Crusie Control and Towing

[cajflynn]

I don't believe anyone has a 10k plus trailer that doesn't gain speed downhill. I tow things 12' wide and 14' tall. There isn't enough drag to slow it down. Weight is weight downhill. If you aren't picking up speed maybe your speedo is broken. The brakes would be on fire if they were stuck on. They would melt the seals and burn the grease. It is very scary when that happens. Same with bearings.If your trailer has surge brakes it s pretty coming to get a dragging brake. That is the nature of surge brakes. If you have electric brakes then it would be abnormal.

[AH64ID]

Because I can use the EB and CC at the same time I know about how steep a grade has to be for me to not need any fuel to run down it. Its steeper than one would think, but there are plenty of them out here in Idaho. 3-4% grade probably takes fuel to maintain speed, above that coasting will result in acceleration. I towed about 200 miles this weekend thinking about this thread and mpgs. Certainly cruise will effect mileage as you don't slow on hills, if you drop 2-5 mph on the hill and gain in on the down hill the mileage is noticeably, thou not remarkably higher. That being said, I'll continue to use cruise as often as possible, its so much easier to tow that way.

[flagmanruss]

electric brakes here... have checked hubs & drums for heat after hours on the highway... only slightest warmth, easy to touch.

[MnTom]

About the only other way to not gain speed going down some hills is because of the wind resistance. Weight alone will push, but wind will hold you back.

[mr.mindless]

Windage is the big one on picking up speed for me. I tow a lot of hills on my route to wheeling land through US15 in southern NY and north central PA. When I'm grossing around 18-19k with just my Dakota on I don't find I gain much speed except on the real steep low speed stuff. When I add a second rig to my trailer and am closer to 24k it's a whole different story. Steep hills at 70 on the interstate take a while to gain speed, steep hills in "the hills" take nothing to gain a lot of speed from 45-50. The slower you're going the less windage you have the more speed you'll gain. Remember aero drag goes up as a square of speed, so the faster you're traveling the less speed you'll tend to gain.Even with my wrong cam and resulting high pyros I grab more gears running downhill into towns to keep the Banks Brake doing its thing than I do running up the steep stuff.