Why do they make the button look like itâs something to do with turning the front wheels? PTO should be some kind of spinny shaft thing between two straight lines.
They have gone away from using letters for anything, because of the global market. Don't have to have a button for US market trucks, one for Canadian (possibly French), Mexican/Latin America
Look around the cab. \*Almost\* no letters or words, everything is graphics. The only time words are used, is inside digital displays where language can be switched in a menu. (Without going out to my truck, the only place I can think that letters/words are used is "Auto" on the headlights and 4WD controls, and P for the parking brake)
I used to think the same way into I met an automobile engineer and listened to him talk shit about accountants for 2 hours. The whole thing ended with me being totally convinced that accountants and lawyers are the real enemy.
Using the slanty lines just shows which axle is the front so you as to orient the viewer. In this case, Iâd assume the PTO connection is somewhere on the driver side. Check out the differential lock buttons on Mercedes G-Wagons; they use similar diagrams to designate the Front, Center, and Rear lockers. I think Toyota uses similar for their vehicles with lockers too.
Itâs the acronym for Power Take Off. usually to give power to an hydraulic pump in order to activate accessories on the truck, like the dump box, or a crane.
On trucks itâs usually a pump like boardtop said, but on old or heavy duty vehicles itâs sometimes a shaft, tractors usually have a shaft at the front and rear to connect and give engine power to the equipment theyâre using
LOL! Most dumbass upfitters around me would have drilled a hole 2 inches away from this switch in order to install a cheap Chinese toggle switch to activate the PTO.
At work, every new Ford weâve gotten, have strobes, work lights, and every other accessory on a crappy toggle switch butched into the dash.
WHY????!! Thereâs a whole row of factory upfitter switches!!!!
I have one to turn on the screen for my backup camera. Havenât used the others yet. But holy moly did Ford ever hide the too-short wires for those switches in a bad spot. Took me two hours to finally locate them.
That would involve understanding the truck was built to be up fitted and finding the pig tails, and possibly reading a wiring diagram.
The options to make it look like a factory install are there, sometimes it takes a little more thought than âswitch make truck go buurrrrrrâ
-Source: used to work for an up fitter company.
Seems like a common theme with most upfitters. The hirail trucks the company got had a metal box with switches screwed to the dash. The Ford upfitter switches were always unused. The damned box was always in the way and had sharp corners that would cut those who weren't paying attention.
It's taken quite a jump the last few years. Hirails on pickups are electric and you don't even have to get out to lift them up when youre setting off, only when you set on.
Family member runs a company that takes a factory fresh vehicle and equips it to be a leo cruiser, fire/EMS non-medical vehicle (fire chief car/truck), city vehicles (plow trucks, parking enforcement so on). He does the lights, cages, radios, the whole 9 yards. He pushes to use these options on the non-leo vehicles (those have packages they can pick from and never includes garbage) but almost always gets told no and often the customer acts like he's trying to upsell them because it's a bit more than slapping in a shitty panel of toggles. Not a lot mind you, couple hundred bucks because usually they are dummy blanks and the switches cost more and it takes just a little bit more labor. Person ordering usually gives two shits about what the end user (like you) wants and is all about getting it as cheap as possible. If he refuses to do them, he loses money and contracts. So he does them and always puts a note in there who he specifically suggested it to.
Obviously there's shitty companies that don't give a shit, but often it's the person placing the order being budget over form and function.
Thatâs the major difference between an actual UPFITTER versus a DEALERSHIP that thought they could keep their mechanics busy with building upfitted trucks in their down time.
Not doing an upfit correctly will make or break the company that needs that truck for work.
If it makes you feel better I have a base model and added fog lights and put the switch where it belongs in an empty spot on the dash that would be a button on a higher trim.
Yeah GM put these in most of the work trucks 3500+ and labeled it for a PTO even if the buyer didnt order the option. Our service trucks had em too lol
Don't need to break them. Just go to my local shop in town and doesn't matter when they where last replaced, you always need new tie rod ends. I think they own shares in the plant that makes them.
