MY SUMMER TRIP 9400 MILES OF FUN
#1
08-24-2015, 06:49 PM
MY SUMMER TRIP 9400 MILES OF FUN
This is pretty long but if you're thinking of a 6.7L for RVing you might find it useful. You should also note that my trailer and truck combined are right at 25,000 lbs. The title says almost all there is to tell. Left ATL june 23, got back today. Put 9400 and change on the truck with just a few minor comments.
My front BFG tires were cupping like crazy at 15,000, nothing wrong with alignment, I guess the tires just suck. Anyway had my first and last dealings with Discount Tire. This Discount happened to be in El cajon CA. I tell the guy my front tires are cupping and he says we'll rotate them and that should solve it. He shows me a chart and says front to rear inside, rear inside to rear outside and rear outside to front $162. By them I'm getting numb to the california economy so I say OK. I make an appointment for the next day. I'm there on time and wait an hour or more and end up being the last job of the day. Almost always a bad sign. They get the truck out, I pay and go out to the truck and the fronts have been moved to the rear outside. So I ask about it and the guy now says yeah, it's rear outside to front and front to rear outside and darned if he doesn't show me a different chart. OK, didn't I get charged for breaking down and mounting 6 tires? Oh yeah he says, I was just gonna call you and tell you we owed you some money back. I get back to the RV park and go to install my TPIS and find that both sets of dual wheels are mounted so that the inner valves are un reachable. I didn't think that was possible but they did it. So here I am jacking up the truck and rotating the wheels in the RV park. Oh well.
I hit 20,000 miles in Santa Fe NM and because I'm not paying attention I think I need to change my fuel filters. Go to the dealer and he quotes me something over 400 bucks for fuel filters and oil change. Oils not really due yet and I think I'll just buy the fuel filters and change them myself. So I pay 135 bucks for the filters (which is only 35 more than I pay at home where we have more than one dealer) and as I go to remove the rail housing I break off the little drain ****/sensor housing. Oh chit, now what. I was able to reinstall the broken part and fashion up some duct tape so that it didn't leak. But there was no such part in santa Fe, nor was there one in Albuquerque. So I'm driving for a couple days on my shade tree repair thinking if I have a WIF problem they will surely void my warranty. After a couple days I find one at the Ford dealer in Gallup NM so as I pass through there on my way west I pick it up. The parts lady was very sharp and told me I only needed the sensor which cost me 30 bucks. I installed it that evening and completed the fuel filter change which really wasn't due for another 5000 miles. The older I get the dumber I get.
my oil change comes due when I'm in Kingman AZ. Dealer there did it for 100 dollars on a Saturday and got it out in about 30 minutes. I gave him a great report card when the service survey came. But But But I check the oil a week later in California and its up on the thin wire part of the dip stick. I check and re check. I've been running biodiesel because that's all I can get so i think the trucks "growing" oil like my 6.4L did. Then I check paperwork for my 100 dollar oil change and see they charged me for 14 quarts, one too many, and i'm thinking they were in a hurry and probably didn't let it drain good. Add to that the bio growth and I'm two quarts over. I got the local jiffy lube guy to suck out 2 quarts which cost me 25 dollars.
So when it was all said and done the oil and fuel changes cost me $290. I saved a 100 bucks + off the Santa fe estimate and got to know my truck better.
On my way back home we stopped in Cheyenne and my coolant was at the very bottom on the cold fill lines. i bought a gallon and added about 6 ounces. I didn't have any distilled water but figured 6 ounces wouldn't throw the balance off enough to make a difference. Three days later I began gettting a "CHECK COOLANT ADDITIVE" message. Don't know if the two things are related but I'll check it in the morning and see what I get.
Over all the truck did OK. On the hard climbs I was disappointed in the performance. it would stick in 4th gear and sort of lug up the grade. Nothing really bad but well short of what my tuned/deleted 6.4L would do pulling the same trailer over those same mountains. On two occasions on the down grades the tow/haul down shifted very hard and the truck threw an over rev code. I left the code there and I'll let the dealer look at it but there don't seem to be any lasting problems.
Oh yeah, economy. I didn't really check it but I did check the computer a couple times. At one point about halfway through the trip the computer was reporting 12.4 MPG. That included about 4000 miles of towing and a bunch of touring. I checked a couple times on the way home for highway mileage with the computer. not much else to do on a 500 mile run. On one run I had a nice tail wind and got 9.8 but most of the time it was in the low 9s. It did not seem to make much difference if I drove 60 or 65 of if I used cruise or my foot, the computer reported around 9 MPG. For comparison the stock 6.4 often got 7 or 8. The 7.3 would almost always get 10.3. All pulling this same trailer.
That's it for this summer. I'm just about due another oil change and a full clean up and polish and wax is in order for the truck and the RV. Bye for now,
My front BFG tires were cupping like crazy at 15,000, nothing wrong with alignment, I guess the tires just suck. Anyway had my first and last dealings with Discount Tire. This Discount happened to be in El cajon CA. I tell the guy my front tires are cupping and he says we'll rotate them and that should solve it. He shows me a chart and says front to rear inside, rear inside to rear outside and rear outside to front $162. By them I'm getting numb to the california economy so I say OK. I make an appointment for the next day. I'm there on time and wait an hour or more and end up being the last job of the day. Almost always a bad sign. They get the truck out, I pay and go out to the truck and the fronts have been moved to the rear outside. So I ask about it and the guy now says yeah, it's rear outside to front and front to rear outside and darned if he doesn't show me a different chart. OK, didn't I get charged for breaking down and mounting 6 tires? Oh yeah he says, I was just gonna call you and tell you we owed you some money back. I get back to the RV park and go to install my TPIS and find that both sets of dual wheels are mounted so that the inner valves are un reachable. I didn't think that was possible but they did it. So here I am jacking up the truck and rotating the wheels in the RV park. Oh well.
I hit 20,000 miles in Santa Fe NM and because I'm not paying attention I think I need to change my fuel filters. Go to the dealer and he quotes me something over 400 bucks for fuel filters and oil change. Oils not really due yet and I think I'll just buy the fuel filters and change them myself. So I pay 135 bucks for the filters (which is only 35 more than I pay at home where we have more than one dealer) and as I go to remove the rail housing I break off the little drain ****/sensor housing. Oh chit, now what. I was able to reinstall the broken part and fashion up some duct tape so that it didn't leak. But there was no such part in santa Fe, nor was there one in Albuquerque. So I'm driving for a couple days on my shade tree repair thinking if I have a WIF problem they will surely void my warranty. After a couple days I find one at the Ford dealer in Gallup NM so as I pass through there on my way west I pick it up. The parts lady was very sharp and told me I only needed the sensor which cost me 30 bucks. I installed it that evening and completed the fuel filter change which really wasn't due for another 5000 miles. The older I get the dumber I get.
my oil change comes due when I'm in Kingman AZ. Dealer there did it for 100 dollars on a Saturday and got it out in about 30 minutes. I gave him a great report card when the service survey came. But But But I check the oil a week later in California and its up on the thin wire part of the dip stick. I check and re check. I've been running biodiesel because that's all I can get so i think the trucks "growing" oil like my 6.4L did. Then I check paperwork for my 100 dollar oil change and see they charged me for 14 quarts, one too many, and i'm thinking they were in a hurry and probably didn't let it drain good. Add to that the bio growth and I'm two quarts over. I got the local jiffy lube guy to suck out 2 quarts which cost me 25 dollars.
So when it was all said and done the oil and fuel changes cost me $290. I saved a 100 bucks + off the Santa fe estimate and got to know my truck better.
On my way back home we stopped in Cheyenne and my coolant was at the very bottom on the cold fill lines. i bought a gallon and added about 6 ounces. I didn't have any distilled water but figured 6 ounces wouldn't throw the balance off enough to make a difference. Three days later I began gettting a "CHECK COOLANT ADDITIVE" message. Don't know if the two things are related but I'll check it in the morning and see what I get.
Over all the truck did OK. On the hard climbs I was disappointed in the performance. it would stick in 4th gear and sort of lug up the grade. Nothing really bad but well short of what my tuned/deleted 6.4L would do pulling the same trailer over those same mountains. On two occasions on the down grades the tow/haul down shifted very hard and the truck threw an over rev code. I left the code there and I'll let the dealer look at it but there don't seem to be any lasting problems.
Oh yeah, economy. I didn't really check it but I did check the computer a couple times. At one point about halfway through the trip the computer was reporting 12.4 MPG. That included about 4000 miles of towing and a bunch of touring. I checked a couple times on the way home for highway mileage with the computer. not much else to do on a 500 mile run. On one run I had a nice tail wind and got 9.8 but most of the time it was in the low 9s. It did not seem to make much difference if I drove 60 or 65 of if I used cruise or my foot, the computer reported around 9 MPG. For comparison the stock 6.4 often got 7 or 8. The 7.3 would almost always get 10.3. All pulling this same trailer.
