Long post….but not sure if I need a new thread or not. I finally got my setup all figured out and towed across country. Attached are all the CAT scales from truck only, truck and trailer with no WDH, truck and trailer with WDH maxed out, and truck and trailer with WDH maxed out and 70 pounds of air in each bag. By my calculations I had an 8740 pound trailer with tongue weight of 1660 (19%) on the scales. Let me start by saying this is not in the legal specifications of the truck, but I was at crunch time. To try and offset the heavy tongue weight I added two 55 gallon drums full of water right at the ramp door of the trailer. I do not know if this offset the heavy tongue weight enough to be in the hitch specs, but I had no other time to repack trailer. I didn’t get a chance to take that setup across the scales but I am guessing it weighed 9700 pounds with a 1300 pound tongue weight. The WDH I used only had 1000 pound bars, but was maxed out with the chain links…no time to get the proper set up. I came to the conclusion to tow this based on the limiting factor being the hitch. All other numbers were in legal specifications. I figured being that if a class 5 hitch was used it would be mounted to the same frame rail. Either way the tow is over now and I will be upgrading to a class 5 hitch.

Now for a detailed tow report. The route I took was from Trenton, NJ to Washington DC, to Knoxville, TN, to Little Rock, AR, to Springdale, UT, to the Grand Canyon, AZ to Las Vegas, NV, to Port Humene, CA to Fairfield, CA. The trip consisted of 8 days with 4 days built in for Murphy screwing me over. This trip consisted of towing through the famed Ike’s Gauntlet on I-70 which was around 11,000 feet elevation up 5% grades and it was about 90 degrees out. The truck (6.2L w/3.73 gears) performed better than expected. On the steepest climbs it was a 2nd gear job at 45 mph and the transmission only got to 219. It may have gone faster but I refuse to hold 5000 rpm…

As for the overall review, the truck averaged 8 mpg at 70 mph on everything except the mountains where it averaged 7.5 mpg at whatever speed. I do not have the patience to drive 60 mpg and I think it is dangerous to do 60 mph when the speed limit is 80 mph. Using manual and cruise control is the way to go. With regular tow mode and cruise control on the truck was late to down shift cause some simple hills to end up in 2nd gear at the top when my method would end up in 4th gear. The truck would only hold 6th gear at 70 mph for about 10% of the entire trip. 5th gear 60% and 4th gear 30%. If I slowed to 60 mph the truck would hold 5th unless on a hill. As for the WDH, even underrated I had no sway whatsoever. The truck and trailer moved as one unit.

With all this, I am extremely impressed with the truck. I will buy a programmer to correct the late downshifts when towing and to adjust for tire size and tire pressure when I get new tires and wheels. Make no mistake, the truck did work, but for what I do and tow, it was great. I tow something this size once every 4 years to move, so I am content. I plan on getting an RV, but the GVWR on it will be no more than 7000 pounds and will be towed less than 1000 miles per year. For those that think or claim the diesel truck would run up the hill at 100 mph is slightly mistaken. I was passed by a total of 4 diesel trucks on a hill. With that being said, if I have to tow this on a regular, I would go diesel. I welcome all comments and thoughts. The trailer is for sale also!

 

Given your towing requirements the 6.2L is the way to go. I was on I-70 a couple weeks ago pulling my toy hauler that weighed around 10k that day. I had no issues with power. I could have gone faster but since it was my first tow up the mountain I kept it at or below 65. I did pass quite a few people but they were definitely going below the speed limit.

I have been using the same WDH. I just took it off last weekend and replaced it with the Andersen WDH that has a 3" shank and 16K rating. I hope it does as well as the Blue Ox did.

 

Are you saying with your 6.2L and 10k you could do 65mph through the Rockies on I-70?

 

No. Look in my signature line. I have the 6.7l engine.

 

Ok. I was going to say that is the most bad@ss 6.2L I've ever seen. If I ever have a need or win the lottery I'll experience diesel.

 

Every time I drive my F-350 it's like winning the lottery.

 

Not sure if I'm understanding the scale receipts right. Truck alone weighs 7680? Trailer Axle weight shows 7200, 7080, 7020, isn't that the trailer weight? If not, then what is Trailer Axle? I assume the other items are self explanatory, Steer Axle is front wheels, Drive Axle is rear wheels? You determined TW by using difference of Trailer Axle and known wt. of the trailer?

 

To my knowledge, you have to account for the trailer axle weight and the difference in the tow vehicle weight with trailer versus no trailer to get the actual trailer weight. The tongue weight is on the truck which is still a part of the trailer weight. So the truck was 7680 alone. With truck and trailer, the truck was 5780+3560=9340. That 9340 is the truck alone with trailer, so 9340-7680=1660 for the tongue weight. Add the tongue weight and trailer axle to get gross trailer weight...1660+7080=8740 trailer weight. Someone correct me if I am wrong please.

 

That's correct. 1st weight = $11 2nd weight = $2 3rd weight =$2......if done within 24 hour time period.

Here is a link to a site that once you download the worksheet and fill it out, you plug in your number and it tells you what you've got......overloaded or a safety margin.

RV Safety|RV Towing Calculator|Tow Ratings|GCWR

I had all number in the safety margin, but it wasn't a big surprise to me.....13K GVWR on the Trailer and pulling it with an F350 Dually, bumper pull style. Using a WDH with my truck/trailer, I can tow 19,000 lbs of trailer and up to 1900 lbs of tongue weight. Lots of margin there.

 

Prices are higher up in here in Canada, but same general idea.