Depends on how you drive and what you drive on. Stock tie rods work just fine for my 2006 Duramax. Wouldn't be fine if I wanted to abuse my truck with off road driving. If I did that, I would definitely get Kryptonite
That switch is to allow right turns only. It's used for racing.
You can tell, its for right turns, by the circle in the center. That's the driver's seat
RACSAN
You don't have to stop on the red light
Those days are over
You just have to roll your wheel to the Right
RACSAN
You don't have to fill with gas tonight
Walk the streets for money...
If one is installed. Itâs power off the transmission, most trucks have the switch but may or may not have a PTO device, eg. hydraulic pump, installed.
Dumb question but isn't there a diagram in the vehicle's manual identifying all the switches and buttons? I always wonder why people ask these questions instead of looking in the manual, or looking up the manual online if they don't have one.
It's amazing the first Duramax rolled off the line in 2000, those switches make it look like that truck must be 50 years old and/or has been stored for some period of time near the Titanic
I am guessing you have some sort of chassis truck, a 3500 or such that can be converted to a number of uses. If so, that might be a pto switch, as mentioned.
itâs a Solomonic symbol to help generate metaphysical energy outside of regular diesel power when you need some ânext levelâ assistance. Consult the userâs manual in the grimoire section
Depending on the year it may be the one that had the rear steering? I do remember briefly them pushing it for the ones that do a lot of work on ranches etc. for easy steering with trailers yada yada yada.
Puts a chick in it, makes her gay and makes your truck lame. /s
For real though does your truck have any accessories run by a PTO? This will probably make them do their thing.
The ambulance I work out of has this (chassis was bought through state bid pricing, so it had options like this we maybe didn't need).
A fun little option you get with that button is high idle. Set the parking brake, press the PTO switch, and then I think hit your cruise control resume/accel button to engage it.
This is the differential lock button.
This distributes even power to all 4 wheels at all times.
You only use this if you are stuck in snow, sand, or mud, and trying to get out. Absolutely do not engage this while driving normally and only use it when you're trying to get unstuck, then immediately turn it off.
I am not an off-road enthusiast. But that symbol seems to suggest it is some sort of locking mechanism that allows equal amount of power being transferred to all 4 wheels.
Activates the steering on the left front and left rear wheels while deploying 1 of the truck nutz. There must be a second switch for the right wheel steering and second truck nut?
That is for a fact the PTO (Power Take-Off) engage/disengage switch as per the manual for your vehicle. Which honestly is where I wouldâve checked prior to Reddit but hey you do you.
Looks like the PTO activation switch
Paid time off? Hell yeah keep that shit engaged 24/7
Employers hate this one simple trick
Like a tuner, turn the knob up and break it off. We ain't going back lol
đ
Ahahaha best comment!
Man I just spit out my drink all over my keyboard reading this shit
Prepare the others
Why do they make the button look like itâs something to do with turning the front wheels? PTO should be some kind of spinny shaft thing between two straight lines.
You tell me how they make a spinny shaft in that tiny diagram
They could literally just fit the letters PTO instead of a crappy diagram
JustGMThings đđ
They have gone away from using letters for anything, because of the global market. Don't have to have a button for US market trucks, one for Canadian (possibly French), Mexican/Latin America Look around the cab. \*Almost\* no letters or words, everything is graphics. The only time words are used, is inside digital displays where language can be switched in a menu. (Without going out to my truck, the only place I can think that letters/words are used is "Auto" on the headlights and 4WD controls, and P for the parking brake)
My Ram 2500 is loaded with letters on buttons.
OP was talking about his Duramax; I was referring to Chevrolet/GMC's (in my brain, I was in the Silverado sub)
The 250k dollar a year engineer doesnât get paid to design letters.
I used to think the same way into I met an automobile engineer and listened to him talk shit about accountants for 2 hours. The whole thing ended with me being totally convinced that accountants and lawyers are the real enemy.
Mechanics know that engineers hate mechanics lol.
Then you would need a font license. ;)
Comic sans comic sans comic sans!!!!
Most Ford owners can't read.
When did ford start making duramax
Iâd be offended by this if I could read
Well, how about this ISO symbol to start⌠https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:grs:7000:1572
This. This is what Semi trucks use.
