Good question there Jim
Going arround a bit of Auss. i often was tempted to hit the cruise in my Holden [auto], some say never use cruise when towing [15ft van], others say its ok, been tempted when tail wind  gets me rolling.
 What do u seasoned travelers think?

Cruise control and towing is not a good idea safety wise.Cheers.Ibbo.

Nothing to do with being up there Rob. It's just when you and Ibbo started driving.......Tachos weren't invented. LOL

Disco Duck wrote:

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Nothing to do with being up there Rob. It's just when you and Ibbo started driving.......Tachos weren't invented. LOL

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Neither were gears Ducky, just peddle power, or was that foot power??

 

ok I'll have a go at this at the risk of getting in to more strife, towing in fifth gear is not a "one answer fits all", your vehicle is an individual, get to know it

overdrive or final gear is fine in both auto or manual when the going is EASY, I.E. flat level ground, tail wind, very little or no effort required by the vehicle but the second you see the speed dropping or she's "pulling" a bit get it out of that gear quick smart, do not "strain" your gearbox or it will fail

towing is about knowing your vehicle, listening to the engine, knowing when it's working and when it's running nice and easy

overdrive and the cruise control on say the nullabor is fine or any highway that is open with a good line of sight, plenty of room to "react" if trouble arises, no reason why it cant be used, just a dab on the brake and its off

if your vehicle is automatic with an "overdrive" and not a true "fifth gear" then I would not tow with this gear, it can be used only in very easy going circumstances, get this info from your dealer, there is a huge difference between overdrive and a fifth or "final" gear

listen to your engine, watch your revs these are far more important than the actual ground speed indicated by your speedo

keep the rev range as close as possible to your "power band", get to know where this is

most bands are between 2,000 and 2,800 rpm, not all are the same, diesels can "lug" a little better than petrols but try to keep it as described

I have now left myself open to all sorts but I use this description after decades of driving semi's, tippers and heavy plant as well as years experience in auto and heavy mechanics

driving within the power range of the vehicle, and this is not necesarily the peak power range, will give you far better economy as well

another good idea that has been lost over the years is the instalation of a vaccuum guage, this little instrument can tell you, by way of manifold pressure, or lack of it, just how your engine is performing "pulling" wise

and your driving technique can be adjusted accordingly

If you have an automatic just put it into drive and the the car do the thinking, but as Dave says you still have to keep  the rpm in the "Torque" range. If the torque range is say 2400 -2800 rpm and this equates to 98 - 105 km/h then that the best speed to drive at when towing because towing is done by the engine torque not the power, the power gives you acceleration.  So in those curcumstances if you drove at say 80 to save fule you really are not because because you are not allowing the engine to reach it's "sweet torque range".
The gear you are in would be irrelevant as long as the engine is running in the right rev range...

My tug doesn't have a tacho, although I have thought about adding one.
However, I have a good "ear" for revs in the diesel, and drive by revs and power available.
I still wouldn't tow in 5th, overdrive in this case, because of the speed I tow at. But that's just for my cruiser.
Every vehicle behaves differently, and turbo changes the power/rev ratio.

Whats wrong with using cruise control while towing ? ,we have just done around 20,000 Km
towing 17ft van with auto falcon with no problems and good economy,
Set to 100km/hr and foget it.
It drops to around 80k on steeper hills but genraly just looks after itself.
just hit the brake to kick it out for roadworks etc.
I do notice most of the diesels seem to die on the steeper hills where as the petrol keeps hauling all the way to the tup.

whoppa wrote:

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Whats wrong with using cruise control while towing ? ,we have just done around 20,000 Km
towing 17ft van with auto falcon with no problems and good economy,
Set to 100km/hr and foget it.
It drops to around 80k on steeper hills but genraly just looks after itself.
just hit the brake to kick it out for roadworks etc.
I do notice most of the diesels seem to die on the steeper hills where as the petrol keeps hauling all the way to the tup.

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Sorry Whoppa but I must disagree there on the diesel angle.  We have a Ford Ranger, 3ltr Turbo Diesel towing 18.5 ft van and it has just eaten up the hills.  Eg. Clyde Mountain on Kings Highway, Cunningham's Gap on the New England and others I can't remember........Alkaseltzer diesease don't ya know......

 

we leave our 6 speed falon on auto. and drive @1500 to 2000 revs which is around 90 to 100 ks. with our 505 coromal. (on climbs we can get back to 80ks or lower)this is the same revs as when we drive without the van @110k.

was once told by before tachos became the norm that if you travel @ 20ks under your normal driving speed you shouldn't have any great transmission problems. 

 brian & kerry
505 coromal & duel fuel 2007 falcon

A good range of responses here.....what this forum's all about.

It was after seeing some suggestion about not towing in 5th gear in the previous post (d c utes) I decided to start this topic to get some more input as I do tow in 5th.

I think from the responses I'm on the right track with my Pajero (NP 2003) manual diesel towing a small "wind up"........

The engine has a "sweet spot" at around 2000 rpm which equates to around 90 kph (GPS checked) in 5th, a good towing speed for the rig.

I don't let the engine "struggle" (towing or not)....I change back

ok to use cruise control but with discretion depending on traffic and road conditions. In my case I find using cruise control significantly reduces driver fatigue on a long trip, a safety factor in itself.

Cruise control is great........set and forget.

Then climb back into the van and make a coffee. You guys really know how to travel I'll say that!!

Having had the diesel Patrol for a year now and done a couple of trips I've found that the auto is best with the O/D disengaged. A bit like with Falcons, towing in third gear with the auto. As for cruise control, it works fine with the diesel.

Terro

JRH wrote:

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I do not have cruise control on my 1993 Falcon so this is pure speculation. 

It is my understanding that cruise control will simply open the throttle further to pump more fuel to maintain the set speed if the vehicle begins to slow down, so when towing a caravan with cruise control engaged and you suddenly hit a head wind you will simply use a lot more fuel and run the risk of labouring the motor and putting undue strain on the gearbox. 

As I say this is just speculation on my part as I have not had any experience using CC.

In the Falcon it does not seem to work that way as when you get to a decent hill on cruise it will slow to around 80 K,s ,however if you wish you can still  hit the fast pedal which will overide the cruise control and allow you to speed back up to 100k,s which can be handy if you are on a fourlane highway and really need to pass something, this does have a downside thou as fuel consumption goes off the scale and yes I guess it starts to add load to transmission etc.
I am not sure how the cruise control works but belive it uses engine vacuum and trottle position sensors plus some sort of computer logic to try and maintain a balance or speed and fuel consumption and load on mechanicals.
Mostly I leave the car to make up its own mind  if slows on a hill as Iam in no hurry anyway and just want to get there in one piece.

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