Towing when raining on mountain

[thehippie]

Do you use tow haul and automatic exhaust break when towing up or down on the mountain when it’s raining?

I have 2015 ram 2500 ctd and about 10,000 lb toy hauler


And do you also use sway control friction bar?

[Lynnmor]

Atlee wrote:
Why in hell would I want to move to where it really snows? I already live as close to "real snow" as I want. And if there is too much "real snow" here in Virginia, I'll head further south, thank you.

I go north, the snowmobiling in PA often is not so good.

[Atlee]

Why in hell would I want to move to where it really snows? I already live as close to "real snow" as I want. And if there is too much "real snow" here in Virginia, I'll head further south, thank you.

Grit dog wrote:
^ Now that's funny!

Move somewhere where it really snows and learn how to drive in snow and you wouldn't ask the questions or make the comments you did.
Do you think everyone drives 25mph on snow packed roads and highways?
Don't pull off the next exit in _______(anywhere that has a real winter), in November. You might wait til March before the roads thaw out!

[Grit_dog]

^ For sure! Heck 2-3" of snow in Seattle and they're throwing around words like snowpocalyse. But 5million Amazon and Microsoft employees make a mess of the roads!
If there's a good snow, you gotta get out of town and over the pass early, to snowmachine, before 100 hipsters crash their uber cars and Priuses, blocking the freeway!

[campigloo]

Grit dog, haha
Last winter we got a cumulative ~5ish inches of the white stuff. Shut the city DOWN for almost a week. Yeah, winter is tough around here!

[hornet28]

March?? This picture was taken the first week of May in NW Nebraska

[Grit_dog]

^ Now that's funny!

Move somewhere where it really snows and learn how to drive in snow and you wouldn't ask the questions or make the comments you did.
Do you think everyone drives 25mph on snow packed roads and highways?
Don't pull off the next exit in _______(anywhere that has a real winter), in November. You might wait til March before the roads thaw out!

[Atlee]

What am I missing here. If the road conditions include ice and snow, why would anyone be going so fast that they would even need to use jake brakes? Why would you be going so fast that you needed to brake so hard that the tow/haul mode would kick in and cause engine braking?

If the road is slippery, wouldn't/shouldn't everyone already be driving slow?

Heck, if road conditions were that bad, I'd either already be off the roads, or I'd be driving slow and looking for an exit in order to get off the roads.

[K3WE]

One other poster hit on it. Engine and exhaust brakes ONLY work on drive wheels. Regular brakes work on all wheels. If traction is comprised, engine and or exhaust braking can cause those wheels to break traction SOONER and that can lead to a control loss.

Might be wise not to use it in rain and snow or at least be very cautious.

[Grit_dog]

Well then welcome back beentherefixedthat....
This thread is almost dead, but you may hook a couple "professional naysayers" with your spot on analysis.

[Beentherefixedt]

If you have ever held a Class A CDL you would know that using an exhaust brake or "Jake" Jacobs brake when it is slippery is Dangerous and not to be done. Now rain is not, in most cases, so slippery as to affect your traction when the Exhaust brake comes on, however ice or snow is another matter altogether.

As a matter of safety and just good habit I leave the exhaust brake OFF when in a light "first" rain when the road is at it's slipperiest.

As for Tow Haul those above are correct who point out that it is a transmission mode switch only, however on my Dodge Ram 6.7L it does also DOWNSHIFT the transmission on it's own which has the same effect as the Jake Brake if things are slippery. (Especially ice or snow) You stand the distinct chance of rear wheel lock up. In Rain it is not so dangerous but is certainly a possibility.

Some of the above posts are good examples of a little knowledge being dangerous.

And since some of you will undoubtedly point out that I am new to the forum (thus what could I possibly know?) I have full timed for almost 4 years hauling my 34ft trailer to Alaska twice, once from the tip of the Baja and once in March (think still winter) and from Alaska to Maryland and back along the southern coast to the west coast and many many more miles. I have also hauled RVs as a "workcamping" job. And just for purposes of full disclosure I am not new to the forum. I have been here for many years but left in 2017 when I was working in Alaska for a summer and then spent this last summer in Europe. I am back now on the road again...

[ktmrfs]

at least with GM diesels, if you have cruise, and/or tow/haul on and/or exhaust brake AND the computer detects slip between the front and drive wheels it will almost instantly kick off cruise, and/or tow/haul and/or exhaust brake.

On older vehicles, using cruise and other functions could get you in trouble if wheels start to spin or slip because the offending function wouldn't kick off.

another thing I found interesting is that on my duramax once going downhill I shifted to neutral to see how fast I would pick up speed. What happened next was a suprise. Engine rpm STAYED THE SAME! and then went up as speed increased,it did NOT go down to idle RPM, even though the engine was indeed in neutral. shifting back to drive was as smooth as a babies butt.


Personally, other than ice or snow I use cruise, tow/haul/ exhaust brake when needed regarless of rain or not.

[allen8106]

My owners manual for my 2018 GMC 3500, Duramax Diesel makes no mention of using the tow/haul mode or the exhaust brakes in adverse conditions. For the cruise control it only says not to use cruise control slippery conditions. Slippery conditions are up to individual interpretation.

[campigloo]

This is all silly. Use tow/haul and exhaust brake especially on a long downhill run; sunny or rainy. If there is that much ice one the road don’t tow it at all.

[Allworth]

With Allison Transmissions (General Motors ONLY) Tow-Haul also engages the transmission downdhift feature which will ASSIST in holding down speed on downhill runs.

It is not an engine brake and is not as effective, but it certainly helps.

The basic answer to the OP's problem is: Slow Down!

On Edit: Do you folks not realize that each manufacturer programs their version of "tow-haul" the way they want. In case you have never noticed; Chevy is different from Ford which is different from Ram.