My first tow will be tomorrow, i work on rv's on the side and i just bought a 2000 Coachmen travel trailer, weighing 8000 empty, so im looking forward to it!!! Report to come.....

 

Yea the boat is pretty sweet but the gas prices are killing me.

 

looking forward to the report

 

So i've just completed my first tow with the new truck. It was a 220 mile haul from northern michigan to central michigan, it started off on a curvy hilly two lane road, for about 30 miles then x-way for the remainder of the trip. I was hauling a 33ft, 8000lb travel trailer.

I left the truck in drive but locked out 6th gear, there was alot of shifting on that winding 30 mile stretch as to be expected but the shifts were very smooth, spent alot of time in 4th with the occasional downshift to 3rd and 2nd one time on a steep grade after i rounded a curve and had no momentum built up.
On the expressway i had to keep it around 60-62ish due to the trailer wanting to sway from time to time. I should have had another sway control but my hitch only had the sway ball on the one side, not both. Anyways it handled very well and if it wasnt for that little sway issue(not the trucks fault) you wouldnt even have known there was 8000lbs back there.

MPG's.....well i think around 10 i would say. At one point on some flat land i unlocked 6th gear but it never actually upshifted from 5th. I filled up before left and when i got a mile from home ironically it said 1 mile to empty!! I'd be curious as to how much fuel i actually had left.

Overall, i was pretty impressed, everything seemed to work as it should, from the trailer brake control to the smooth shifting trans, this truck is a large improvement from my 03 chevy 6.0 gasser.
Ive included a pic:

 

Where did you go camping at?

 

Nice report, if I recall you have 3.73's which will explain it not wanting to go up to sixth. I love how most people will pick a truck color to match their trailer or vice versa. Most seem to anyways, including myself.

 

Kmonty, we were up by Charlevoix for a few nights, nice area! it was nice watching the heavy northbound traffic today while we had clear sailing southbound lol!!

Super08 i have the 4:30 rear end

 

Did you have a bad headwind? mine stays in 6th unless I am in a bad wind or going up a hill. Unless you were going slower, I guess that would do it to as the rpm would be lower. I have been towing at 65. Others have posted that a TT actually pulls harder than a fifth wheel even though the fifth wheel is higher. The truck helps deflect the air up and over the fiver, but it has time to drop all the way back down and nail the whole front end of a TT. Your mileage is higher than mine towing as I averaged around 8.

 

It was somewhat windy, and i'd say my average speed was 60, i would have went 65 if it wasnt for the sway issue, but at 60 in 5th gear the rpms were around 2400. Yes i'd agree that a TT does seem to pull harder, i've hauled over 30 different rv's both TT's and 5vers and i'd take a 5ver any day!!! I just got my 5th wheel rails in last this week so im lookin forward to picking up a 5th wheel!!

 

Mine shifts in 6th all the time too. But will downshift fast when going up a hill. I keep it between 65-70 most of the time. Also with the sway, try shutting off the sway control on the truck if you have a sway control on the hitch. That's the way I tow mine all the time and can tell when I forget to shut it off. Now that may be different with a fiver.

 

I shut mine off as well. I don't need something applying brakes to stop sway. I can do that by steering. I would think it must effect mileage somewhat.

 

Guess i'll have to try shutting off the sway control next time. I remember thinking...doesnt this truck have a "built in" sway control feature? haha, But reguardless a trailer that large really should have dual sway controls.

 

Does the same with my 5th wheel. I try to remember to shut if off each time I start.

 

To bad there is not a way to keep it off all the time. It's kinda a pain to go in and turn it off after every time you shut the truck off.

 

Loaded up the truck camper and put the 6.2 to the test.

She passed with flying colors. got 10.5-12 mpg driving 65-70 on the highway. The terrain was mostly flat to gentle rolling hills.



Blake


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