speed.. We drive by our external gages namely EGT, boost, tranny and coolant temps. If you have the CC set at say 62mph it will try to keep that speed but the TH will be looking for the proper gear to maintain that speed resulting in some very high EGT and boost. High EGT is not a good thing for your turbo . We disingage the CC so as to decrease speed as we are more concerned with maintaining a EGT below 1200 degrees than maintaining speed.

[DonandJudy_12]

We also watch the added EGT and boost guages as part of our normal driving habits- We haven't yet experienced any temps above normal, but we don't drive over 62 mph which seems to be the "sweet spot" for our TV and fiver- JHMO- Don