My towing report + Engine & Transmission Temperature Readings
 

I just finished a 800 mile round trip to from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[img] /><st1:City w:st=[/img]Phoenix</st1:City> to <st1:City w:st="on">San Diego</ST1:place</st1:City>. Much of the highway is flat, but there is a pretty good mountain climb about 80 miles outside of San Diego where you climb from <1000 ft to 4200 ft on a pretty steep grade.

My trailer is a 2005 31’ Trail Cruiser model 30QBSS ultra light travel trailer. I weighed the truck & trailer in <st1:City w:st="on">Yuma</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">AZ</st1:State> at a CAT Scale: Steer Axle #3600 , Drive Axle #4150, Trailer #5220 & Gross Weight #12,920.

Using my MSD Dashawk, I logged these peak temperatures:

Engine Coolant 216°F

Transmission Fluid 208°F

Cylinder Head 232°F


Peak temperatures were brief and quickly returned down. Normal tranny temps were about 185°F.

Speed easily maintained at 55mph uphill with RPM’s running between 2600 and 3500 RPM. I’ll try to post the data logs later.

Thanks for the info.

Do you also have datalog of your normal operation temp without towing? Thanks

Also, I've been looking at the dashhawk. how do you like it? Anything you don't like about it? Where did you buy yours?

No normal data logs but I did observe Engine Temps of 197°F, Head Temps of about 200-210°F, and TFT about 185°F. Ambient temp 50-75°F, no towing & driver only.
So far I like it and the MSD fourm for the dashhawk seems to have a pretty good moderator (programmer guy) that responds to beta tester inputs. I found it online for about $300 shipped, then I called a local dealer in AZ and asked if they could match the $300 including tax and they did. I didn't have to wait and satisfied my instant gratification while supporting local. I quickly downloaded the beta 14 software and upgrade without any problems. I reported one bug and they already fixed it.
Note to my first message (I can't edit it now) My tow was between Phoenix & San Diego. Towing MPG average of 9.9MPG and the ambient temperature for the towing peaks were about 75°F.
I'm using the Reese Dual Cam Weight Distribution Hitch and sway control sysem. I weighed my trailer tounge to be about #450 when I started the trip with an extra #300 of water. The water tank is close the trailer rear axle so my tounge weight was a bit lighter at first. I didn't weight the tounge before I unloaded to know what the true weight was after weighing the rig. I think my tounge weight is only about 9% with >10% preferred.

Here's a plot of a 2 hour portion of my towing our 5000 pound camper over the Alleghanies last spring. PA Turnpike. Engine coolant never got above 200° that I can see. Longest grade was Sidling Hill, though, not a 4000' pass.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-.../20aprtemp.JPG

Does the Dash Hawk indicate torque converter lock? I notice a higher transmission temperature when the transmission has to shift frequently, such as commuter traffic, than at steady cruising speeds.

3500 rpm has gotta be 3d gear.

-- Chuck

No, the Dashhawk does not indicate torque converter lock. I'm going to request that feature along with the EOT (if available), commanded gear, and transmission slip. It didn't run much at 3500 RPM, most of the time it was 2600. Flat ground it will usually pull 55MPH in 6th gear, with a bit more hunting between 6-5 around 65MPH depending on the wind and grade. It would have been nice if they put a tow haul button to reduce the shifting. I would often turn the O/D off going up hill to lock in 4th or while going downhill to keep the speed in check.

Is the datahawk simply a datalogger? The tranny temp looks a little on the high side for the peak considering the ambient temp. You might want to consider a larger cooler as well as a tuner to firm up the shifts which should lower the temp as well.

Dashhawk is a monitor and datalogger only so it can't control the transmission shifting. I was pushing the Expy pretty hard, 13K uphill at 55MPH. The peak transmission temps were only for a couple of minutes and were normally under 200°F. Next time I tow I'll probably log intake temperature (for the ambient temp) and or engine load. I'm can record a maximum of 5 paramters on 5 seprate files for about 20 minutes each log. I live in AZ so towing in 110°F heat isn't unheard of, but usually those extreme temps drop off pretty quick as the altitude increases. Good thing about knowing the tranny temps is when to slow down.
BTW, I have the largest cooler available from the factory and its really large.

Great info!

I leave on 3APR for my trip from San Diego to Charleston, SC. I use a scangage and can monitor similar data points, but unfortunately cannot log them. I will watch peaks and compare mine to yours. I am pulling a flatbed trailer with my Nissan, trailer weighs about 1900lbs, car around 2900 and I will probably add another 500 in cargo. I weighed the truck alone the other day, 5890, no driver. So my load will be similar. What kind of gas mileage did you get? I am hoping 12 at 65mph. The big tires and lift will hurt a bit, but overall I expect no problems. Towing it around town, didn't even notice except for stopping, even with trailer brakes, thats a lot of weight to stop. It wasn't a problem, just gotta keep it in mind.

nfntruth, nice rig! I was checking out your pics. Looks like you might want to invest ina drop hitch if the trailer is hooked to the truck in those pics. Tugboating the trailer like that will be like pulling a parachute.

I have an 03 with the truxxx lift and 33's. I'm very pleased! I hauled about the same weight as you from Oklahoma city to Erie PA last spring and averaged around 13mpg. I ran premium gas the whole way.

nfntruth, you'll be about #1700 lighter then me, and with perhaps less wind drag. I averaged 9.9 MPG Round trip. It really made a difference if I ran 55 or 65MPH.
I don't know if premium will give you better MPG or not. Premium gas is still only about $0.20 higher then regular, or roughly +6%. If you get +6% better milage, then it might be better. When gas was only $2.00, premimum was +10%. You'll have enough fill ups you could try reg, mid, or premium and compare the MPG for the rest of us!

Ya, i wouldn't say that the premium gave me betetr mpg. i think it did, but since i didn't do the same trip with both, there's not telling. However, i did notice the engine ran much smoother than with regular. It seemed more powerful and responsive. but that could be seat of the pants talking! haha My reasoning for using premium was mostly thinking about the load I was putting on the engine. Why not? If it takes a little strain of your motor and maybe saves you 1mpg, i think it's money well spent.

For basic comparison, a 25 gal tank of reg at $3 costs $75. A 25 gal tank of premium at $3.20 costs $80. I'll sacrifice $5 to run smoother.

What I'd be interested in seeing is those of you with dataloggers. Try running both and see if there are any differences in temps. i know in my situation, the engine sounded audibly smoother and had much better throttle response. It'd be interesting to see if my $5 is as good as I think!

These are really great data. Sound like Ford has a winning tow vehicle and so do we! Thanks for the info. Those temperatures are nice and low compared to what I had been getting in my '93 Club wagon (5.0L wHD Tow) with my 26' travel trailer (5000#) in the hills of West Virginia. All I can say about that is its good that I had Mobil 1 engine, trans, and axle oil!

Other then the HD tow package with 3.73 gears, I'm stock except for the K&N drop in filter and Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil.