Good Towing Experience
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From: The Woodlands, TX
Good Towing Experience
Hey Everyone,
I just thought that I would report a good towing experience that I have just completed.
I just finished the process of relocating from Northern Arizona to Houston Texas. What I ended up doing was renting a 6x12 Uhaul trailer and towing it to Houston.
First of all I will start with a little info on the truck....I have a 2005 F150 V6 with a leveling kit, custom tuning, intake, and exhaust and a Scanguage II
The trip went really well but with the trailer weighing 4200lbs loaded down (measured on cat scales at a truck stop) the V6 really felt it (towing capacity is right around the 5000 mark). The trailer pulled like a dream, although in some instances very slowly up the hills in Arizona and New Mexico. My transmission temperatures were pretty consistent at 175 degrees with some spikes into 210 ish degrees (measured from my ScanguageII.)
The only problems that I had were with the darn Uhaul trailer. I had a tire blowout on the middle of I10 in west texas (took Uhaul 3 hrs to get to me to fix it)
and then in central texas the darn trailer running lights quit working as soon as it started to rain. 
Overall the truck did very well considering it was a V6 and I must say that these trucks are really tough.
ON EDIT: I forgot one of the most important things....the truck averaged anywhere from 8.0 to 10.50mpg depending on the terrain and yes this is hand calculated on a per tank basis.
Anyway's just thought that I would report this trip as the 1300 miles that I completed went really smooth and was the most extensive towing my truck has done.
Any questions or comments are welcomed.
~jstnromero
I just thought that I would report a good towing experience that I have just completed.
I just finished the process of relocating from Northern Arizona to Houston Texas. What I ended up doing was renting a 6x12 Uhaul trailer and towing it to Houston.
First of all I will start with a little info on the truck....I have a 2005 F150 V6 with a leveling kit, custom tuning, intake, and exhaust and a Scanguage II
The trip went really well but with the trailer weighing 4200lbs loaded down (measured on cat scales at a truck stop) the V6 really felt it (towing capacity is right around the 5000 mark). The trailer pulled like a dream, although in some instances very slowly up the hills in Arizona and New Mexico. My transmission temperatures were pretty consistent at 175 degrees with some spikes into 210 ish degrees (measured from my ScanguageII.)
The only problems that I had were with the darn Uhaul trailer. I had a tire blowout on the middle of I10 in west texas (took Uhaul 3 hrs to get to me to fix it)
and then in central texas the darn trailer running lights quit working as soon as it started to rain. Overall the truck did very well considering it was a V6 and I must say that these trucks are really tough.
ON EDIT: I forgot one of the most important things....the truck averaged anywhere from 8.0 to 10.50mpg depending on the terrain and yes this is hand calculated on a per tank basis.
Anyway's just thought that I would report this trip as the 1300 miles that I completed went really smooth and was the most extensive towing my truck has done.
Any questions or comments are welcomed.
~jstnromero
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From: The Woodlands, TX
Haha....funny, yet so true! But thanks for the welcome.
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: The Shenandoah Valley
Sounds like quite an adventure, glad the weather held out OK. Sounds like your truck handled it well.
Those 6x12s aren't "light" when empty. I pulled one with furniture and stuff down to Muscadine, Al in 2004 withj my '77 F150 4x4 with 351M / C-6 / 3.50 gears. Only an intake and small Holley and what was billed as a "tourque" cam years ago, still 8:1 CR. Sounded OK, but hills killed it, runing 45 in 2 up Ironto towards Christiansburg was the worst (except for a hill I ran up on on Rt 100 above Tallapoosa ... I had never realised that hill was so steep until then, but it was short). My milage was about 8-9 mpg on the trip, certainly under 10.
The trailer I used was the pick of the litter at my buddy's (the buddy that is a U-haul agent), it had 2 near new tires and two stickers on it and he had just gone over the brakes while replacing the two tires that were new. He also loaned me a "spare" with the agreement that if I left the trailer in Alabama, bring the spare wheel & tire back.
Trailer was great, no sway, stopped well too, but it's no lightweight.
