son heading home towing camper

So my son left this morning headed home towing his camper 200 miles almost all highway. The camper is about 7500lbs. The truck is a 2018 2500 CC 6.4 with 4.10s 4x4. All stock with just under 7000 miles on it. He called me shortly after he left and was complaining about power. Said it was in 3rd gear turning about 4000 RPM but he was near Altoona, PA on the turnpike. Quite a few hills there. Once he got going at speed he tried experimenting with tow/haul or tried manually putting it in 5th gear. I told him if it started downshifting too often then to put the tow/haul back on.

He said he just got gas and his EVIC says he is averaging 8.7 MPG. He got 170 miles on this tank of gas.

Temps are > 206* engine, trans 168*, oil 228*

That’s about normal, how fast is he driving?


2018 2500 6.4 4x4 4.10 Amsoil SS 0w-40, Softopper
Black Rhino Armory 18x9 +12mm
Cooper St MAXX LT295/70R18

2016 Durango 5.7 AWD 3.07 Redline 5W-30 RP 10-48
1996 Nissan Altima 2.4 Amsoil SS 5W-30

Stop driving so fast. Set the cruise to 60-63, and enjoy the ride.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have similar truck with regular cab, trailer about 7-7.5k wet. Drove Michigan to SoCal spent winter then drove back. 17,000 miles on the clock and got just about 11 mpg. Ran mid grade gas all the way and ran 60-65 MPH. Tow-Haul and cruise on most the way. My trailer tires are rated 65 mph. Happy with mpg and I enjoyed the ride SO I guess I'm saying slow down and enjoy the view.

David
Lake Superior, Michigan

I was a truck driver for a living my entire working life, you should never exceed 55 when towing, I believe the absolute cap nationwide is 60mph, it was back then. When your luck catches up with you and you get in an accident and that accident report states excessive speed due to towing, you will see how f'd you really are. It would be as bad as a dui with insurance companies and that report will travel, every insurance company will know.

My ******** brother got into an accident while wreckless driving, his insurance company STRAIGHT dropped him and every major insurance company wouldn't touch the fool, then somehow he got some bonehead insurance to cover him, he had to go through this big ol deal and print the report and explain that the report was wrong and that he record was clean prior, and somehow he ended up getting bare bones insurance. Adding a trailer is an extreme condition that you added to your truck, and 7500 pounds is no landscape trailer, you are talking about real weight, eventhough your truck can surely handle double that. I don't even go past 55 with a 1500 pound lanscape trailer. Seams like maybe someone should say when towing slow and steady wins the race.

You can tow two trailers like this in Michigan legally at 65 mph up to 154,000 lbs gross weight.

Yeah I did mention the speed. He said his cruise was set at 70. The issue is his company isn't giving him much of a choice. He has to be in Watford City, ND for Wednesday morning so needs to be there by mid day Tuesday and he had to work this morning. He left from Altoona, PA then 3 hours to get home then get everything loaded back up to leave in the morning for the 1500 mile drive. He tried to come home yesterday afternoon to get ready but boss told him he had to be there this morning.

This was him pulling back in today. We adjusted the hitch cause it was a little high in the front. Haven't checked weights due to time but got it as level as we could see and it can't be set any lower now but looks level. This pic was how he drove home. Looks better now that we lowered it.

70mph with the hitch not setup properly!? That's crazy. I have a reg cab 4x4 2500 6.4 4:10's I set my cruise at 58 towing my TT. I average about 12+ mpgs. I've got as high as 14 and as low as 9 depending on wind and hills. He needs to slow down.

averageguy said:

View attachment 175571

Click to expand...

You just have to love a Michigan train!

crash68 said:

You just have to love a Michigan train!

Click to expand...

Some days more than others, but always on payday!

That hemi is gonna want to scream towing. He won’t hurt the truck. At the end of the day that’s where the gas motors need to be to pull that fast up hills where they can.

He’s got a few choices.