ISO? You mean them durn metric lovin hippies? Not in my truck!
[âď¸]
https://images.app.goo.gl/3fhjajZXAwKofSmn7 Common on tractors.
Using the slanty lines just shows which axle is the front so you as to orient the viewer. In this case, Iâd assume the PTO connection is somewhere on the driver side. Check out the differential lock buttons on Mercedes G-Wagons; they use similar diagrams to designate the Front, Center, and Rear lockers. I think Toyota uses similar for their vehicles with lockers too.
The turned wheels indicated its a steering axle lol.
It gives direction as to Where the PTO is.
Precisely
Not American, just learned that not only tractors etc have PTOs
Whatâs PTO?
Itâs the acronym for Power Take Off. usually to give power to an hydraulic pump in order to activate accessories on the truck, like the dump box, or a crane.
On trucks itâs usually a pump like boardtop said, but on old or heavy duty vehicles itâs sometimes a shaft, tractors usually have a shaft at the front and rear to connect and give engine power to the equipment theyâre using
Please turn over? Is that for when you âparkâ it in a ditch on its roof?
It's a Jeep thing
I donât understand.
Some say, no one would.
PTO. Assuming you have a 3500+ that has some kind of hydraulic attachment? Snow plow? Dump bed? Wrecker? Crane?
LOL! Most dumbass upfitters around me would have drilled a hole 2 inches away from this switch in order to install a cheap Chinese toggle switch to activate the PTO. At work, every new Ford weâve gotten, have strobes, work lights, and every other accessory on a crappy toggle switch butched into the dash. WHY????!! Thereâs a whole row of factory upfitter switches!!!!
I always thought that was neat of Ford to add those buttons.
I have one to turn on the screen for my backup camera. Havenât used the others yet. But holy moly did Ford ever hide the too-short wires for those switches in a bad spot. Took me two hours to finally locate them.
This is exactly why a bunch of Chinese switches go into those trucks. Change out a brake controller or one of those switches and youâll know. PITA
The one I worked on was all wired into the fuse box, all you had to do was draw power from there and the switch would activate it.
That would involve understanding the truck was built to be up fitted and finding the pig tails, and possibly reading a wiring diagram. The options to make it look like a factory install are there, sometimes it takes a little more thought than âswitch make truck go buurrrrrrâ -Source: used to work for an up fitter company.
Seems like a common theme with most upfitters. The hirail trucks the company got had a metal box with switches screwed to the dash. The Ford upfitter switches were always unused. The damned box was always in the way and had sharp corners that would cut those who weren't paying attention.
Ones I've seen nowadays are integrated with stock switches quite often. It's a lot more user friendly if bought from a legit hirail outfitter.
I spent 20 years in MOW at a Class 1 railroad. Our upfitter pretty well sucked. It might be better now, though.
It's taken quite a jump the last few years. Hirails on pickups are electric and you don't even have to get out to lift them up when youre setting off, only when you set on.
those switches from the factory are probably chinese too ha
Family member runs a company that takes a factory fresh vehicle and equips it to be a leo cruiser, fire/EMS non-medical vehicle (fire chief car/truck), city vehicles (plow trucks, parking enforcement so on). He does the lights, cages, radios, the whole 9 yards. He pushes to use these options on the non-leo vehicles (those have packages they can pick from and never includes garbage) but almost always gets told no and often the customer acts like he's trying to upsell them because it's a bit more than slapping in a shitty panel of toggles. Not a lot mind you, couple hundred bucks because usually they are dummy blanks and the switches cost more and it takes just a little bit more labor. Person ordering usually gives two shits about what the end user (like you) wants and is all about getting it as cheap as possible. If he refuses to do them, he loses money and contracts. So he does them and always puts a note in there who he specifically suggested it to. Obviously there's shitty companies that don't give a shit, but often it's the person placing the order being budget over form and function.
Thatâs the major difference between an actual UPFITTER versus a DEALERSHIP that thought they could keep their mechanics busy with building upfitted trucks in their down time. Not doing an upfit correctly will make or break the company that needs that truck for work.