That's it for this summer. I'm just about due another oil change and a full clean up and polish and wax is in order for the truck and the RV. Bye for now,
#2
08-24-2015, 07:58 PM
Thanks for the report Stanley! Sorry about the idiots in the businesses you visited, but that is becoming the norm unfortunately. I never deleted my 6.4, so my version of the difference of my 6.4 and 6.7 is more drastic. I still love the 6.7 and hope it serves me well for years to come. I'm glad you had a decent trip overall. I would love to take that much time off and go but not for several more years. Also glad you made it home safely!
By the way, I just talked to Tracy this weekend as he is rebuilding a trans for a friend of mine and he asked if I had heard form you lately. He told me to tell you hello if I did!
By the way, I just talked to Tracy this weekend as he is rebuilding a trans for a friend of mine and he asked if I had heard form you lately. He told me to tell you hello if I did!
#3
08-24-2015, 09:56 PM
Post Fiend
#4
08-25-2015, 06:35 AM
#5
08-25-2015, 07:29 AM
#6
08-25-2015, 04:30 PM
#7
08-25-2015, 04:59 PM
Just have been going through tire cupping on the insides of the fronts on my '13 SRW CCLB. Alignment was fine, front end fine per Ford dealer + 2 independent shops. Finally replaced the front shocks. For a vehicle with only 37k on it they were shot. Won't return after being compressed, can hear fluid shoshing, and a there is a spot as you compress them where they simple have NO resistance. Time will tell if this resolves the tire wear too. I've been trying to find the cause of the tire wear for over 15K miles and its been slowy getting worse (wearing faster).
Just something to check on your truck. Not hard to pull the bottom bolt. While replacement under warranty would have been nice I'd have gotten the same crappy replacements.
Put a set of Bilstien 4600s on the front. The back will get them as soon as the finances allow.
Hope it helps.
Just something to check on your truck. Not hard to pull the bottom bolt. While replacement under warranty would have been nice I'd have gotten the same crappy replacements.
Put a set of Bilstien 4600s on the front. The back will get them as soon as the finances allow.
Hope it helps.
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#8
08-25-2015, 07:19 PM
I did a 9020 mile trip around the country with my 2011 F250 pulling a 7100lb. travel trailer. No issues other than a windshield chip. Changed the oil myself while visiting a relative in MT. I traveled the scenic routes often rather than interstates. Never ran much over 63 MPH. I found the power was just fine with this lighter trailer and we ran along effortlessly. The exhaust brake and tow/haul handled the downhill with very little need for the brakes. Temperatures were 38 to 101 degrees. The LOM reported 11.3 MPG and hand calculated it was 11.13 for the entire trip.
Very happy with the performance with this size trailer. Never wanted for more power or braking. A larger trailer might have reduced my grin to an occasional smile.
Very happy with the performance with this size trailer. Never wanted for more power or braking. A larger trailer might have reduced my grin to an occasional smile.
#9
08-25-2015, 07:30 PM
#11
08-26-2015, 10:03 PM
I think I got a little carried away here so if I'm violating any forum rules just do whatever. We did see a lot of scenery I've never seen before. It was a great trip from that perspective. Went to Searcy AR and had my fogged up double pane windows repaired. Then to a
federal COE park just outside Fort Smith AR for a weekend with the kids. What a great park, our site was like a half acre and the price was 10 bucks with my old farts card. Then we got down to it. Sants Fe and Taos NM, Holbrook AZ the Petrified Forest and Flagstaff/Sedona. Then the Grand Canyon and off to CA with a stop in Kingman. Across the desert and down to El Cajon for a week. Then to Santa Clarita, north of LA. Toured a lot during those stops, lots to see in southern CAlifornia. I did however avoid driving the Dully in downtown LA.
From LA area up to San francisco area at Pleasanton. A really really nice town. Tried hard to make public transportation work but there just weren't any good options so I ended up driving into downtown frisco twice. I have to admit it wasan't as bad as I expected. Leaving there we doubled back to the south and headed for Yosemite NP. Couldn't get a spot in the park so I ended up going to Groveland for 4 days and El Portal for 3. Both are near the park and it was the best reservations I could do. The biggest problem was towing from Groveland to el portal. I could not go through the park which would have been an easy drive because there were two questionable tunnels and I couldn't get a clean answer on the clearance so I made a very tough 60 miles of pig trails that took us about 3 hours.
