Power Wagon Registry

I'm about to head out on my biennial expedition. Doing North Rim of the Grand Canyon and White Rim in Canyonlands. With a 200lb roof tent, a 37" spare tire mounted to a Wilco hitchgate, 300 lbs of fuel and water and up 200-300 lbs. of camping/cooking gear, should I be considering doing some or part of the expedition in tow/haul mode. I'm starting in North Carolina so I have ~2,000 miles before I even get to the back country. Then, I'm spending about 2 weeks on the trails.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

if you dont mind the harsh shifts, possibly louder exhaust, and sporty drive.... tow haul 100% of the time.

im 230lbs...thats enough of a reason to use tow/haul.

if your asking about when your offroad...not necessary, just shift to 5th to lockout 6th.

That's interesting. I was aware that tow/haul changed shift points, but I never considered that it was better for the truck to drive in tow /haul all the time. Does tow j haul just keep the transmission healthier?

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Keeps the trans fluid cooler by keeping the TC locked up more, but it will decrease your fuel mileage because of later shifts to higher gears.

I like the way it changes engine braking. I use it off-road if 4 hi frequently.

I'll definitely give it a try, especially with the engine brake assist. We'll be on some pretty steep narly switchbacks, so maybe using tow /haul can save me some brake wear.

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the best part about these hemis is the impressive engine braking.
when driving aggressively, ill use 30%+ less braking when in tow mode.
the truck is much more effective and will more often be in the gear you want. It shifts later, but faster. Way less lugging on the engine.

the throttle is more controllable without tow mode when offroad in slow sections. So test it out and see what you like

I'm headed home from the two week expedition and I heeded y'all's advice, using tow/haul almost all of the way. It truly shines going through the mountains on steep descents with the engine braking.

Driving through KS and MO on the way home, I turned it off due to the flat terrain and the truck not having to work that hard. Lowered the rpms by about 500. Probably gained 1mpg at 80mph.

I didn't use it in the back country, and it may not have made a difference, but I wish the engine braking in 4wd low was a little better. I had to use the brakes a little more than I wanted even locked into 1st gear.

Anyone ever use the hill descent feature? I thought about it but was hesitant to add another caliber to the arsenal mid-decent.

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Torq wrote:I'm headed home from the two week expedition and I heeded y'all's advice, using tow/haul almost all of the way. It truly shines going through the mountains on steep descents with the engine braking.

Driving through KS and MO on the way home, I turned it off due to the flat terrain and the truck not having to work that hard. Lowered the rpms by about 500. Probably gained 1mpg at 80mph.

I didn't use it in the back country, and it may not have made a difference, but I wish the engine braking in 4wd low was a little better. I had to use the brakes a little more than I wanted even locked into 1st gear.

Anyone ever use the hill descent feature? I thought about it but was hesitant to add another caliber to the arsenal mid-decent.

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Hill descent is SLOW. Like 4 mph slow... it's for crawling down rocks basically. Might be a little faster but not for really driving with like that.

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TankerZak wrote:

Torq wrote:I'm headed home from the two week expedition and I heeded y'all's advice, using tow/haul almost all of the way. It truly shines going through the mountains on steep descents with the engine braking.

Driving through KS and MO on the way home, I turned it off due to the flat terrain and the truck not having to work that hard. Lowered the rpms by about 500. Probably gained 1mpg at 80mph.

I didn't use it in the back country, and it may not have made a difference, but I wish the engine braking in 4wd low was a little better. I had to use the brakes a little more than I wanted even locked into 1st gear.

Anyone ever use the hill descent feature? I thought about it but was hesitant to add another caliber to the arsenal mid-decent.

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Hill descent is SLOW. Like 4 mph slow... it's for crawling down rocks basically. Might be a little faster but not for really driving with like that.

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That would've been just the ticket for coming down out of the Henry mountains into hanksville. Any idea how it works? Does it modulate brakes, shifting, etc.?

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Torq wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:40 pm

That would've been just the ticket for coming down out of the Henry mountains into hanksville. Any idea how it works? Does it modulate brakes, shifting, etc.?

It just uses the ABS. It's too slow for coming down the mountain at my cabin. 7-8 mph is about the sweet spot for that, so I never use it.