Observations From a Trip Towing.....

[TJC]

I have noticed that the cooler the transmission fluid has been the better the shifts.

Thank You!

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[J Krutsch]

I am about 3,000 miles into a 6 week trip to tour some of the Nat'l parks. Trailer is 5,500 lbs and the truck has been doing an amazing job. Pull at 60 mph most of the time and get about 10 mpg on average. This drops to 8 at 65 or with a head wind, and bumps to 12 with a tail wind. Went over Wolf Creek pass. Not nearly as bad as the song says. Went over Monarch pass. 11,300+ feet. One strange thing on the downhill run (-3000 ft in 9 miles). The truck decided 3rd gear was best and it worked well. Only had to add breaks for 35 and 40 mpg corners. The strange part was that near the bottom the engine temp gage was just slightly above Cold. Once gas was applied at the bottom it popped back up, but have never seen that before.

 

[TJC]

That's a great trip and beautiful area. Great views from both Wolf Creek and Monarch passes. Good to hear your Ranger is doing so well.

How far between fill ups? Is that 5500 lbs loaded or empty?

 

[ctechbob]

That's a great trip and beautiful area. Great views from both Wolf Creek and Monarch passes. Good to hear your Ranger is doing so well.

How far between fill ups? Is that 5500 lbs loaded or empty?

If there's a downside to towing with a Ranger it is the fuel tank. I know on our recent Disney trip I plotted out 3 fuel stops on the way down and back. I plan for 120-150 miles on a tank. In reality, that actually works well since you're never making additional stops to use the restroom or anything since everyone can get out and do what they need to while you're getting fuel.

An annoyance though is that the truck doesn't recalculate the estimated range until empty. We made it to Disney with about 1/2 a tank on board, but 60 miles to empty showing. We drove 10 miles and the truck started complaining that we were less than 50 to empty, when really it should have been well more than that since we were driving around sans trailer. Minor annoyance, but still.

 

[J Krutsch]

That's a great trip and beautiful area. Great views from both Wolf Creek and Monarch passes. Good to hear your Ranger is doing so well.

How far between fill ups? Is that 5500 lbs loaded or empty?

5,500 lbs is loaded. I figure 150 miles or less between fill ups. That seems to be a safe number.

 

[Grumpaw]

Small tank is a bit of a bummer, and we get the same 9-10 mpg when towing, and 150 miles between fill-ups is about right.
We have found, whether in our previous class c, or now towing the Jayco, about 3 hours is enough time in between breaks. Also have found, that unless your on a non-stop trip trying to make time and mileage, that no matter the speed limit on the X-Ways, you will average around 50 mph. That takes into account stopping for fuel, food, pottie breaks, dog walking, ect. So, stopping every 3 hours is no problem.
On the back secondary US roadways, speed is usually around 45-55 mph, and mpg goes up a bit, but we still stop every 3 hours/150 miles for a break.

 

[ctechbob]

Small tank is a bit of a bummer, and we get the same 9-10 mpg when towing, and 150 miles between fill-ups is about right.
We have found, whether in our previous class c, or now towing the Jayco, about 3 hours is enough time in between breaks. Also have found, that unless your on a non-stop trip trying to make time and mileage, that no matter the speed limit on the X-Ways, you will average around 50 mph. That takes into account stopping for fuel, food, pottie breaks, dog walking, ect. So, stopping every 3 hours is no problem.
On the back secondary US roadways, speed is usually around 45-55 mph, and mpg goes up a bit, but we still stop every 3 hours/150 miles for a break.

LOL, I never really sat down and calculated our average speed for a trip. I plugged in the numbers from our recent trip.

speed = 49.8477 miles per hour

Too funny @Grumpaw

We were on I75 the majority of the way running ~70mph.

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