Serious towing conditions yesterday...

[rraulston]

This pic says it all. I was towing my enclosed car hauler (7K) yesterday and driving straight into a 40 MPH head wind......talk about suck. Notice the MPG...the tank was topped off just 30-40 miles earlier.....OUCH!!! The 6 speed trans was amazing. notice its temp. Then look at the engine oil temp. That was making me nervous. The oil temp was 1 click under the red line....Thank god I got the 3.92 tail gears!!

Even though I had the gear set to 4th, with that RPM, I think I might have been in third.. I just thought something was going to blow and she made it fine.... The only thing that blew up was my wallet. I burned 3/4 of a tank in 90 miles....

 

[HolyRamBatman]

I wouldn't do that too much. Gas bill will kill you.

 

[S2kiHemi]

Maybe you should have gone a little slower. 7k lbs and a 40mph head wind is a lot to ask to maintain 65mph.

 

[rraulston]

it was kinda funny, I almost couldn't go slower. If I did, the lower RPMs wouldn't sustain a steady MPH. I played with all kinds of speeds and gears and this was the best. I think maybe the hemi has max torque in this RPM range is why it was working. Any slower and I would have been in second and unable to maintain a minimum interstate MPH...Thank god it was only for 90 miles. This engine hums at 4K rpm!! I have about 500 miles with my catch can install and the oil still don't register on the sight glass....I thought yesterday would dump a quart into it....

 

[HonuTime]

That would have made me seriously nervous. Glad you and the truck made it ok.

 

[Ocelot]

Well, at least the good news is it only suffered bad gas mileage. Tour temps actually looked pretty good.

It could be worse. Towing any full walled trailer in 40 mph winds is very dangerous. It's like towing a giant barn door down the road. As a matter of fact, there are certain highways around here that post a car pulled trailer ban when winds reach a certain level.

Ray

 

[chuck]

As others have said, glad you made it through safely! That sounds pretty scary.

 

[rraulston]

Well, at least the good news is it only suffered bad gas mileage. Tour temps actually looked pretty good.

It could be worse. Towing any full walled trailer in 40 mph winds is very dangerous. It's like towing a giant barn door down the road. As a matter of fact, there are certain highways around here that post a car pulled trailer ban when winds reach a certain level.

Ray

If the wind was not a 100% dead on head wind, I would have been in trouble. 40 MPH I'm sure was gusting even more....

 

[Bluesmoke91]

looks like someone could benefit from a cummins =)

 

[WhiteExpress]

It's certainly not something I'd do all the time, but I've been in a similar situation.
Except it was like 600 miles (Las Cruces -> Denver) so lets not forget the continual increase in elevation!

 

[audio1der]

Glad she pulled you through (no pun intended).
WOW_ I wish my display would show all those parameters at once instead of having to scroll through the EVIC.
(that IS only a '13+ function, right?)

 

[Kevn]

Glad she pulled you through (no pun intended).
WOW_ I wish my display would show all those parameters at once instead of having to scroll through the EVIC.
(that IS only a '13+ function, right?)

I agree on the gauges, nice feature

 

[HonuTime]

WOW_ I wish my display would show all those parameters at once instead of having to scroll through the EVIC.
(that IS only a '13+ function, right?)

Yeah, the new '13's have an amazing new EVIC. Some of them don't have it, if you're looking to buy a '13 make sure the window sticker says "7-Inch Multiview Display in Instrument Cluster".

I was able to put turbo psi, tranny temp, range, current mpg, speed, compass and temp all on ONE screen. It's very customizable.

 

[Chewy]

Glad she pulled you through (no pun intended).
WOW_ I wish my display would show all those parameters at once instead of having to scroll through the EVIC.
(that IS only a '13+ function, right?)

13+ on select models... It's almost too much info! lol

 

[smiley]

Rpm won't hurt the HEMI as long as she is not lugging no problem. Sounds like you used that bad boy. I have not been able to stop mine yet work her to death is my commitment. Who wouldn't want a cummins though?


$miley

 

[naturecannon]

The 13 evic is sweet. Wish the 12 would cycle through temps etc.. instead of having to change each one manually to view.

 

[Birddog]

This is exactly why I went and got my Cummins. Anyway, did you really need to keep it in 3rd or 4th gear? Why not just hit the tow/haul button and let the computer do its job?

 

[garner]

Wow that tranny temp is low for towing that heavy of a trailer in those conditions. Not the 6ish mpg though lol

 

[smiley]

The trans coolers on these trucks are awesome.


$miley

 

[Ocelot]

The trans coolers on these trucks are awesome.


$miley

They really are. The trans temp on my Ram runs cooler while towing my 3500 lb camper than my Chevy Colorado used to run without a trailer.

Ray