We went camping last week and wanted to share the towing results of the trip.

Equipment: 01' Sup. Crew, V8-5.4L, 373 LS, 285/60/18, Edge Programer set on Tow Mode, Primus Brake Controller, Travel Trailer 4,500 lbs. +/- "not including the gear." I do not know what to estimate the weight of the gear was. The fresh water and other tanks were empty.

Trip: 400 +/- miles round trip, some Hills, and flat lands. Started in Denton, Texas and ended at Beavers Bend State Park, Broken Bow Oklahoma.

Results: 9 MPG average, speed 65 MPH mostly, Overdrive turned off, Brake Controller set at B1 to the campsite and on the way home set at B2, Normal engine temp 205 degrees, Trucked pulled great up to 65 MPH, but anything over it would heat the engine up to around 215 degrees. And I tried to turn on the OD, but it went up to 220 degrees, so I ran with it off. And I was running 87 octance but when I stopped for my second tank I filled up with 93 octance which made a difference for the tow.

After thoughts: The Truck towed better than I thought it would, but it was getting use to the trailer brakes that caught me off guard. And thank goodness for having a brake controller, it came in very handy going up and down some of the hills at the park. The only thing that I see that needs work is the gas mileage. Towing the Trailer around cut my gas mileage nearly into half. I usually get 16 to 17 driving around at home and not towing anything. So we will see what we can do, maybe if I was to drive a 60 mph instead of 65 mph it would get better gas mileage.

 

You'd probably manage 10 mpg going 60 mph.... Not much is going to help in that department. Unless you can find a way to cut thru the air better or be able to use less throttle, while still being able to maintain speed.

That's all the mpg's I get with my truck and it's got less power then yours. If your trailers empty weight is #4500, then you are probably sitting at around #6000 rolling down the road.. Empty tanks or not.. 30 gallons of water only weighs #264... Think of that as just an extra "Bubba" passenger! ha, ha!

What were your trans temps? That's the other thing to keep tabs on. I find my highest temps is finding the camp site and the last mile to my house after getting off the hwy.

Wait until you get on some long 5-6% grades! You'll be in second gear and pulling around 3500 rpms and then your getting a whopping 5-6 mpg! Those hills really suck the gas for sure.. My last trip over the Cascades and up into the hills I got about 8 mpg for the whole trip.. If I go straight down to Portland, I get a solid 10 mpg..

And my trailer only weighs #5000 fully loaded... You want better mpg's... Gotta get a diesel and not one of the newest ones either... Today's diesels get worse mpg then the ones several years ago due to the extra emission requirements for them... I'd take a 2003 or older diesel over any of the new ones in a heartbeat...

Mitch

 

the main thing i see is why do you have it on B2? i turn my P3 to B1 and the tires will lock up. i have my gain set by the manual and i want my TT to lead my TV due to my Hensley Arrow hitch so i dont get the so called "bump". but i really dont see a need in the B2 with only 4500-6000lbs. my TT is 7200lbs loaded ready to go by the way!!!

 

I guess the reason I switched it to B2 was because it did not do well on B1, maybe my trailer brakes need to be adjusted some or my brakes on the truck need to be changed. I just know that on the B2 setting it stopped better and did not lock up the tires. I'm still trying to mess with the Brake controller since I never used one before. When we go camping, we camp in about a 50 mile or less radius from home. So I never thought of using one til we went on the trip. Which I'm glad I did, because it did come in handy with those hills.

 

There's a scale for what Boost level to run at which looks at TV vs. TT weight, I can't remember the exact figures. I run B1 in the city and B2 on the highway with my 8000# toy hauler using a prodigy and it works pretty well after the brake strength is dialed in correctly.