I've used the "Towing" mode on the F150. Only towing 5k lbs, but it seemed to do ok. Never really had to touch the brakes on steep descents. Now with the new 10-sp's, I'd imagine it would even be better. But who knows.
Had that truck loaded to its' maximum. (which is a miserable thing to do, I don't like doing that, but we
had to, had one shot, gotta do what you gotta do) That International was kinda quirky, IIRC you had to push a button then you could move the lever, to shift it manually, which kept on disengaging after a certain speed...or something like that. I was very annoyed with the whole process. Kept on thinking...just give me a manny (like our old work trucks) so I can just leave it 3rd to climb this grade.
Think if you don't max the truck out, the trans should be fine. It is when you do, you find out how well or poorly the truck actually performs. (makes me think of all of the over loaded vehicles on here
)
Today's autos shift incredibly smooth...all of the new trucks I have test driven...could barely tell when they shifted...they were unloaded...but I was impressed.
Tell ya....it reminded me why I started buying little Toyotas, to get a break from our driving construction vehicles all day long....think traveling around in an Earthroamer, Unicat, or the like would not be very pleasant. Too big for my taste...like the Toyotas, because they
are car-like. Today's neutered pickups aren't necessarily a bad thing. Other than preferring manual transmissions, I like all of the "modern" conveniences...like power steering, door locks, windows, AC, auto hubs or ADD in the Tacoma's case... etc....now living in a cold climate again kinda wishing we had remote start on our vehicles to warm them up before I have to go to work.
