Towed for first time today. No tow/haul mode switch?

[ZoMojave]

Hooked up my 10' x 6' ATV trailer today for the first time. Got in to leave and I went for the tow/haul mode button (like I did on all of my other Rams). Low and behold there is not one.

I didn't order the tow group with mine and installed the Mopar class IV hitch after I took delivery. Is that the reason for no switch?

Sorry in advance for resurrecting something that may have been discussed before.

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[NachoRuby]

There is no tow/haul switch. If you want to limit the max gear, you'll have to use the manual mode on your auto. But the advanced TCU you guys have should know when you're towing a load, and adjust accordingly on its own

 

[ZoMojave]

There is no tow/haul switch. If you want to limit the max gear, you'll have to use the manual mode on your auto. But the advanced TCU you guys have should know when you're towing a load, and adjust accordingly on its own

That is what I ended up doing. Put it in manual mode and kept it in 6th for max high gear. I didn't exceed 50 mph anyway on my rural roads. I guess I assumed that it had tow/haul if the Gladiator is designed to tow.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hooked up my 10' x 6' ATV trailer today for the first time. Got in to leave and I went for the tow/haul mode button (like I did on all of my other Rams). Low and behold there is not one.

I didn't order the tow group with mine and installed the Mopar class IV hitch after I took delivery. Is that the reason for no switch?

Sorry in advance for resurrecting something that may have been discussed before.

I found that with enough weight behind my truck, it totally changed how it behaved.
When I pulled my car hauler empty, it was like a pooch, totally disappointing, slow, doggy, struggled on hills, and mpg sucked.
Once I put a load on it, it perked up - shifted well, kept the RPMs up, and the gas mileage was better.
I'm suspecting that since these literally sense the torque going out through the transmission that they adjust based on that or some other criteria.
Anyway, once I got over 1500 pounds back there, it acted like my Chevy did when I pushed that button, or like my Ford used to. The only disappointing part was the lack of upping the turn signal flashes from 3 to 5 like almost every other truck out there does in tow mode.
I did shift manually now and then but found it was handling the gears just fine, and I found no gain in mpg shifting manually, so I let it do it's thing. Besides, with our abundance of hills here, I'd have needed to keep my hand on the shift lever the entire drive!
It was smart enough to do what was needed, I never felt I could have really done much if any better while towing.

Almost 5,000 pounds behind the truck. 13.9 mpg on the hills of Eastern Iowa on I80

 

[ZoMojave]

I found that with enough weight behind my truck, it totally changed how it behaved.
When I pulled my car hauler empty, it was like a pooch, totally disappointing, slow, doggy, struggled on hills, and mpg sucked.
Once I put a load on it, it perked up - shifted well, kept the RPMs up, and the gas mileage was better.
I'm suspecting that since these literally sense the torque going out through the transmission that they adjust based on that or some other criteria.
Anyway, once I got over 1500 pounds back there, it acted like my Chevy did when I pushed that button, or like my Ford used to. The only disappointing part was the lack of upping the turn signal flashes from 3 to 5 like almost every other truck out there does in tow mode.
I did shift manually now and then but found it was handling the gears just fine, and I found no gain in mpg shifting manually, so I let it do it's thing. Besides, with our abundance of hills here, I'd have needed to keep my hand on the shift lever the entire drive!
It was smart enough to do what was needed, I never felt I could have really done much if any better while towing.

Almost 5,000 pounds behind the truck. 13.9 mpg on the hills of Eastern Iowa on I80

Thanks for the insight, Bill. I agree. When I went into manual mode, it felt like I was manipulating the trans. for my particular load and didn't feel quite right. Being a very windy day today doesn't help either. When I went back to auto mode it seemed that the trans. shift points were thought out and went accordingly. As a fairly light total load of around 2K, I thought that it pulled it quite well.

Certainly nothing like your load with that wonderful SX/4!

 

[Gvsukids]

I didn't order the tow group with mine and installed the Mopar class IV hitch after I took delivery. Is that the reason for no switch?

Your tow rating is also much less without the factory tow package.
Your manual will tell you what you need to know about how the computer responds to towing without a tow/haul button.

 

[doc-ketamine]

Almost 5,000 pounds behind the truck. 13.9 mpg on the hills of Eastern Iowa on I80

You get better MPG towing than I do ... just driving. Sigh.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You get better MPG towing than I do ... just driving. Sigh.

My Silverado might get 11.5-12.5 depending on speed, etc. so I was pretty happy when I confirmed 13.9 on mine........... especially since I80 in that part of the state is really hilly.