IF YOU'RE READING THIS BECAUSE YOU PLAN A SIMILAR TRIP LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. HAVE YOUR TRIP PLANNED AND RESERVATIONS MADE WELL IN ADVANCE. CALIFORNIA HAS WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE AND THEY ARE ALL ON VACATION IN THE SUMMER. We have been traveling like this every summer for 15 years all over the country and have never made advance reservations except for national parks, but on this trip in california we should have. BTW, CA. was the last state we needed to fill up our map.
It's hard to call what we do in that big azzed trailer camping but by then it was getting a little cramped so we wrote off northern CA which was on fire anyway and headed for Reno and the craps tables. Used a long weekent to clean the dirt and dust from very very dry CA. from the truck and the RV and headed for ATL. Eight days later we pulled on to the RV pad a little before noon. I'm getting a little older now and I drive 2 days and rest for 1.
All in all it was a great trip but I think we are parked until thanksgiving when we go to grandmas for turkey. I'll try to stick some pictures on here. It's amazing, I down loaded over 3000 pictures and I can't find any I really like. Here goes 1. Loaded and ready to start this trip. 2. A great COE campgroung in AR. 3. This guy was looking over our wall in santa Fe 4. A big ditch in AZ 5. Inside the "camper". 6. The last state goes on the map. 7. Because this is a ford truck forum. 8. Yours truly in Yosemite 9. Guy at the San Diago zoo wanted me to swim with him. 10. Saw pictures like this a lot on this trip.
federal COE park just outside Fort Smith AR for a weekend with the kids. What a great park, our site was like a half acre and the price was 10 bucks with my old farts card. Then we got down to it. Sants Fe and Taos NM, Holbrook AZ the Petrified Forest and Flagstaff/Sedona. Then the Grand Canyon and off to CA with a stop in Kingman. Across the desert and down to El Cajon for a week. Then to Santa Clarita, north of LA. Toured a lot during those stops, lots to see in southern CAlifornia. I did however avoid driving the Dully in downtown LA.
From LA area up to San francisco area at Pleasanton. A really really nice town. Tried hard to make public transportation work but there just weren't any good options so I ended up driving into downtown frisco twice. I have to admit it wasan't as bad as I expected. Leaving there we doubled back to the south and headed for Yosemite NP. Couldn't get a spot in the park so I ended up going to Groveland for 4 days and El Portal for 3. Both are near the park and it was the best reservations I could do. The biggest problem was towing from Groveland to el portal. I could not go through the park which would have been an easy drive because there were two questionable tunnels and I couldn't get a clean answer on the clearance so I made a very tough 60 miles of pig trails that took us about 3 hours.
IF YOU'RE READING THIS BECAUSE YOU PLAN A SIMILAR TRIP LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. HAVE YOUR TRIP PLANNED AND RESERVATIONS MADE WELL IN ADVANCE. CALIFORNIA HAS WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE AND THEY ARE ALL ON VACATION IN THE SUMMER. We have been traveling like this every summer for 15 years all over the country and have never made advance reservations except for national parks, but on this trip in california we should have. BTW, CA. was the last state we needed to fill up our map.
It's hard to call what we do in that big azzed trailer camping but by then it was getting a little cramped so we wrote off northern CA which was on fire anyway and headed for Reno and the craps tables. Used a long weekent to clean the dirt and dust from very very dry CA. from the truck and the RV and headed for ATL. Eight days later we pulled on to the RV pad a little before noon. I'm getting a little older now and I drive 2 days and rest for 1.
All in all it was a great trip but I think we are parked until thanksgiving when we go to grandmas for turkey. I'll try to stick some pictures on here. It's amazing, I down loaded over 3000 pictures and I can't find any I really like. Here goes 1. Loaded and ready to start this trip. 2. A great COE campgroung in AR. 3. This guy was looking over our wall in santa Fe 4. A big ditch in AZ 5. Inside the "camper". 6. The last state goes on the map. 7. Because this is a ford truck forum. 8. Yours truly in Yosemite 9. Guy at the San Diago zoo wanted me to swim with him. 10. Saw pictures like this a lot on this trip.
