Tow Vehicle Cruise Control

i use cruise, i can only assume it helps my mpg, no noted additional wear/tear that i am aware of.  hogone

I do.  There's the added benefit of automatic grade braking when in tow/haul mode - it downshifts to maintain the set speed on downhills.

Depends on which vehicle I'm driving and what the terrain is like.
Our Toyota FJ Cruiser has the worst cruise control I've ever experienced.  Many other Toyota owners complain about it too on several different models.
When it downshifts to maintain speed it accelerates beyond the setpoint by 4-5 mph.  Annoying as can be.  Don't understand why Toyota does it this way and why they have ignored owner complaints about it for years.
So I don't use it in hilly terrain as, depending on how close to the speed limit you drive, it could get you a ticket!

My 96 Ford diesel pickup has a really good cruise control, it stays where you set it and if it has to downshift it NEVER goes beyond the set point.

Back in the 70's I used to put my own cruise controls on as they weren't that common then.  They had a vacuum operated servo that pulled on a throttle cable, connected with a bead chain to the carb or throttle body butterfly lever.  One had to install magnets on the drive shaft to measure the speed for the control box. 
They were adjustable and worked much better than Toyota cruise controls 40 years later!

I'd slap one on my Toyota in a second except it doesn't have a place to attach a throttle cable as it is an electric stepping motor that works the throttle and I'm not even sure anyone even still makes them..

I use cruise as often as possible. BMW x3 135i. No problems.

Originally posted by Budward Originally posted by techntrek The Sienna, and probably the FJ, is really just designed for passenger loads.  Add the extra stress and the computer doesn't deal with it right. It does the same thing even if just the driver, no load, no towing. What baffles me the most is Toyota hasn't fixed it...all is computer controlled, can't be but just a few bits in the code to change it..but nooooo. I'm serious it would almost keep me from considering another Toyota.  Had them in the past and they didn't do this.  None of the Hondas/Fords/Chevys/Dodges I've owned or driven for many miles (company cars)  have done this...

I agree.  I've argued that the crappy cruise control on the FJ is a recall issue.  It annoys the bejeebers out of me that it will drop 3 gears sometimes when going up even a moderate hill.  You're going along at 70 and the tach is at around say 2200rpm.  All of a sudden the tach goes to 5500 or 6 frigging thousand!  And you're right, it's not about towing.

I mostly don't use cruise control when towing because of this.  Maybe I would in Kansas.  Wouldn't keep me from buying another FJ, but it is the worst cruise control I've ever encountered.

I installed a couple of those DIY cruise controls back in the day.  They worked very well.

TT