>A small fleet of trailers for towing demonstrations had settled into deep, thick mud. But the show must go on, and so it did. We were all surprised at the ease in which the 4×4 Super Duty trucks simply pulled the heavy trailers directly out of the goo. Freeing the trailers gave us a chance to test-drive a hilly paved-road route towing a variety of different weights, ranging from a 10,000-lb. box trailer to an 18,000-lb. fifth-wheel RV.

The Power Stroke’s abundant torque became our best friend once again as acceleration from a standstill and full-throttle passing power were smooth and reassuringly easy, regardless of which trailer we were towing. Sure, we could tell there were a few extra tons of weight behind us, but the truck’s response and ease of driving were exactly what we would want for a relaxed, long-distance journey. At the end of the shift lever, the selectable tow-haul mode adjusts transmission to match towing and driving conditions. When descending hills, the TowCommand system helps to maintain speed by engaging engine braking or downshifting as necessary. Unlike some “Tow” systems that just seem to lock the transmission out of top gear, the Ford TowCommand actively seemed to anticipate what we needed, helping to improve throttle response, reduce gear hunting and utilizing each of the five gears appropriately.

In addition, each test truck was equipped with a redesigned integrated Trailer Brake Controller (TBC). Ford has engineered their new factory-installed TBC to be part of the truck’s own computer network, using braking input, vehicle speed and ABS logic to balance the performance of the truck brakes and electric trailer brakes. The driver can adjust the truck/trailer brake balance and sensitivity, shown in a gain/output digital display.
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