I've been observing how my truck behaves hooked up to a heavy trailer and going down hills. With CC engaged the computer applies the wheel brakes to maintain the set speed. When using the exhaust brake I've noticed that when auto mode is selected the computer will try to hold the truck to the speed that the vehicle was travelling when the throttle was released. In order to do this it will automatically downshift the transmission and adjust the turbo vanes to get the necessary braking. When the exhaust brake is set to the on position (as opposed to auto) the transmission downshifts as normal .... ie the transmission doesn't downshift until the wheel brakes are applied. With the exhaust brake on the turbo vanes move to restrict the exhaust flow.So when going down grades I'm hitting cancel on the cruise control and useing the auto mode on the exhaust brake.

Ram's auto and full mode does the same. This is why I get mad at the TFL guys because they use the full mode instead of auto in their test. Auto will aggressively downshift without the brakes being applied to hold a certain speed while full mode does it when the brakes are applied.

I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!

Cummins12V98 wrote:I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!x2

4x4ord wrote:I've been observing how my truck behaves hooked up to a heavy trailer and going down hills. With CC engaged the computer applies the wheel brakes to maintain the set speed. ...So when going down grades I'm hitting cancel on the cruise control and useing the auto mode on the exhaust brake.That seems odd to me. CC applies the wheel brakes ???Certainly with the RAM, you can use cruise control and auto EB at the same time to control speed downhill.I don't recall it ever applying the wheel brakes.

Cummins12V98 wrote:I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!I agree....whoever is responsible for the decision to program the brakes to come on to hold the CC selected speed should be slapped.The auto exhaust brake works good for lighter trailers and or shorter grades. Like you say: on a long steep grade with a heavy load it is essential that you use a low enough gear to hold back without using wheel brakes.

2017 Ford exhaust brake and cruise control | Good Sam Community

ShinerBock
Explorer
May 13, 2018
Ram's auto and full mode does the same. This is why I get mad at the TFL guys because they use the full mode instead of auto in their test. Auto will aggressively downshift without the brakes being applied to hold a certain speed while full mode does it when the brakes are applied.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
May 13, 2018
I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!

This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!
goducks10
Explorer
May 13, 2018
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!

This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!

x2
brulaz
Explorer
May 13, 2018
4x4ord wrote:
I've been observing how my truck behaves hooked up to a heavy trailer and going down hills. With CC engaged the computer applies the wheel brakes to maintain the set speed.
...
So when going down grades I'm hitting cancel on the cruise control and useing the auto mode on the exhaust brake.

That seems odd to me. CC applies the wheel brakes ???

Certainly with the RAM, you can use cruise control and auto EB at the same time to control speed downhill.

I don't recall it ever applying the wheel brakes.
4x4ord
Explorer III
May 13, 2018
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!

This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!

I agree....whoever is responsible for the decision to program the brakes to come on to hold the CC selected speed should be slapped.

The auto exhaust brake works good for lighter trailers and or shorter grades. Like you say: on a long steep grade with a heavy load it is essential that you use a low enough gear to hold back without using wheel brakes.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 13, 2018
I agree with Cummins. Designers probably never pulled anything. COLD brakes is the goal.
ACZL
Explorer
May 13, 2018
In my '15 F350 w/ ex brake on & cruise, I never noticed the brakes being applied, but the trans DID down shift along w/ the ex brake being on and did a great job of keeping speed down. On the '17, what little I've towed w/ it so far (ok just last Fri for 1st time w/ a utility trailer and 1500 lb tractor), with EB and cruise on, she downshifted and kept speed at set speed w/ cruise. Again, didn't feel the brakes being applied. May not help OP, but this has been my experience thus far w/ Fords set up.
4x4ord
Explorer III
May 13, 2018
With a lighter trailer it is not as easy to observe what is happening. When you've got 32000 lbs hooked to the ball and start going down a steep grade the truck holds the set speed without increasing the turbo boost pressure. If you take CC off the transmission needs to drop three gears to be able to hold the speed. (So it is obvious that the wheel brakes are being applied automatically with cc)

Driving the truck is not as bad as I first thought now that I know what to expect. I leave the exhaust brake set to auto and just tap the brake pedal at the top of the hill to gain control of things. I keep my foot on the acelerator until I want grade braking, at which point I just release the throttle. (On a long steep grade I might have to brake to get slowed down to a speed the exhaust brake is capable of holding).
blofgren
Explorer
May 13, 2018
goducks10 wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I REALLY don't get this brake application on the Fords! I want cold brakes "IF" I need them. I tow at 33-35k combined, I leave TH and EB on ALL the time. I tow in cruise up and down grades as much as 14% without brake applications. The trick is to select the gear going downhill that you would have used to climb the same grade. Auto mode is useless I'm my opinion!

This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!

x2

x3
ShinerBock
Explorer
May 13, 2018
Cummins12V98 wrote:

This whole TFL brake application is a JOKE. Human intervention and how to do so should be shown!!!

I agree and I mainly use the EB in full mode while downshifting manually with heavier loads.

Auto is great for light sub 10k loads like my cattle trailer going through the constant up and down of the Texas hill country. I want my EB to come on gradually depending on how much brake pressure I am applying instead of full because it will cause my cattle to fall down and possibly injure themselves. If I remember correctly from a video I saw, this was the reason why Ram created auto mode in the first place so it is not useless.

However if the whole premise of a test is for the truck to automatically do it all like the TFL test is, then auto is the best one to use for that purpose.