I have heard of a few guys adding the Hellwig rear sway bar to help with towing. Anyone notice a major difference by adding it?

 

a rear sway bar won't help with towing. It will help keep the wheels planted when cornering and reduce body roll.

 

Agreed some guys were stating that they noticed less wandering when towing and not towing after installing the sway bar. A lot of talk about rear end shifting over bumps.

 

Time for an update. We are in Page, AZ and have been on Lake Powell for several days. But I filled up the truck when we got here so it would be ready to go tomorrow when it is time to leave. For the 226.6 miles from Flagstaff, up to the Grand Canyon, and then down to Page we used 17.287 gallons of 91 octane gas for an average of 13.1 MPG, although the LoM said 13.5 Again, all in T/H with 5th locked out.

But, I do have to say that there was a LOT more downhill than uphill on this tank, so tomorrow when we leave Page and climb back up to Flagstaff it won't be as good. However, I am quite pleased with the MPG and the ability to tow.

Pictures? Here's one of my wife and myself on our mules while riding in the Grand Canyon




And here's a shot of part of the trail we rode. The clump of green is Indian Gardens part way down, and then the trail goes out to a point where it drops, almost literally, into the inner canyon.




Here's a Lake Powell sunrise.




And here's a Lake Powell sunset.

 

Love the photos Gary!

You lost over 3,000 feet of elevation going from Flagstaff to Page, so I'm a bit surprised you didn't do better. I think you'll be in the single digits getting back to Flagstaff.

 

could they not find you a friendlier mule? haha

 

Great pictures Gary! That canyon is really something. Hey... is that a bite-guard on that mule?

 

And to think some simple basic erosion control practices could have prevented all of that. Sheesh! Oh well.

 

Well, we left Page this morn, at 4000', and are now in Cameron, at 4200'. But, along the way we crested 6000' and had a SERIOUS headwind. So, the LoM now shows 10.1 but was at 8.9 at one point.

As for the mule, I don't know if he is mean or likes to eat - or both. But the muzzle solved that problem nicely.

Considering erosion, maybe the Anasazi couldn't get the others to see the need so that's why they moved?

And, for the truck, it is doing WELL. T/H is still more aggressive than I like, but it is growing on me. We came down from 6000' to 4500' with a 6% grade and it kept the R's steady at 4000 and I hardly had to touch the brakes.

 

We are well on the way home, and should be home tomorrow afternoon. I think the spreadsheet below shows the MPG, both by-tank as well as for the trip.

As for the truck, it is still doing everything I ask of it. I've played around with Normal, T/H, & Sport on the transmission and find Normal useful for situations where I don't want compression braking. But I don't like Sport for towing - unless it might help from a standstill, and I haven't tried that. However, T/H is where I spend 99% of the time as it seems to be just right except for too much compression braking.

On the other hand, since we now are descending I'm running frequently with 6th unlocked. That lets the truck use it when it can, but if it looks like it won't stay in 6th for at least a couple of miles I'll lock it out. The 6th/5th shift is quite smooth so letting it shift some won't hurt it. But, we had another harsh 5th/4th shift so I'm trying to stay away from that.

And, I'm still feeding the gas to it manually. In fact, cruise hasn't been engaged once. So, I think it is fair to say that I couldn't get better MPG than I'm getting with this rig unless I had no wind at all. Everything else is being done to maximize MPG.

 

I've enjoyed reading your posts. It's making my itch for a road trip grow even harder to ignore.

By chance have you been monitoring your tranny temps during the haul? Just curious how those look

 

Back when I rode, we used the muzzles on horses that liked to eat to much. I'd imagine that they do the same thing with Mules.

Thanks for the Pics Gary. Looking like you might be having some fun on this trip!

 

Or if they like to nip at their compadres...

 

We were told that mules live to eat. That eating is in their DNA. So, in spite of them being almost over-fed they will graze on the way up/down, and we were to prevent that.

Also, I observed two male mules showing their testosterone. Mine would lay his ears back whenever the rear guide's male mule got close - maybe because the guide's mule actually headbutted mine once. And another male mule paused in the trail and then kicked the following mule.

So, for one or both of those reasons mine had a muzzle.

Anyway, we are back. Got back yesterday and put the boat away using Rusty today. It was an excellent trip, albeit with a few minor problems. Like the boat's power steering sprang a leak and I had to find the loose clamp and tighten it. Then the idle air controller died and I adjusted the throttle cable to give it some air at idle. Lastly, the throttle cable slipped out of the control box due to the cable being installed at an angle, which caused the plastic backing plate to warp and let the cable out. We straightened the cable and clamped the backing plate down with zip ties and duct tape.

 

Glad to hear they were easy fixes. What year and engine?