Ford 350/450 shifting advice

I am curious about others experience with the Ford vehicles when in mountains.   Our 2350 is pulling a Jeep Cherokee which weighs about 4044 curb pounds.   I am surprised how the V10 seems to really pull down on mountain passes, granted they are Rocky Mountain passes where I have experienced this and I am towing.  After one trip in June (and planning another in August) we will probably just unhook the Jeep and my wife will drive it up the passes.  We will be boondocking above 10,000 feet so I am not talking hills

Here is my question.   Do most PC owners use the tow/haul mode which, as I understand it, just changes the shifting points, or do they not use it and just use the downshift from the standard drive position, as well as engine speed to maintain momentum.  Our last Class C  was a 450 and this is a 350 and we were not towing.  I was down to 25 mph going up Bobcat Pass in Northern New Mexico last month.   Maybe that is just the way it is?  Our most previous RV was a Roadtrek Class B 210 with the Chevy 6.0L

ALSO...I have read in some places that the V10 is designed to develop max torgue at 4500-5000 rpms.  Is that correct?   I read on another forum a discussion that indicated that was no problem, but I always hate to "cram" an engine. 

Any experiences, direction or suggestions you could give me would be appreciated. 

Paul

Paul

We took our 2008 2350 through the Rockies in 2010.  We were towing a 2500 pound car and were able to top Vale Pass at around 55 MPH.  I never use the tow/haul mode.

One thing I learned about driving in the mountains is to keep your speed up. Don't wait for a downshift before applying additional throttle.   Once you lose your speed it is hard to get it back.

Perhaps a more experienced mountain driver can provide addition information on how to approach some long grades.

Barry

With our 2007 E350-V10 & current day Torqshift transmission, towing our 4200 pound Jeep Liberty, I have yet to be worried over the drivetrain except when engine braking.  The RPMs can sometimes get very close to red-line.  At my second oil change I switched to full synthetic oil in hopes to provide a little extra edge to my concerns.

Whether engine braking or climbing, the Triton series engine, V10 or V8, is designed to rev very high compared to the GM engines.  As a result, the engines can get loud which can make you feel you are over-stressing something.  But in reality, all is well.

I personally love the tow haul mode.  I called Ford twice over the years, asking if Tow-Haul could be reprogramed to be "On" by default, but I get the same disappointing answer.

As Barry said, try not to loose momentum when driving in the mountains.  When you do, just take it slow (or slower) in a lower gear.  You want the rig to rev high with the least amount of throttle.  Once in a great while you will simply find yourself at very high RPMs in a very low gear, going very slow.  As uncomfortable as it might feel, the drivetrain is designed to work just like that.  As always, give consideration to the other drivers around you.

In answer to your Tow-Haul mode question... It changes the shift points under both conditions, accelerating and decelerating.

We aren't experienced mountain drivers (well, in an RV that is), but did have the opportunity to tackle a few mountains on our recent trip coast to coast.

We have a 2552 and tow a heavy Ford Edge (4500+ lbs), both loaded typically for long trips.  This is the first trip I've used tow/haul mode and only used it when there was either a series of upcoming ascents/descents or one long or steep ascent/descent.  I was impressed by how it functioned, and was especially glad I had it going down a very very steep and windy section coming out of Yellowstone.  Never had much of a problem with long, steep ascents if I was able to get the speed up beforehand. But even when I was 'trapped' behind slow moving big rigs I managed 40 mph at about 4300 rpm.....and sometimes was even able to gain speed and pass other rigs, albeit slowly, while on the grade.  If you are familiar with grades such as between Cheyenne and Laramie on I-80, or going over the Donner Pass on I-80 (either direction), then this is the type of grade I'm referring to.

I am very happy we have tow/haul!

    - Mike

Having had several years worth of experience with 2 F series Ford chassis cabs, 450's, heavily loaded constantly, 10k+ pounds, in Fire Dept. service, standard operating procedure, and Ford fleet sales recommended, is for us to run them in tow/haul all the time. It's easier on the engine, brakes and transmission.
We have had zero issues with the drivetrain doing this