Does anyone use their cruise control when hauling their trailers?  I always thought this was a no-no and never even tried it, but the other day a friend told me she uses hers all the time.... I tried it yesterday coming back from the hill country.. I only tried it on the fairly level road near home. My tachometer went up 1000 RPMs to just over 3000, even when staying level at 60 mph, and jumped up to over 4000 when going up an incline. It did go down to just over 2000 when going down the backside of a hill.  The reason I'm asking is driving as I normally drive without a cruise when pulling a trailer,  it kills my right knee and my hip gets sore, too from manually adjusting the gas pedal up and down the hills.. Plus, as per my usual, my mind gets to thinking about other things on a long haul, and my speed drifts down to somewhere in the fifties on the interstate.. Occaisionally even lower when going up an incline..I try to keep my speed @ 60-65 mph, but it wavers alot.. especially when going up and down hills like I said, which is about all I drive over, since I'm usually hauling to the hill country and back.  Yesterday I was actually pretty tired and stiff just from the drive and it wasn't really what I'd consider a long one, @ 4 1/2 hrs..Is this just the way it is and about par for course for you long-haulers out there? Am I just being a whiner?... I don't want to pull the guts out of my car, but if using the cruise helps keep an even speed with no adverse effects, so much the better, right?  I pull a 2 horse BP straightload with a toyota landcruiser. Max tow weight is 6000lbs.. I like my car and do not want to get rid of it in favor of a truck. Although I realise that I NEED a truck, this car is paid for, in good shape and will last me another 100- 150,000 or more miles, God willing..This trailer weighs maybe 4500-5000lbs fully loaded.. My new BP 2 horse slant, which I will go pick up this next week weighs 2600lbs empty.  I don't haul frequently.. probably less than 10 times a year.. Mostly going to Bandera and back, but someday I'd like to branch out and go to NM, OK or other places within a reasonable drive..

Any comments ?

Cruise control can certainly be used whenever you pull a trailer. It electronically controls both your engine and automatic transmission. It will provide the optimum RPMs and transmission gear selection, depending on your load and road speed. It will prevent your engine from over speeding, or from lugging while in an incorrect gear. Cruise control will usually increase your fuel mileage, and it will maintain an even speed even when you tire from driving

We use ours at every opportune moment. It provides a relaxing drive, relieves my old knees of pain, and eliminates the distraction of having to constantly monitor the speedometer while driving. When it's set on the correct road speed, you don't have to worry about the police taking your photo and selling it back to you.

You should not use the cruise control in heavy rains, where your tires may be able to hydroplane. This can lead to some uncontrollable situations, particularly if you are driving a front wheel automobile. Fortunately this usually isn't prevalent with rear wheel drive trucks, but you should be aware that it can happen with any vehicle.

Yes, use and enjoy your cruise control.     Gard

When in doubt about using the cruise control, using overdrive, or similar while towing it would be in one's best interest to check the owners manual of that specific vehicle as opposed to gleaning opinions from the internet.

The answer frequently depends on the vehicle.  I've had both yes's and no's over the years.  The most recent two being the 2500HD and the Trailblazer.  With my 2500HD, yes.  It was obviously designed to spend its life towing. 

With the Trailblazer, depends.  IIRC the owners manual said you could use the cruise....however in the interest of longevity, human interaction would be beneficial.  Knowing the Trailblazer was limited on power and the cruise control would aggressively attempt to maintain speed, when approaching a hill I would have to make a decision.  If I knew a downshift would be necessary I would let it do it's thing.  If I knew I could make it to the top of the hill without a downshift by dropping a few mph then that is what I would do.  Doing so would reduce the wear, tear, and additional heat put into the tranny caused by unlocking the torque converter and then the downshift.  This would hopefully extend the life of my vehicle.

Did it work?  Don't know, but I do know that tranny had 100,000 miles on it and had hauled some pretty substantial loads.  Seemed like a pretty good showing for a little suv and a tranny known for sunshell failures.

And you should, when pulling my pontoon with my Escalade, if I hit the right hill, at the right speed, it will downshift and send the RPM's to over 5000. That is enough to get your attention, so I recommend in all cases where you are using cruise to be aware of hills that may cause your tow vehicle to downshift and over-rev. I use cruise alot, but by no means do I use it all the time.

Quote... I had a Mustang that instances of the cruise control not "letting go" when I stepped on the brake.

WHOA!!! Tell me about it!! Had the same thing happen to me... Took me about a minute to realize the brake light switch was bad. Brake light feed kicks the cruise off, no brake feed and the car jumps down a couple of gears and you're off to the races all the while you're standing on the brakes!!

I use the cruise while towing on flat ground, when we get near the hills (Fredricksburg, Va. north, Winston Salem, N.C. west) the Big Block and Allison get really busy. Gets tiresome traveling through the mountains. I have to accelerate and brake with my left foot. Gets old sitting sorta turned to the right in the drivers seat pedaling up and down the I-40 hills through Haywood County N.C. everytime I go that way.

 I come down Black Mountain (heading east) for the first time with the six horse head to head last Monday morning, sure didn't need the cruise for that trip!!.... YEHAW!!! I kept the Allison in 2nd and 3rd gear most of the way down. Trailer weight was probably 14000# and it was pushing my 3500 dually like a roller skate.

I always turned off the OD and set the cruise where it's hilly and it didn't rev as high.  When going from Falfurrias to San Antonio we would take 281 up to I37 there were quite a few steep hills going through Three Rivers and George West that would kick the RPMs up if the OD wasn't off.

I think my car was in regular drive (I have the option of gears 2,3,and 4, or just "drive") maybe I'll try it again with it in "4" this next time... I turned off the cruise when the car lurched into a rise on a hill and the RPMs went well over 4000.

BTW, my new Hart that I bought here has made its way from Oregon to the transporter's home place in OK.. I'll be going to get it this week..