Using a 2011 Ford F150 as a tow truck???
I have a 2011 F150 that I am using as my tow truck and I was wondering if any of you who use the newer F150's as tow truck----do you lock out 6th gear when you are towing?
Forum Discussion
On my 2011 with EcoBoost, I lock out 6th when towing our 6000# TT. It will hold 6th when towing unless going into a real bad headwind, but it improves fuel mileage by over 1 mpg by using 5th. That puts the engine RPMs right at 1900, which is where 80% of the 420 ft lbs of torque becomes available.
Atlee: There are 2 switches on the drivers side of the shift lever. The bottom one is the tow\haul, the upper one triggers the gear indicator display on the dash and allows you to select gears. While in D, that switch will allow you to lock out gears starting from the top. If you lock out 6th, (the 6 light will go out), the truck will use gears 1-5. If you lock out 6 and 5, it will only use gears 1-4, and so on. Great for engine braking too. Doesn't matter if you have tow\haul engaged or not. If you put the shift selector lever in M, it operates differently. I think you will only get 1-2-3, and you have to manually upshift using the side gear selector button, IIRC.
Atlee: There are 2 switches on the drivers side of the shift lever. The bottom one is the tow\haul, the upper one triggers the gear indicator display on the dash and allows you to select gears. While in D, that switch will allow you to lock out gears starting from the top. If you lock out 6th, (the 6 light will go out), the truck will use gears 1-5. If you lock out 6 and 5, it will only use gears 1-4, and so on. Great for engine braking too. Doesn't matter if you have tow\haul engaged or not. If you put the shift selector lever in M, it operates differently. I think you will only get 1-2-3, and you have to manually upshift using the side gear selector button, IIRC.
