Boys, as lively as a debate that was, per FTE's guidelines, lets keep the politics out of it and get back on track

 

9,

IMO the 4.30's are the best gear to have when towing...BUT depending on where you tow...simply locking out OD and just letting your motor run at 2600rpms is a great alternative when you have 3.73's which it sounds like you do from your description.

The 4.30's add roughly 300rpms to your equation...where you run roughly 2000rpms at 70 (BTW...if you check your tires on your TT you will notice they are only rated at 65mph)...my truck will turn roughly 2300rpms at 70mph in OD.

When towing those 300rpms make a big difference...mostly in 3rd actually when attacking large/steep hills. I typically will lock OD out when I get into any types of grades...OD is useless and running 65 in 3rd gives me roughly 3000rpms which is about perfect for the V10 to pull in 3rd...any less and you will very likely downshift to 2nd...I've had 3.73's in this V10 and they are a good compromise...but when towing a 9000# TT like I do...I find the 4.30's are about perfect with stock sized tires.

Do I always have to run in OD?...NO...when the road and grades allow...I do...the 4.30's will allow more time in OD than the 3.73's...but the 4.30's also allow more time in 3rd when towing some good hills whereas the 3.73's will almost always downshift to 2nd...

I actually found I get better mpgs with the 4.30's then the 3.73's because of less downshifts to 2nd.

Does that make sense?

Good luck,
Joe.

 

It looks like we will be cutting down on the amount of towing miles for this summer's vacation too. Just got back from our first long distance tow from the Philly area to Charleston SC (1300+ miles). Everything went very well, got real lucky on the way down in NC on April 16th, got bracketed by tornadoes both North and South of our position on I-95. The interstate was sutdown for 2.5 hours while crews cleared the forest from the roadway, we made lots of new friends, it was like a big tailgate party. Sympathies to all those who suffered loses in the storms.
We were planning to tow and stay through WV, KY, TN, MO, IA, IN, IL, WI, MI, OH and PA. After the seeing the milage we were getting (7.5ish) and watching the gas prices continue to rise we are now thinking about maybe doing New England with 4 or so campsites over our 3 weeks, and taking day trips to see the sights.

 

Joe & 9mpg, I am in the same boat weight-wise. I scaled out at 9100# trailer weight, but that was with only 6 bicycles and 2 toolboxes in the garage of the toyhauler, so lets just say I had more than enough tounge weight........ WOW this buggy really needs new gears! It downshifts at the slightest grade. I was hoping to put off the new tires, it looks funny with the modded X / modded B codes 4" or so lift and the stock 265's. But I may now have to speed up the swap to 305 Dura Grapplers (35") and 4.56 gears. We really were very pleased with the power and comfort of the EX on this trip but in the future we will be hauling more weight in the garage so I think these upgrades will be a welcome change. The gas milage on flat ground wasn't bad, 9mpg (per Ultra-Guage) or so at 65-70mph but on every upgrade it would drop down into the 5-6mpg range with the downshifts. I think with the taller tire (will look a lot better!) and the deeper gears it will be ready for the hills! Now I just have to decide on 18" OEM rim$ and $pacer$ or after market, of course I like the OEM ones better.
Joe, I was very pleased with the Hensley Arrow hitch. We had some very high cross winds in NC and it tracked true. I never felt the trailer going out of line with the truck, they would both feel the wind but they stayed properly lined up. My buddy felt it more in his F-150 pulling a pop-up.
Tom

 

One fact that some people dont seem to understand: as the price of a barrel of oil increases, so does the incentive for oil companies to retrieve it. With oil at $112 a barrel right now, oil and energy companies arent gonna spend much of their resources looking for alternatives, they are gonna spend them on digging up more oil!

 

The alternatives to fossil fuel will NOT come from the oil companies...they are making way too much money on it and will continue to make BILLIONS on it until a true alternative is found...they have no incentive to look for alternatives...PERIOD!!!

in fact they have an incentive to NOT look for it and STOP/slow others from bringing theirs to market!!!...their livelihood and HUGE executive bonuses depends on it!

 

Oil companies are energy companies; if they find a way to make money on a different source of energy, they will do it. Who else has the money to invest in researching new sources of energy?

 

The point is not only finding new alternative sources of energy but also more effecient ways to use them...if an energy company puts out a way to make an internal combustion engine get 200mpgs...does that make sense to them from a profit standpoint when people are paying $30K and more for vehicles that burn fuel at less than 30mpgs?

Battery technology is one of the reasons why I do not believe in Hybrids or electrics "yet"...until they come up with a way to store charge reliably in cells that don't require changing after 5 years...then I'll think about that.

E85 is a JOKE.

Until someone comes up with a "grid" type system where cars can "hook into" and get their power kind of like electric trains and cable cars...you basically drive like a "slot" car if you will when you are on the power "grid"...you use the internal combustion engine to get too and from the "grid"...something like that for our interstate system are things like I'm thinking about...the energy companies have no vested interest in developing something like that...sure they could make money on the energy portion...but BP and Mobil are not what I think of when I think about traditional energy companies like my electric or gas company...

Also can someone explain to me why it costs $7K MORE for an internal combustion engine to run on CNG versus 87 octane?...the fuel storage tank cannot cost that much!

 

Joe, I don't believe the smoke and mirrors behind electric for the simple fact that it does absolutely NOTHING to alleviate usage of fossil fuels, or lower emissions. It's nearly impossible to convince the idiot "greenies" that the electricity at the plug where they connect their electric car in doesn't just magically produce itself. There's a fossil fuel burning source that's heating water to spin that steam turbine that's generating the electricity that they're using.
JL

 

I think fuel's only going to get more expensive; so to celebrate I bought my brothers F350 dually for my yard work and for taking the kids' bikes to our local state park. I am definitely keeping my Excursion!

Come late June, we're traveling to Cape Canaveral to watch the last space shuttle launch. By August, just like every year, we're traveling to OuterBanks, NC with the family.

Sorry guys, I just work too hard all year to not enjoy life and my trucks! Plus, after 10 years of raising our kids, my wife is going back to work this coming August.

As always,

Drive safe and drive often

 

Mammoth Cave is INCREDIBLE!!! If they still offer it, I'd HIGHLY recommend the "caving tour" where you actually get 300'+ underground and do some real caving.

I bought my '96 Passat TDI when fuel prices got stupid high last time. She's still gett 42mpg+ commuting, 48mpg+ highway (75mph). She saves me $300/mo in fuel over my F250, but is nowhere near as fun to drive.

 

Well when I was driving home from work this afternoon I was greeted by 87 octane at $4.17/gallon!...Who farted today to cause a $0.20 JUMP this afternoon in my local fuel prices here in Indiana??? I mean was there a refinery fire? An oil rig out in the gulf blow up? A hurricane moving thru oil rig region? Some crazy nut of a middle eastern leader start bombing his people again?...I mean what gives???

The last time 87 octane was $4/gallon the barrel price futures were near $150/barrel...today the barrel price is in the LOW hundred teens (like $113)...so WHY is it that a barrel price of 2/3 equals the same at pump price today???

 

Joe,
Don't look at the sign in front of the station, the display on the pump, or the receipt when you're done.

Just pull in, fill it up, and drive away.

 

Drill , drill , drill............the idiots are looking the other way

 

Summer 2008 I just swiped my card, put the green nozzle in the truck, looked down, filled up, waited for the click, and left...

Diesel was $5.00 a gallon and cost $200-$220 to fill up