Was much cheaper to leave the trailer in Alabama rather than tow it back empty, even though I could have saved rental by bringing it back.
Those 6x12s aren't "light" when empty. I pulled one with furniture and stuff down to Muscadine, Al in 2004 withj my '77 F150 4x4 with 351M / C-6 / 3.50 gears. Only an intake and small Holley and what was billed as a "tourque" cam years ago, still 8:1 CR. Sounded OK, but hills killed it, runing 45 in 2 up Ironto towards Christiansburg was the worst (except for a hill I ran up on on Rt 100 above Tallapoosa ... I had never realised that hill was so steep until then, but it was short). My milage was about 8-9 mpg on the trip, certainly under 10.
The trailer I used was the pick of the litter at my buddy's (the buddy that is a U-haul agent), it had 2 near new tires and two stickers on it and he had just gone over the brakes while replacing the two tires that were new. He also loaned me a "spare" with the agreement that if I left the trailer in Alabama, bring the spare wheel & tire back.
Trailer was great, no sway, stopped well too, but it's no lightweight.
Was much cheaper to leave the trailer in Alabama rather than tow it back empty, even though I could have saved rental by bringing it back.
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Tampa, FL
Sounds like your trip went pretty good! Except for the trailer issues, which I must say, is pretty typical of Uhaul.
About 5 years ago, I rented a car dolly from them. It was pretty beat up. It ended up shorting out the trucks electrical system and we had no lights. In downtown Chicago. In rush hour traffic. With a car on the back. I wanted to strangle to rental agent who assured us that the dolly was "good to go".
About 5 years ago, I rented a car dolly from them. It was pretty beat up. It ended up shorting out the trucks electrical system and we had no lights. In downtown Chicago. In rush hour traffic. With a car on the back. I wanted to strangle to rental agent who assured us that the dolly was "good to go".
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From: The Woodlands, TX
Sounds like your trip went pretty good! Except for the trailer issues, which I must say, is pretty typical of Uhaul.
About 5 years ago, I rented a car dolly from them. It was pretty beat up. It ended up shorting out the trucks electrical system and we had no lights. In downtown Chicago. In rush hour traffic. With a car on the back. I wanted to strangle to rental agent who assured us that the dolly was "good to go".
About 5 years ago, I rented a car dolly from them. It was pretty beat up. It ended up shorting out the trucks electrical system and we had no lights. In downtown Chicago. In rush hour traffic. With a car on the back. I wanted to strangle to rental agent who assured us that the dolly was "good to go".
funny you say that about the electrical...i was just going through my electrical system earlier today, and found that the trailer lights did not work due to the fact that the 7way plug was a little melted and corroded....It has always worked for me when I pull my utility trailer. I guess that Uhaul messed things up. Guess I am going to be putting a new one on here pretty soon.
I guess that is what happens when you rent someones crappy, un-maintained equipment.
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Tampa, FL
funny you say that about the electrical...i was just going through my electrical system earlier today, and found that the trailer lights did not work due to the fact that the 7way plug was a little melted and corroded....It has always worked for me when I pull my utility trailer. I guess that Uhaul messed things up. Guess I am going to be putting a new one on here pretty soon.
I guess that is what happens when you rent someones crappy, un-maintained equipment.
I guess that is what happens when you rent someones crappy, un-maintained equipment.
Oh and I forgot to ask the OP: Did you have any swaying issues? Like a nasty crosswind or anything? I haven't towed a trailer with my F150 yet, just an unloaded car trailer about 2 miles.
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From: The Woodlands, TX
Yeah, I always think about that when renting a trailer or dolly. You never know what the bonehead who rented it before you did to it. I have thought about buying a dolly so I could have my own, but I just can't justify spending $600-$1000 on something I might use twice a year.
Oh and I forgot to ask the OP: Did you have any swaying issues? Like a nasty crosswind or anything? I haven't towed a trailer with my F150 yet, just an unloaded car trailer about 2 miles.
Oh and I forgot to ask the OP: Did you have any swaying issues? Like a nasty crosswind or anything? I haven't towed a trailer with my F150 yet, just an unloaded car trailer about 2 miles.
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