dodge ruining a good thing??

[Bagger]

Speaking of Alabama -- Bagger -- Are you getting affected adversely by Katrina?



#ad




(I thought this thread could use going off topic at this point :-laf )

LOTSA wind and rain. We had two funnels touch down just south of here this morning. Sirens went off, so we headed to the fallout shelter. Totally non-productive morning. Other than that, this is nothing compared to Dennis or last year's Ivan.

Did you fare well? You were right smack in it last week.

 

[67guzzler]

Be careful man!



Wasn't too bad for me. It made landfall about 15 miles South of me in Fort Lauderdale. We had some winds and some flying light debris but nothing too bad. It was barely a hurricane at that point. Lots of rain tho. The worst of it was in Lauderdale and North Miami. They had lots of flooding and still are out of electricity in some parts.

 

[RMalone]

Good lord how has this topic produced 100+ posts to one thread?!



DPK, obviously by your number of posts you have been around here along time, I have not, but dude most of us that bother to post really like to drive our trucks, loaded or UNLOADED. I don't care what gasser car you think we should all drive when cruising 80mph. We drive CTD's, not everybody uses these trucks the same way or at the same speeds. We come to this forum to ask other like-minded people what they do, or think, about various topics, not get a lecture on the "proper application of a CTD".



Sorry guys I gotta go now, I'm selling my CTD because I don't tow enough to own one, saw a great deal on a 95 caprice classic that I can't live without, try not to run me over with your "only for towing CTD".

 

[Bertram65]

For like the third time, the issue is people saying the truck is flawed because it is not designed to cruise on the highway at 80mph. The truck is designed to haul and tow stuff, if you want to use it for something that is not what is specifically designed to do fine, but critizing the truck and calling it flawed is wrong.

Go buy a Z06, and then post on the Corvette forums that it cannot tow very well and you want better gears for it for towing, that is basically what is going on here.

 

[Hohn]

Is it written anywhere, by competent, official authority that a CTD powered Dodge HD truck is not designed to travel at 75-80 MPH? Is it written anywhere, by competent, official authority that the sole purpose of a CTD powered Dodge HD truck is hauling heavy loads? If this has been written, then I must take the Missouri position. ,. .

If I remember correctly, the tire flyer that came with your truck from DC has a section discussing inflation pressures, load, speed, etc.



It mentions that you should air up 10psi over normal for sustained hwy operations. It also says that you should NOT exceed sustained speeds of over 75mph with "light truck" style tires-- even unloaded.



It appears to me the limitation here is in the tires, not the rest of the vehicle.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

give DPK a break, he lives in GA, while I am not totally sure of the terrain in his area I would assume its more hilly and curvy. In his area pulling a trailer over 70mph may infact be unsafe, out here in the west we have miles of roads that are in the middle of no where, they can go for miles with hardy a curve or a turn, in fact in many areas I would feel comfortable topping out a sports car provided there was no traffic on the road, My truck will tow my 5500# enclosed trailer at 75mph with absolute saftey and ease on these roads and also do it legally. why go slower when you have 100's of miles to cross an extra 10mph is sure nice to make up some time. now if you are pulling a 12k camper trailer yes 75mph is too fast, plus how many guys do you know with short bed CTDs that never even pull a trailer

 

[Hohn]

My input here:



First, chill out fellas. It's not worth making the TDR look bad.



As Rusty likes to say, "different horses for different courses". IOW, you need the right tool for the job.



It's pretty ridiculous to say that there's a design flaw in not offering a gearing option that makes the CTD rev less. One could just as easily say that my Nissan Maxima has a "design flaw" in that it will exceed 140mph in a nation where the highest legal speed is 80mph or less. After all, think of all the wasted "performance" that came by not gearing the car to spin 6K rpm at 75mph!



Sure, I've sometimes wished for taller gears for my truck. I rarely tow, and it's mostly a commuter truck. It's my right, and part of living in such a great country. But actions have consequences, and if you choose to use a CTD in a manner other than which it is predominantly used, then there are compromises you must deal with. I'm happy with them, as 2K rpm @ 72mph is ideal for me.



Faulting DC for not offering a gearing option for the CTD that makes it turn very low hwy RPM is like faulting Honda for not making a 900hp Civic. THAT'S NOT WHAT IT'S FOR!! DUH!



While the idea of using OD as a cruising gear and 5th as a towing gear appears to be a good one, it just doesn't work. Mostly because you then have to make the gear splits so wide that it sucks for towing, and you basically have an NV4500 with an added OD unit.



I don't know of anyone that loves towing with a 4500-- just remember the 2-3 split and you'll know why.





Yes, it would be nice to have options. But if you'll look at it objectively, you *DO* have options. They're called a 1500 or Tacoma or Titan or whatever!



Life is full of compromises. It's best to get over them and get on with life. Worrying about that which you have no control over is surely wasteful.



JMO

 

[klenger]

You guys are all amateurs at this :-{} stuff. If you want to see some real action, go to the Tow Vehicle forum at rv.net. :-laf

 

[CJ Lagos]

First I think towing too fast is dangerous. I don't think I've ever run more than 80 for a minute or two but for the big hills I do like to get a running start at the bottom. You're either on top of the grade with tons of power or getting owned and having to wait it out. I prefer the former



What bothers me more than 80+ mph on open straight sections of road are the idiots that pull trailers too fast around town with children and people nearby.



I wouldn't ask anybody in marketing answers to anything!