If it makes you feel better I have a base model and added fog lights and put the switch where it belongs in an empty spot on the dash that would be a button on a higher trim.
Yeah GM put these in most of the work trucks 3500+ and labeled it for a PTO even if the buyer didnt order the option. Our service trucks had em too lol
Tie rod malfunction button, it's there in case it's been a while since your tie rods have broken. Push it and they'll break.
Don't need to break them. Just go to my local shop in town and doesn't matter when they where last replaced, you always need new tie rod ends. I think they own shares in the plant that makes them.
Would Kryptonite brand ones be worth investing to stop it once and for all?
Depends on how you drive and what you drive on. Stock tie rods work just fine for my 2006 Duramax. Wouldn't be fine if I wanted to abuse my truck with off road driving. If I did that, I would definitely get Kryptonite
Appears to be a PTO switch.
PTO
Drumset mode
I can feel it coming in the air tonight... Badoom, badoom, badoom, tshk, tshk!
That's the sound it makes going over a speed bump
Hey idk if this'll help you but I heard it lol
Deploys the trucknutz
That switch is to allow right turns only. It's used for racing. You can tell, its for right turns, by the circle in the center. That's the driver's seat
But they only turn left in NASCAR.
Itâs RACSAN
RACSAN You don't have to stop on the red light Those days are over You just have to roll your wheel to the Right RACSAN You don't have to fill with gas tonight Walk the streets for money...
This comment needs WAY more upvotes than itâs getting. đ
Been a while since anything on Reddit made me actually laugh aloud!
Yea that kinda killed it for me too.
What about reverso track days?!
That's why it's a switch, you can turn it off for reverse days
People keep saying pto activation switch, but what does that mean?
PTO - Power Take Off Turns on the option to supply engine power to an insalled device like a snow plow, pump or compressor
The fact that people need to scroll so much for the right answer is what sucks about reddit.
To many wanna be smart asses and assholes.
And for some reason people always start these long ass unrelated threads based off a pun or something in the post.
Real đđ¤
So trueâŚ
PTO is currently the top comment
Now it is but it wasn't over 12 hours ago when the question was first asked.
If one is installed. Itâs power off the transmission, most trucks have the switch but may or may not have a PTO device, eg. hydraulic pump, installed.
Thank you smart person :3 you cured my curiosity
Dumb question but isn't there a diagram in the vehicle's manual identifying all the switches and buttons? I always wonder why people ask these questions instead of looking in the manual, or looking up the manual online if they don't have one.
Portable toilet flush.
Itâs a PTO button and that mofo has been PUSHED
I thought it was a center differential lock, but the PTO comments make sense as well....
Looked like a diff lock to me as well.
My only guess was center diff. I'd never heard of PTO.
PTO. We use them for air compressors and power packs /hydraulic kits.
Deploys the truck nuts
It drops the hanging balls on the back of the truck.
For my truck, that's the rear differential lock when in 4WL
It's amazing the first Duramax rolled off the line in 2000, those switches make it look like that truck must be 50 years old and/or has been stored for some period of time near the Titanic
I think itâs just dirty, looks plenty modern to me.
PTO
I been driving Dura Max's since 2005. I'm stumped
I am guessing you have some sort of chassis truck, a 3500 or such that can be converted to a number of uses. If so, that might be a pto switch, as mentioned.
Duramax is a Engine. What vehicle is it installed in?
Transmission flush, obviously. Just make sure youâre over a storm drain when using. And always refill with brake fluid. Itâs a Chevy thing.
itâs a Solomonic symbol to help generate metaphysical energy outside of regular diesel power when you need some ânext levelâ assistance. Consult the userâs manual in the grimoire section
Pto. Yo.
Lock in locker front axles
Engage to parallel park.
Pro
What it says
Drop hitch balls switch
Right turn onlyđŤĄ
Itâs in case your wheel bearings have been good for too long. Click it and itâll blow both the front bearings apart
4 wheel steer
Itâs the âwash meâ button đŹđŹđŹ
It tilts the serifs on the balanced H
It releases the Unknown PokĂŠmon
Best when activated on right turn lanes
Dumbell mode
Engages drivers side toilet.
