No Tow/Haul does not = ERS. ERS allows you the ability to select the highest gear the transmission can shift in to.

Tow/Haul does many things one being the elimination of the second overdrive (6th gear). Leave it in the indicated 5th (.75 od ratio) and it will shift through the gears as expected with a higher and firmer shift rate. You do not have to shift manually in Tow/Haul.

 

What's ERS stand for?

 

Taken from jhedger's post.

 

I've noticed that when I tow my 4wheeler on a small 8x5 utillity trailer, That when in tow haul if the loads are light enough it still switches into overdrive. I think all it realy aids in is the down shifting during braking.
--Hop

 

I dont believe it is actually in OD as you know it in normal drive mode. For example set your cruise at 70 on level ground with tow/haul off and take note of RPM. It should be around 1950 with a 3.92 gear. Now while in cruise hit the tow haul see if RPM increases it should to about 2500. This test is lighter than when you have the four wheeler in tow. So no matter the load in tow/haul the tallest gear in the tranny is locked out. Sure it has 5 forward speeds but you are noticing it switching into the second prime that it normaly doesnt see out of tow/haul mode. Hence giving you 5 forward speeds with 5th being the normal 4th gear. Confusing I'm sure..lol

 

I'll double check again. With cruise set I hit t/h and it downshifts and the RPM's come up. If you leave it alone the rpm's will drop down. Unless it's the TC locking up that drops the RPM.
I'll mess around with it on the way home tonight. Shifting from D to 5 and then again with tow haul and D. I figured these trucks were smart enough to know when your pulling extra weight. LOL
--Hop

 

Mikes87G,

Here's a video of what I'm talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXRmmBeTCkE

Seems like it's switching back to OD.
--Hop

 

I will say that is strange. My truck doesnt do that. Maybe some one else will chime in with a suggestion. When I am in Tow/haul my truck wont achieve the highest gear like it appears yours did in the video.

 

I got to messing around with the truck again this weekend. I beleive that the Torque converter is not locked in T/H mode. If you look at the end of the vid the RPM is 400 rpm higher than when hooked up in OD. So if the load is light enough it will shift thru all the gears and down shift for you. The only difference is that the T/C wont lock up. I forgot to check and see if ESP would kick in in T/H mode. Might try that tonight.
--Hop

 

My truck will not shift into the .67 ratio gear when tow/haul is on. My RPMs in T/H will only drop to 1950 at 70 which is the same as selecting 4th without T/H. I will agree that the torque converter is much looser and the rpms will vary no matter what gear you're in. This is most apparent when towing up slight grades where it won't shift out of overdrive but the RPMs will rise and fall slightly (+-250).