 

[Snake Eyes]

The Gladiator does not have a driver selectable tow/haul mode. Jeep says, the truck automatically adjusts the transmission mapping when it detects additional towing load.

 

[dcmdon]

Your tow rating is also much less without the factory tow package.
Your manual will tell you what you need to know about how the computer responds to towing without a tow/haul button.

I don't think that is the case with our trucks. The tow package is really just a receiver hitch and some other supporting things that often come with other options. Also, the trailer light connector is included on all Gladiators.

10% larger cooling fan is not a big deal. The radiator is exactly the same size.

240 Amp alternator. I don't know what size alternator it comes with otherwise, but you also get the 240 amp alternator with the Aux switch group.

Hitch zoom feature for backup cam.

None of these will materially impact how much weight the truck can tow safely.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

I found that with enough weight behind my truck, it totally changed how it behaved.
When I pulled my car hauler empty, it was like a pooch, totally disappointing, slow, doggy, struggled on hills, and mpg sucked.
Once I put a load on it, it perked up - shifted well, kept the RPMs up, and the gas mileage was better.
I'm suspecting that since these literally sense the torque going out through the transmission that they adjust based on that or some other criteria.
Anyway, once I got over 1500 pounds back there, it acted like my Chevy did when I pushed that button, or like my Ford used to. The only disappointing part was the lack of upping the turn signal flashes from 3 to 5 like almost every other truck out there does in tow mode.
I did shift manually now and then but found it was handling the gears just fine, and I found no gain in mpg shifting manually, so I let it do it's thing. Besides, with our abundance of hills here, I'd have needed to keep my hand on the shift lever the entire drive!
It was smart enough to do what was needed, I never felt I could have really done much if any better while towing.

Almost 5,000 pounds behind the truck. 13.9 mpg on the hills of Eastern Iowa on I80

Similar story here. I towed my 5’ x 8’ utility trailer (~900 lbs empty) near empty a few times before today. I towed it home with 60 (wet) bags of mulch today (the first time I really put any kind of load on it). I specified that the bags were wet, as that can make a bag 30-40 lbs vs. ~20lbs each for dry.

Anyways…I thought it seemed to like the trailer loaded (probably ~2,800 lbs) more than the empty run on the way to Home Depot. I just leave it in automatic and let the transmission do its thing.

 

[Labswine]

I always do the manual shifty thingy.

I keep the RPMs at or below 2,500 for each gear. She moves my 5,300 lb trailer quite nicely that way.

Pretty much 7th gear on the interstate at a maximum of 65 MPH is 1,900-2,000 RPMs. Speed drops to the upper 50's, drop back to 6th and 2,500 RPMs until I get back up to about 62-63 MPH, or am cresting the top of the hill, then it's back to 7th. Occasionally hit 8th on a dead flat or slight downgrade.

I also got 13.5ish MPG towing like that.

NOTE...the one time I tried to let her shift herself, she went from 5th at 2,200-2,400 RPMs to 3rd at like 5,000+ RPMs. This was going up hill on a bridge approach at 45-50 MPH. After that, I was like, "I'll handle this as I can do it better than she can." Went manual again and dropped her into 5th and that took care of it nicely. Crested the hill, back to 6th then 7th on the downward side.

 

[ReverendZ]

I noticed with mine, if I connect to a trailer with a functioning electric brake setup that the shift pattern changes for a heavy load. This is whether there was one or not there. I did pull 15-17MPG pulling my buddies 67 Buick Skylark across half of Minnesota this way.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Pretty much 7th gear on the interstate at a maximum of 65 MPH is 1,900-2,000 RPMs. Speed drops to the upper 50's, drop back to 6th and 2,500 RPMs until I get back up to about 62-63 MPH, or am cresting the top of the hill, then it's back to 7th. Occasionally hit 8th on a dead flat or slight downgrade.

Just not enough power to make hills at that low RPM. I'd be down to 55 or less by the time I hit the top. There's just not enough there at that low RPM and it's getting into lugging area.
2500 RPM wasn't enough to allow a speed gain, might allow me to maintain speed, but not pick back up. Had to hit 3,000+ to gain speed. Low RPM is actually good - even the book says as much with their tips for towing. Keep RPM up.
I don't want RPM under 2500 towing a load on our hills.

 

[cb4017]

The Gladiator does not have a driver selectable tow/haul mode. Jeep says, the truck automatically adjusts the transmission mapping when it detects additional towing load.

This is my experience. First with my travel trailer and now with this camper the transmission does a darn good job of keeping the engine in it's happy place without interference from me. I just put it in D and go.

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