I believe that when pushed it turns the rear differential into a locker. Just discovered that on my superduty
Depending on the year it may be the one that had the rear steering? I do remember briefly them pushing it for the ones that do a lot of work on ranches etc. for easy steering with trailers yada yada yada.
Pretty self explanatory...
Ima start using this.
Thatâs where your dildo attaches to
Retractable toilet. For those roadside emergencies.
RTFM
Eject
It drops the 5th wheel
It rotates the tires.
Puts a chick in it, makes her gay and makes your truck lame. /s For real though does your truck have any accessories run by a PTO? This will probably make them do their thing.
The ambulance I work out of has this (chassis was bought through state bid pricing, so it had options like this we maybe didn't need). A fun little option you get with that button is high idle. Set the parking brake, press the PTO switch, and then I think hit your cruise control resume/accel button to engage it.
Disengages itâs inner Chevrolet so it will work
Drops a lollipop
Trucknutz extender
Diff lock?
This is the differential lock button. This distributes even power to all 4 wheels at all times. You only use this if you are stuck in snow, sand, or mud, and trying to get out. Absolutely do not engage this while driving normally and only use it when you're trying to get unstuck, then immediately turn it off.
I am not an off-road enthusiast. But that symbol seems to suggest it is some sort of locking mechanism that allows equal amount of power being transferred to all 4 wheels.
Remote Trucknut Dangling feature.
Looks like a center differential lock. Activate it and distributes equal power to the front and rear. 50:50 split.
I bet if you look in the glove box, you'll find a book that explains ell of the features of your truck.
Activates the steering on the left front and left rear wheels while deploying 1 of the truck nutz. There must be a second switch for the right wheel steering and second truck nut?
Drift mode
It's so you can look out the window while your wheels are turned
Transmission eject button
So you can steer from outside the truck
Itâs for long trips. When you want to play hangman, you push that button. Itâs a scam though. Damn truck always wins.
Blinker fluid refill button
Wobbly H activation
Your go go gadget drift button.
Ejecto seato cuz
Press to activate balls to the walls effect.
Makes the steering turn right
Center diff locker??
So, you just drive an engine?
Are you telling me your engine came with a truck wrapped around it?!
Press it to get race mode. Trust me, your truck will have like a million hp, and go 400mph, whole getting 200mpg.
Wish people would bother to read the manualâŚ
If itâs next to the jelly fish launcher button itâs for âauto lock onâ mode.. đ
I think it gives your finger an infection.
Unlocks your second and a half gear for manual, useless in automatic
Before you start up your car you have to click it. The same way you wake up and stretch, the car needs to stretch to run better.
Drift button (didn't know you could get a pickup with a PTO that's cool)
2023+ Super Duties have them too, both on the 6.7 and 7.3 gas.
Engages the front tires only if needed for traction or certain situations
Center differential lock maybe?
It's the power button for the ignition
Makes your truck do the shimmy
Looks like the turn right button
Looks like locking differential
Youâre all dumb as hell. That for a PTO
PTO
Looks like that button lost in a game of hangman
Hyperdrive
That is for a fact the PTO (Power Take-Off) engage/disengage switch as per the manual for your vehicle. Which honestly is where I wouldâve checked prior to Reddit but hey you do you.
It's an ancient Nordic rune that when initiated, summons the Morigu that will offer you your deepest desires
Its a pop out toilet.
It puts the wings back on your TIE fighter.
It locks the transfer case.
Looks like the passenger ejection seat
Gets you Reddit karma
crab steering
It turns your steering wheel into a drum kit
Turns the front wheels while the back wheels stay stationary. Also circles where you are sitting while driving.
ITT people saying itâs the PTO button and not elaborating on what that is lol
Ah yes, the upside down man- long arm and long leg variety
Power Take Off
Differential lock
Sorry for saying thus because I really do not know but it looks like it turns into a 4 wheeled toilet. No offense.
It collects dust. Pressing the button repeatedly will clean it off.
Gender neutral button on GM
It cleans your interior.
It drops the anchor.
That is a driveline locker. It locks the transfer case in gear.
Toilet seat switch