OK, on Tuesday the clouds came to Boone and it was cold. had to run the heater at night, Wednesday the rain began, on and off all day and night, on Thursday the rain really came, hard. We had all of Boone we wanted so Friday we headed out, in the rain. Towed from Boone to Rocky Mount Friday. Every mile looked like the picture below. The first 50 miles or so was pretty much all down hill, some 8% grades. This time I followed the Senix plan and used Manual shifting by thumb. Took a little getting used to but by the time I got to the 8% grade I was ready for it. I agree with Senix, that's the way to tow in the mountains. Before I left Boone I started getting the "trailer wiring fault" intermittently, but often enough to make me super careful. I had planned to go east until I was out of the heavy rain. Got to Rocky Mount and still raining like crazy so we got a site in Wilson NC. To top it off I had found a small trailer roof leak in Boone. Repaired it with duct tape and that worked well until I was on the interstate. Tape lifted and the leak got worse. I'm still dealing with that. I made another emergency repair yesterday and got the caulk and hair dryer and caulk gun ready but it hasn't stopped raining long enough for me to work on it. I'm not getting on top the trailer in the rain running a hair dryer, just not gonna do that. Did some stupid stuff when I was young but no more,

Fuel mileage was great this leg, 10.8 on the computer. I guess that 50 miles down the mountain got me off to a good start. Over all mileage looks like it's gonna be disappointing. I'm 1100 miles into the trip and my gauge looks like I might have 15 or so gallons left. I carry 125 gallons so I'm thinking around 10 MPG over all. I didn't track towing and non-towing miles so it won't tell me much. I guess if I'm at 10 over all I'm probably towing at 8 to 8.5. Ugh. My vibration on take off seems to have gotten much less robust. Go figure. All in all the truck has done very very well. The rest is just RVing. My 13th year and we still love it. Oh yeah, the second picture is my TV antenna. I have no idea how or when but some how it got decorated.

 

I think we have all done the tv antenna cleaning before.

Hope you get that leak fixed.

 

Sorry to hear about the typical Rv issues. There's always something, heh? Last week I used mine, tv antenna gearbox seized, had a plumbing leak.

I just drive/tow in M shift all the time now. Let's me work the throttle without worrying about the trans shifting and screaming the motor. I'm towing about 14k this week, I need 5th gear for most any hill in order to keep 65mph and up.

 

Hey Stanley, I had the drive away vibration when towing as well. Trailer is anywhere from 15-18K+ depending on what we load (toy hauler).

I took the truck and trailer to the dealer to verify and they replaced the drive shaft after a 500 foot test drive.
There is an updated part number, at least for the 2011's

On a scale of 1-10 with the old shaft being a 10, the new shaft is around 2-3, depending on hard I accelerate now.

I have been using the manual mode as well when towing and it works pretty good. That way I get to use some of the inertia going down the interstate hills.

I love that area you are in. I make it down there on the bike at least once a year, sometimes twice.

The traffic is much better if you can plan it around school vacations.

BTW, your roof. You really should carry some Dicor roof tape. The stuff forms a permanent seal over anything it can cover. And is the recommended repair from the roof companies.

 

I agree on the tape, over the years I have added so much to carry that I'm low on space. Funny part is I was helping a friend with a leak in his a couple weeks ago and have plenty of both caulk and tape at home, just didn't bring any. Oh well, I have it sealed now, I think. Heading to the outer banks tomorrow.

 

OK, Outer banks was great. Good weather all week gave me a chance to get the roof done. Rained hard all night and all is dry that should be. I tracked MPG a little differently this time. I reset when I dropped the trailer and got an eye popping 16.1 for the week touring. Had a couple long runs down the highway to help. I've been watching the fuel tracking and seem to have a sweet spot at 55 MPH which is about 1500 RPM. That's true both empty and towing. Towed from the outer banks over to Charlottesville VA. Got another sweet 11.4 towing. Must have had a tail wind. Plus I had a long run at 55 MPH getting up to I 64. Please note that these are all computer mileage, I have not yet calibrated but I will on the way home. Have to close off the auxiliary tank to check it right.

I also learned that when I changed my oil I should have reset the oil warning system. It kept going off and forced me to read the owners manual which I should have done sooner. I reset it and all is well. I will change it again at 10,000 miles and reset again. I also continue to get random "WIRING FAULT ON TRAILER" message. Brakes are working well and I had a couple hard stops when it did not come on and a few easy stops when it did. I still suspect the trailer and will check it when I get home. We are gonna soak up some history here and head home this weekend.

 

Usually it's just a loose or corroded ground on the trailer, at least that's what has happened on my trailers.

 

I would start at the plug at the rear of the trailer and make sure that is clean.

You are probably using the plug in the bed of the truck so check there as well.