'04 Tows 3500lbs Like Crap!!!

[Grizzly]

All it takes is a little rust to drag the magnet up around and cause the brakes to drag... my dad burnt my utility trailer brakes up without a controller...

tight. And at least make sure you grease them well... I have yet to see a new axle with more than a teaspoon of grease per bearing.

steved

That's the reason I would have already jacked up the trailer and turned the wheels. Make sure they turn free.

 

[trqmnstr]

I'll get on that pronto. Thanks

 

[Cattletrkr]

I think a 4. 10 rear and a little taller tire is in my near future. That will probably put me right in the sweet spot. When I start towing heavy, I might post an ad to see if someone will swap for my 3. 73 rear.

Smaller tires and taller gears = better mileage. Not the other way around. How much do you plan on towing and how fast?

I have the taller tires (33. 8") and 4. 10's. For heavy towing I wish I had a slightly smaller tire and 3. 73's.

 

[viper700]

I have a 04. 5 dually. With the topper on, inside the bed loaded on a run from Anchorage to Yuma I would get 17. 5mpg. When I am down in Arizona I haul a 15k 3 axel 3 slide 5er and get 9. 5 to 12. 5 depending on going east or west on I-8. Now I am hauling a 6X12 tandem enclosed, flat nose cargo trailer about 3k on the trip to yuma and return. I am getting about 13. 5 and truck runs and sounds fine. That flat nose is a real wind catcher don't know what else to do for it. The dually has real good power and temps stay down. With the cargo trailer on behind I try to stay around 65/70. Has anyone tried an air dam???

 

[trqmnstr]

Smaller tires and taller gears = better mileage. Not the other way around. How much do you plan on towing and how fast?



I have the taller tires (33. 8") and 4. 10's. For heavy towing I wish I had a slightly smaller tire and 3. 73's.

I'll tell you my reasoning for shorter gears and taller tires. 4. 10's will put me a little too high in the rpm range. The taller tires will tame the gears a little and bring the rpm's down. I cruise 70mph @ 2k rpms with my 3. 73's. 4. 10's will put me at 60 @ 2k rpm's. The taller tires will put me somewhere in between. Ideally I would tow heavy at 65mph @ 2k. I should be close to that.

 

[JEstes]

Here's some more proof that wind resistance is evil... .



A few months ago I went camping with some friends and we took a 6X12 enclosed trailer along to help with all of the gear. The trailer weighed about 2000 with all of the gear. We averaged about 14-14. 5 mpg at 75 with no wind. The bearings on this trailer are about as close to perfect as you can get too...



Now, several months ago I pulled a car back from Nashville for a friend. The car + the trailer weighed about 5000. With three of us in the truck, we got 17-18 mpg on the way back. We were doing 70 most of the way.



A v-nose trailer will definitely help, but when you're pulling a friggin' parachute it gets hard for anything.

 

[trqmnstr]

So if you're getting 14mpg with your 12' trailer, I guess 12. 5mpg isn't too bad for my 24'.

 

[TFucili]

To grossly oversimplify, I think, aerodynamically, the front and back of the trailer are all that really count. There is generally very little disturbance in between, so the length of the trailer is not a big factor aero-wise. Of course what I know about aerodynamics would fit into a streamlined thimble YMMV

 

[RMachida]

To grossly oversimplify, I think, aerodynamically, the front and back of the trailer are all that really count. There is generally very little disturbance in between, so the length of the trailer is not a big factor aero-wise. Of course what I know about aerodynamics would fit into a streamlined thimble YMMV

Weight comes into play in the primarily in the hills. I was a little annoyed as well after towing our 18' tt and getting around 14 mpg. I wondered how people can claim similar or better numbers towing something heavier until I thought about the aerodynamic drag of a box.

 

[JEstes]

TFucili said exactly what I was going to. The length of an enclosed trailer doesn't have nearly the effect on wind resistance as the shape/size of the front and back do.

 

[trqmnstr]

Why the back?

 

[Grizzly]

Why the back?

In a word, "VACUUM".

 

[NDanecker]

For people who are interested, here is some good reading on drag coefficient



Drag coefficient - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TFucili]

I was thinking a little more about this today, and I distinctly remember seeing a trailer tow rating chart at a dealer, some years ago, that rated particular models for not only trailer weight, but the frontal area of the towed unit. As I recall the highest recommended frontal area, even for a one-ton duallie was around 50 square feet. Any tall box can easily approach or exceed that.

 

[trqmnstr]

Mine is around 65-70 sq ft frontal.

 

[opjohnny]

You could always put the truck on the dyno to see if it's all there.

 

[DerekW]

set the flaps to zero degrees and switch off the thrust reversers. you might do a bit better.

 

[Grizzly]

I'll get on that pronto. Thanks

So, what was the problem. We haven't heard from you anymore. I hope you have it solved.

 

[trqmnstr]

The problem was me just expecting more out of my truck. I've gotten used to it after putting about 1000 miles on the trailer. I bought a Quadzilla Xillaraider and that helps a lot on level 2. Mileage on the overhead went up 2 miles but that might not mean much. It's funny because sometimes it tows like someone's pushing me and other times it's the opposite. The trailer actually likes to be loaded... tows like shiz with no load. A few days ago, I had a car inside along with 500 lbs of cargo. It pulled the best it ever has. I don't get it. All is well.

 

[MEREDOG]

you guys are pulling sissey trailers :-laf Anybody beleive 22 MPG ?



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