1) slow down
2) upgrade the gears- but it’s still gonna scream on hills
3) new ram with 6.4 and 8 speed - “ still going to scream running up hills at 70
4) cumins- will pull that trailer as fast as his heart desires, and he won’t have to listen to a gas motor at 4K rpm on hills.

averageguy said:

Some days more than others, but always on payday!

Click to expand...

Damn near everything is legal towing in Michigan, so I have heard.

How many miles are on the truck? You said he just bought it right? I would expect some pretty poor mileage especially until you get over 10K(usu. takes at least that long to break in the engine) on it and for sure driving those speeds.

The truck had 6100 miles on it when he got it last week. Has about 7200 now. He left for North Dakota this morning so should have about 8700 on it by the time he gets there. Said he has his cruise set at 65 MPH. Figure he will get about 250 miles per tank of gas so will be stopping about every 3 hours for fuel. His plan is to get to Madison, WI before the end of the day today then find a rest stop and crawl in the camper for the night...lol.

He did say this morning that he knows the speed yesterday wasn't good for the truck or mileage but since his boss made him work yesterday he was afraid he wouldn't have time to get ready to leave this morning.

dhay13 said:

The truck had 6100 miles on it when he got it last week. Has about 7200 now. He left for North Dakota this morning so should have about 8700 on it by the time he gets there. Said he has his cruise set at 65 MPH. Figure he will get about 250 miles per tank of gas so will be stopping about every 3 hours for fuel. His plan is to get to Madison, WI before the end of the day today then find a rest stop and crawl in the camper for the night...lol.

He did say this morning that he knows the speed yesterday wasn't good for the truck or mileage but since his boss made him work yesterday he was afraid he wouldn't have time to get ready to leave this morning.

Click to expand...

The difference in drive time between driving 60 and 70 mph over 300 miles is about 43 minutes. If the mileage improves enough to allow you to get there in one tank, the actual trip difference is even less.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Forget the mpgs and perceived "saving of time"..... there is the safety factor! Towing is not a race! High speed towing is like Russian Roulette. A blow out, a gust of wind, having to brake hard, a sudden swerve, TV and hitch not setup right and the next thing you know the tail as waggin the dog and it's all over. Just because these trucks can tow over 60mph doesn't mean a guy needs to or should. Unfortunately a lot of these tow vehicles are fueled by testosterone rather than good sense.

For any who think I'm blowin smoke just go look at some youtube videos and see what happens when things go sideways.

The first clip here should be a big eye opener for some. Notice the dash cam speed in the semi is 65mph. The testosterone filled "hurry up gotta get there" guy has to pass him.....

Tire pressure? Trailer and truck? Definitely get the nose of the trailer down. The rest will be determined by how fast he trys to pull it and if he had a head wind your toast regardless.

Snyd said:

Forget the mpgs and perceived "saving of time"..... there is the safety factor! Towing is not a race! High speed towing is like Russian Roulette. A blow out, a gust of wind, having to brake hard, a sudden swerve, TV and hitch not setup right and the next thing you know the tail as waggin the dog and it's all over. Just because these trucks can tow over 60mph doesn't mean a guy needs to or should. Unfortunately a lot of these tow vehicles are fueled by testosterone rather than good sense.

For any who think I'm blowin smoke just go look at some youtube videos and see what happens when things go sideways.

The first clip here should be a big eye opener for some. Notice the dash cam speed in the semi is 65mph. The testosterone filled "hurry up gotta get there" guy has to pass him.....

Click to expand...

I agree, but many people speed thinking they will get there faster. Do the math, and you will see there is almost no reward for the risk. Especially these short 10-20 mile trips people like to blast along at 90mph(trailer or not).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I recently had a guy in a pick-up towing an enormous triple axle toy-hauler pass me on Arizona I 17 when I was doing 70 in a car. The way he passed me he had to have been going at least 80mph. For those who don't know I 17 is a major freeway and VERY busy. It was a disaster just waiting to happen.
As Snyd says the few minutes or even an hour or two saved on a longer trip is not worth endangering your life, your family's life or others on the road.