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> New Tow Rig
trackbird
post Dec 17 2022, 04:26 PM
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QUOTE (CrashTestDummy @ Dec 12 2022, 04:52 PM) *
QUOTE (trackbird @ Dec 9 2022, 09:20 PM) *
<SNIP>

I took it through the mountains of western MD and through WV and down into VA. We "reset" the "best 50 mile average" to 21.3 mpg with the cruise on 72 MPH.


That's some GREAT mileage there!


I certainly wasn't mad about it. We left central Ohio for the Hagerstown, MD area, then south to Harrisonburg, VA and then out to Elkton Va. 530 miles on a tank and 90+ miles to empty on the display. Averaged 17.0 mpg per the dish display. I have not tested it with a calculator to see how accurate it is at this time. I threw 15 gallons of diesel in it (I had cans in the bed) and drove it to the VA line (an hour and change away) and stopped at a truck stop (fuel is cheaper in VA than in WV, often by a lot). Topped it off there, drove around town for 4 days, threw a 5 gallon can in it and came back to Columbus with 8 gallons or so in the tank. Averaging another 17+ mpg for the trip home through the mountains of western MD.
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trackbird
post Jun 18 2023, 11:41 PM
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A few updates.

I have 8500 miles on the truck now. a bit over 3,000 of them are towing my camper (9-10k total weight). We reset the best 50 mile fuel mileage at 23.8 mpg and the best 25 mile at 24.2 mpg. That's insane for 65-69 mph freeway cruising in a giant brick.

In interesting news, the rear tires are down to about 2/32" of tread and the fronts are about 4/32". So, I rotated the tires. But I don't think I'm going to get anywhere near the 50k mileage warranty. I don't know exactly who I'll argue with about it, but I'll figure that out as I get the rest of the way down to the wear bars. It came with Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner AT tires. That's what the manufacturer installed. They aren't holding up at all. I don't know if it's the weight or the locking rear or both? I'm guessing when towing up mountains, the large amounts of torque are being used to lock up the locking diff and scrubbing the rears. But I'm not totally sure about that. I figure I can get Goodyear to prorate one set, and then I'm going to have to upgrade to something else. Goodyear Duratrac tires say they are a commercial A/T tire and they claim they are good for towing and high torque. I need to start checking to see if there are other options that are recommended.

I just changed the fuel filter (it was down to 39%), that job wasn't as bad as I expected. Only took me 15 minutes. I rotated the tires and found that I'm getting old. I was fighting to get them back onto the studs. The wheel and tire combo is something over 100 lbs each. My old 3500 was around 110 lbs per tire, these feel much heavier.

I need to swing by the dealer. I see a little ATF on the torque converter access plug and the flange between the engine and the transmission. Just a few drips, but I'm not expecting to see any there.

Beyond all of that, I absolutely love the truck. But it might get expensive if I have to buy new tires every 9-12 months. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
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CrashTestDummy
post Jun 19 2023, 01:59 PM
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Sounds like you're enjoying the thing!! I don't remember what the mileage on ours was when we did tires, but it certainly was more than 8500, even though, like yours, the truck usually had a trailer with a 3000# car on it attached to the hitch. That's awesome mileage!! I drive like an old man, and was 'only' getting high-teens MPG in our 2500. Note that the mileage did drop notably when we changed the tires. I opted for the next size up, and went from GY to Michelin. The larger size really punched the MPG in the nards.

When doing the bump stops on the B4C, I also noted how hard it was for me to lift the tires back into place. I can usually just leverage the tire between my legs and arms and boom, it's on, but really struggled with both of them this time. I guess I need to spend more time in the shop doing stuff, as I seem to have lost my touch, too, and these tires don't weigh anywhere near 100 lbs. That was one of the deciding factors on taking the bus to a shop to have PM and the rear shocks put on. I figured we could get the wheels off, which is necessary to get to the rear shocks, but would probably not be successful getting them back on, even with our tire lift, and then we'd be stuck with a bus on jack stands in the shop forever.

I think gravity is getting stronger as time passes. Yep, that's my theory!!
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GCrites80s
post Jun 19 2023, 02:51 PM
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That's why shops these days have special tools/equipment for moving huge wheels and tires around. It's not like 1986 where they're literally tossing 175/80/13s all over the place and the biggest tire they'll see all week is a 235/75/15 off of a Squarebody.
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trackbird
post Jun 20 2023, 01:43 AM
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QUOTE (GCrites80s @ Jun 19 2023, 10:51 AM) *
That's why shops these days have special tools/equipment for moving huge wheels and tires around. It's not like 1986 where they're literally tossing 175/80/13s all over the place and the biggest tire they'll see all week is a 235/75/15 off of a Squarebody.



Yea, these are 275/65-20" tires on aluminum wheels, but there's a LOT of aluminum in those wheels.


The mileage is really sweet with the 10 speed. I babied it a little (4-5 miles of 35-45 mph backroads and then onto the freeway, and then onto another and another freeway (a couple entrance ramps) and still got the numbers I saw. Previously, I set the best mileage when I hit the Ohio line coming from WV with the cruise on 73 mph. I still got 22+ mpg at 73 mph (on cruise without a trailer).


Climbing hills, it adds torque and stays in 10th as long as it can. I have the Banks display that shows "commanded torque". I've seen it call for 988 ft lbs. If that doesn't work, it shifts a gear or two. If it's a really big hill, it shifts to where the engine is at 2,400 rpm (HP peak is at 2,600 rpm) and it stays there and uses the gears to stay right there while climbing hills at any speed I want (I'm only pulling a bit less than half of the rated towing capacity). At 3,000 rpm the gears are about 300 rpm drop as it shifts. So at 2,400 it has about 240 rpm between gears. Basically, it always has a gear to put it at the HP peak. It climbs and shifts and just makes boost and "thrust". It's much different than towing with gas.
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