Towing and cruise control

So on the hiway do people use cruise control when towing a 2700lb camper or not?
I have an auto 09 tacoma and have it in 4th when towing, just wondering about the cruise.

 

Kinda depends on the terrain. No point if there’s too many hills.

 

The safe and official answer is to say "no, never ever.". One is not supposed to use cruise when towing, when it's raining or the pavement is wet, or when there is heavy traffic.

But if the road conditions and traffic look like this...

I can't say no, never ever. Just know that it's not safe even when doing this.

 

IMHO it all really depends on how confident you are in your driving skills. Point is never down hill unless you have an engine break set to override CC. Never go down hill in the same gear you go up, should be 2 gears lower for engine and tranny. to help slowdown to keep control. And if your on flat straight roads oh heck yea, give that leg and foot a rest, along with the back. Towed with my 09 SR5 my wifes Forester and Uhaul auto carrier to CT. up I-81 thru TN,VA,MD,WV,PA approximately 6000#'s total used foot because of the hills up and down.

18 years profesional driver class A CDL with X,M,T endorsements.

 

There's confident and then there's confident. I'll give two hypotheticals.

A) let's say you have cruise engaged while towing a trailer and the driver's front has a blowout. Can you get cruise shut off without braking and then get to the shoulder without flipping onto your lid?

B) similar scenario, except instead of a blowout it's an unexpected slick patch. Maybe it's mud, ice or oil. Doesn't matter. When most ccs get confused by no traction they pin the throttle wide open. Can you stop that and get the trailer under control without jackknifing?

That's my personal definition of confident. I've had trailers in the mud and ice and heavy storms, I know how to get on the brake controller and wrestle their countersteer when they want to get squirrelly, and I know the risks if I want to take a 5 minute break to engage cruise. There are people who have only had their yard trailer out on sunny days and don't realize how quickly conditions can change, and how challenging it gets when they do. Some have the experience and knowledge set, some don't. I try not to assume.

So to reinforce your statement, that's my extended definition of confident. It's experience and knowledge of how, why, and how quickly things can go sideways, and whether one is able to correct it within the one second it takes to avoid sudden rapid disassembly.

If you have that skill set, then I won't say never use cruise.

 

You are totaly correct in assessment, I have had a front blowout at 65mph with towing 45000#'s and yes I used the trolly brake to stop without hitting foot brake. I totally agree with your assessment because all the scenario's have happened to me as a profesional driver. You are spot on.

 

I don’t use overdrive. I do use CC right or wrong. Never read nor heard it wasn’t safe. Guess I need to research it.

 

My personal opinion- Never use CC while towing
25 years experience class A driver

 

Section 4.5 of the owners manual.




It's technically unsafe for the scenarios I listed above. Also, it's unsafe for basically anything that the cc wasn't programmed for, which is pretty much anything that isn't a nice open dry stretch of road.

I'm not arguing don't use it, I'm just saying that one should know that it isn't safe.


I know people laugh at the urban legend of the guy in the RV that turned on cruise so that he could walk to the galley and make a sandwich, but the lesson is that the software is not as smart as most of us think it is. It's a digital equivalent to a boat captain tying a rope around the tiller to hold his heading. Sometimes the winds change.

 

Well thanks for the replies, I don't have that much experience with towing this much weight but I'll stick with no. Especially here in New England.
Woody

 

I heard it was a conversion van and he climbed in the back to mix a drink. Then went to the dealer and complained something was wrong with the cc

 

What I do know:
Here in Colorado mountains a CC will not hold anyway. And on our winding mountain roads you would be constantly switching it on and off due to speed changes.
Now in Wyoming it’s a different game on the long straight highways, but there the wind can create issues.
I do know that I get better gas mileage using my foot as opposed to using the CC.
Thanks Rock Lobster! Hmmm…guess I need to read more of my Owner’s Manual.

 

I wouldn’t. I want full control when towing a load in case of emergency and don’t trust computers controlling an auto.
Tesla has many examples of computers failing when controlling autos.

 

If your sig is correct you're in an 09 Taco so you just have static cruise right? If you have dynamic cruise control where the vehicle can apply the brakes without your input I would say, "No. Never-ever." as dynamic cruise control has the potential to put you into a bad situation without driver input.

For me, static or dynamic cruise is miserable towing a 3500# off-road teardrop because the transmission hunts so much but I'm heavy and don't have a tune or gears so I'm working with the neutered 3rd Gen from the factory and have done nothing to help my situation by adding some weight (decked drawers, Leitner rack, E rated 275/70/17 KO2s, winch, winch bumper, Leitner gear pods). Perhaps I'll have a better static cruise experience with a tune and 5.29s.