Hey guys. I got smoke form my tailpipe today. We just bough a new 35 foot TT and towed it for the first time about 160 miles. I pulled into the park and had to climb a steep hill. I down shifted to 1st and when I got to camp office it started smoking. From up front it looked like white/grey smoke and smelled a little. Smelled hot. I did accidentally overfil the oil before we left. Almost a quart. We to camp store after all set up and the truck seemed fine. No dash lights came on and temps were running normal.

 

Did your engine oil return to normal range after that, or are you still a quart over?

 

Was the smoke coming out of the tailpipe? Or could it have been coming OFF the tailpipe? A 160 mile tow followed immediately by a steep hill climb in 1st gear could have had the trans front seal overheat and dropping some ATF onto the Y pipe area, which would then get blown back by the engine fan looking like tailpipe smoke maybe....? Do you see any evidence under the rig of ATF leaking from the torque convertor area? It's not uncommon for the front seal to overheat in certain situations (usually in reverse uphill when hot) and leak ATF then when cooled back off the seal reseals itself and is fine again (until the next overheating session).
Do you have a trans temp meter, not the factory on in the dash but some way to monitor the actual trans temp? It's a very important thing to monitor when towing heavy.
What is the actual loaded trailer weight? Make and model, we love pictures here...(hint, hint) . What WD hitch system are you using? How did the combo behave on this first tow?

 

Drunken Unicorn, the oil was back to normal after the trip and the truck did fine on the way back home yesterday. Not sure what happened.

WE3ZS, I am pretty sure it was coming for the tail-pipe. I saw the smoke out the back and not under my door or passenger door. I have not seen anything leaking from underneath. I do not have a trans-temp meter. I guess I better invest in one soon because we are heading to northern Michigan at the end of the month. I am not sure what the actual loaded trailer weight is. If I had to guess I would say 8,600lbs. The trailer is a 2016 Keystone Sprinter wide-body edition. I am using just a standard WD hitch with the Reese Dual-cam sway control system. The trailer did sway more than I thought it would so I need to look into something more or something different. Any advice on that would be helpful.

 

The Reese Dual Cam is a pretty well respected hitch, from what I have read they DO need some tweeking to get them dialed in perfectly. Maybe post up in the towing forum here with some pictures and weights when you get them, tape measure measurements for now will be a good start. Get unloaded and hitched measurements front and rear at the top of the wheel wells.
There are some very sharp guys and Dual Cam users there (and here) that may be able to get you sorted out. You shouldn't be experiencing any sway with the right setup.

 

I will do that. Thanks! I did look up the Hensley Arrow system. I am assuming you like it?

 

I love my Hensley Arrow, absolutely no sway at all. I have plenty of sail area too with 38' of sidewall on the TT! Found mine used on Craigslist for $650, replaced 2 bearings, 4 grease seals, upgraded spring bars from 1000lb to 1400lb and repainted it. Good as new now! The equally as good Pro-Prides are now getting old enough that sometimes they pop up on the used market also. These hitches are very expensive new but patience and regular searches can find decent deals on used units.

 

Good to know. I posted in the towing section so I will see what advice I get. In regards to transmission temp do you just use gauges on the pillar for that? So maybe a stupid question but if this is maybe common what do I do if I am going to pull the camper through the Smokies next year? Planning a trip to Disney.

 

I saw your post in the towing forum, hopefully you will get some good advice there. Can you supply a couple of pics that show the stance of the Ex/trailer while hitched? And any fender measurements loaded/unloaded? That would help to get the ball rolling over there (and or here).
I use a stand alone gauge for my trans temp (and rear diff temp), GlowShift MaxTow series (I use an engine oil temp for the diff). GlowShift | MaxTow Double Vision Trans Temp Gauge with Electronic Temperature Sensor I have a custom radio console in front of the factory unit and have the 2 gauges mounted there.
Hopefully the smoke issue you had was due to the slight overfill, I'm not sure if that would be a "normal" result though.
The Smokies are beautiful and they smell like burning brakes. Make use of the "OD Off" button and downshift as needed for speed control.
You didn't have any repeats of the smoke from exhaust on your trip home did you?

 

Nope, had no issues coming home except for the swaying!!

So how do you monitor your diff temp? Did you run a wire down there? Sorry for dumb questions.

I can take pics once we get the trailer back. We had a couple of things they need to fix that we found this past weekend so I dropped it off today.

 

I used a Reese friction bar setup for my 31' TT for years without a problem, no matter how bad the cross-wind was, until two years ago. That's when I put new tires on the Ex and discovered Toyo changed the tread pattern on the all-terrain tires I had been running for over 8 years.

The changes Toyo made to the tires caused all kind of problems with towing my trailer. It was like I hadn't done all the suspension upgrades back in '05 and I was trailering on the POS OEM suspension again.

After that trip two years ago I upgraded to the Reese dual cam setup and couldn't be happier. Zero sway when I pull the same 31' TT now.

I printed out and followed the instructions for the DC installation and setup posted over at RV.net by the acknowledged DC experts.

RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Towing: Travel Trailer Hitch Set-up Procedure

I followed the instructions to the letter and my DC works fantastic.

Did the dealer install your DC setup?

Stewart

 

Yes, the camper place took the DC setup off of my old trailer which was a 25' TT and put it on my new one. I was happy with it on my old one. I set it up myself on that one. I had no sway after doing it but it is totally different now on this trailer. I am running factory springs but I just put the Road Master springs assist system on a couple of weeks ago. It did help with the rear squatting so bad. I know I need new springs but will that affect the sway much?

 

WE3ZS- You had mentioned the transmission seal. A guy was telling me this morning that maybe the transmission overheated which would cause transmission fluid to suck through my exhaust? He recommended changing the fluid, filter change and looking into a big transmission cooler. Probably a stupid question here but I see the radiator and then there is another radiator looking thing in front of that. It looks like stock mounting but could the previous owner installed a transmission cooler?

 

You didn't suck trans fluid out your exhaust.
If the trans overheated it may have leaked from the front seal and smoked off the hot exhaust pipe under the EX, that was my original though that I had posted. It's not uncommon for the front seals to leak like that when overheated. If ever in question about the trans being too hot pull over and let it idle for a period of time to allow it to cool off, never shut down a truck with an overheating trans. All of this will be much easier to manage with a trans temp reading, either from a stand alone gauge or one of the Bluetooth OBD II monitors. Very important item to monitor when towing.
You EX, all EXs came with an air to ATF cooler. The trans cooler from the 6.0 PSD trucks is about twice the size of our V-10 coolers and does a much better job of keeping temps under control, it is a popular upgrade.
Check you trans fluid, it should be nice and bright red, brown and or burnt smelling ATF is in need of a full flush.

 

Kevin, check out the picture in post #9 in Joshua Sirchuck's thread about trans overflow after steep climb with TT. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15548245

Does your torque convertor inspection cover look wet like his? (under the EX at the rear of the engine and front of the trans on the bottom.)