climbing a slow steep canyon road yesterday I selected 2nd gear, just as I always had in other trucks to keep rpm up. My new 04 seems to have alot less power in 2 than D. What's up with this, electronics dictating use of D? This summer when we tow our trailer up the Sierras (CA) do we have to let the trans keep shifting down to 2 then back to 3 repeatedly. I've always just downshifted to a lower gear and let the engine rpm climb to a comfortably higher rpm. Of course downshifting going back down the road worked fine.
Thanks, Steve in L.A.

 

Hmm, can't say I have towed up it yet, but I go up a VERY steep grade every night (down in the AM) and have power whenever I want it.

I do kinda enjoy the MPG monitor when I punch it up the grade - when I have just reset it I can get it down to 3.8 MPG!

Try drive, this truck's electronics are much better than anything else out there. Might want to set it so it can't go into O/D though.

 

You feel lost of power because the calibration of the gas pedal change.

When you are off road, and you are rockcrawling or dealing with very dificult trails, have a gas pedal with a large latency is a must.

It help to manage the amount of fuel in order to drive better.

I think for towing, ford must to keep the 2 and 1 gears with the same calibration as a Drive, but when you use the 4H then make the pedal less responsive.

My 2 cents.