First Impressions!

[AClayton]

Well..... I feel that I need to eat a little crow here. I have always owned MH's with gas power and the only other TT I owned was back in 97'... . a used and well worn 1980' 26' Coachmen that I towed with a 1/2 ton Chevy pick-up.



My MH's have always managed between 7 and 8. 5 on avg. and I always thought that was pretty good for a huge 35' with slides. I towed my new 5th wheel this past weekend to a remote atv riding area and was a 3 hour ride away. I filled the fresh tank... . 112gal. and loaded my 2 atv's for a combined weight of 1000lbs. and filled the fuel tank on the trailer and of course my truck. Took it to the weigh station... ... 5500lbs rear axle..... and GCW of truck and trailer was 21,931lbs. Just shy of the suggested GCWR of my truck if equipped with the 5600... . mine is a Goerend auto rated for 20K of trailer weight. My E-Brake has not been installed yet... . hope this week! Truck towed it very well but slowing down when lifting acc pedal was un-acceptable to me. The E-brake will solve that but what I couldn't believe was the mileage difference between my old MH and this combo..... which btw,is very close in weight when considering the utility trailer I towed with the MH to transport my atv's. At 62mph in 3rd gear w/convertor locked and turning 2250rpm... . I achieved 11. 8 hand-calculated. EGT never went above 800 with my towing twins from BD and had much reserve power. Last night,on the way home I used OD at the same speed but egt and boost climbed..... egt went to 1100 at times and I felt I was lugging the Cummins a few times so I downshifted until the road leveled out. Truck avged 10. 2 using it in this manner so naturally,I will just deal with the extra cab noise and leave the truck in 3rd from now on.



I can't believe I can take a 6hr round trip weekend get-away and still have over a 1/4 tank of fuel in my tank! My MH could do that BUT,it held 75 gal of gas.





Alan

 

[ChrisOlson]

A Clayton
I have those same feelings of uphoria When I drove to FLA and Back, 12000 miles
while towing my 30 foot fiver 18000lbs, I avg. 11. 5 MPG all hand calc at a avg Speed of 67 mph. always had to slow down going down hills Auto trans down shift. Stock single turbo but edge Comp and BHAF. I had to monitor my EGTs though very closely, I am Considering those towing twins like you but I am more concerned with stopping and slowing the truck without having to do a front brake job at my destination did you have to do special modifictions to the engine for the towing twins??

it is satistifing Our Cummins.

Have a great day

Chris

 

[NIsaacs]

Plus now you have some wheels when you reach your destination. If you tow, the exhaust brake is invaluable and you will wonder "why you took so long getting one".



62 mph seems kinda slow but maybe that was the type of road you traveled on. Good fuel milage tho, so, 62 mph obviously worked for you.



Nick

 

[HBarlow]

Alan,

As long as you don't use full throttle below 1600 rpm (peak torque) or allow the engine to run at 1300* egt for periods longer than long enough to pull a steep grade you won't hurt it.

I put 325k miles on an '01 HO/six speed climbing grades at full throttle 1600 rpm and pyro on 1300*. The truck is still in the family and runs fine at around 350k miles. Has never had any engine work.

I'm glad your rear axle and gross combined weights are within reason. With an exhaust brake and BrakeSmart or MaxBrake controller you'll be safely in control.

 

[AClayton]

@Chris-I used to have a B-1 turbo and unless I turned 2000rpm or above,the egt's would hover around 1200 while towing. I hated that turbo and purchased everything under the sun to keep egt's in check. I went to my mechanic to source another turbo and he suggested twins. Much more expensive but the piece of mind while towing is invaluable to me. This 5th wheel is a sizable load for my truck and I can easily stay in the 800* range on level ground and in the hills,that big turbo kicks in and it only jumps to 1000*. I have to try really hard to make it go over that..... which includes lugging!





@Nick-The BD brake has been ordered!! Hopefully this week! As far as being slow... . 62 is a little slow I admit,however,I have never towed a 5th wheel before or anything this big and want to get used to it first. After all... . this thing is 40' long and 13'-4" tall and 102" wide..... takes some getting used to!! My MH pulling a car was much more manueverable than this combo and I need to learn my turning distances and such all over again.



Alan

 

[AClayton]

Alan,



As long as you don't use full throttle below 1600 rpm (peak torque) or allow the engine to run at 1300* egt for periods longer than long enough to pull a steep grade you won't hurt it.



I put 325k miles on an '01 HO/six speed climbing grades at full throttle 1600 rpm and pyro on 1300*. The truck is still in the family and runs fine at around 350k miles. Has never had any engine work.



I'm glad your rear axle and gross combined weights are within reason. With an exhaust brake and BrakeSmart or MaxBrake controller you'll be safely in control.

HB,



I have not had a single problem with my brake controller pulling my 6K utility trailer,but hitched to this beast I need or want the brakes on the trailer to come on much faster than they do. If I stop hard,my controller will apply more brake..... if I try and gradually slow down with foot on brake,it feels like my truck brakes are assuming MOST of the responsibility until I need to brake harder... . and only then,will the trailer brakes start to grab well. I read that post a few mos. back about the Brakesmart but felt I didn't need it because I had never towed anything this big or heavy for any long length of time. If you're telling me that controller will solve my issue I described,I will install it before going to North Carolina in 2 weeks!!



Alan

 

[Barry]

I am not going to preach to the choir... ... ... ... . This is just FYI. When you take a high profile rig over 62 mph, your direct operating costs take a sharp rise upward.

Years ago, when I was in leasing and traffic management, I seem to remember that it took something like 100 hp to move 80K down the road at 60 mph. But it took another 250 hp to fight the wind. It goes up sharply from there.

Loaded, we bubble along at 62 to 64 mph and 68 empty. Here in Florida with fuel up to $3. 30 a gallon, if we run any faster, we are just digging holes in our pockets... ... ... ...

One more thing..... exhaust brake. Would not be without one. When I installed my Ricksons at 148,000 miles, we inspected the front brakes... ... ... ..... still had 75% front pads left. Was in north Arkansas last with with a Teton 5er going to one of my dealers. 7% grades with the exhaust brake are easy. "Ain't no price on peace of mind" as my dear old Dad use to say... ... ... ... ...

mi dos centavos... ... ...

 

[HBarlow]

HB,

I have not had a single problem with my brake controller pulling my 6K utility trailer,but hitched to this beast I need or want the brakes on the trailer to come on much faster than they do. If I stop hard,my controller will apply more brake..... if I try and gradually slow down with foot on brake,it feels like my truck brakes are assuming MOST of the responsibility until I need to brake harder... . and only then,will the trailer brakes start to grab well. I read that post a few mos. back about the Brakesmart but felt I didn't need it because I had never towed anything this big or heavy for any long length of time. If you're telling me that controller will solve my issue I described,I will install it before going to North Carolina in 2 weeks!!

Alan

Alan,

I am absolutely certain that if you buy and install a BrakeSmart or MaxBrake you will become a believer like I am. I will stake my reputation here on TDR as an old guy who knows and speaks the truth about the things I claim to know about on the advice I am offering here.

You will be back after your first tow posting comments similar to those we frequently see: something to the effect that "there is no comparison between inertia controllers and a true hydraulic-electric controller" that responds directly to your right foot on the brake pedal.

You are now pulling a very heavy trailer that is potentially dangerous to you, your family, and other motorists.

The $400 price of a good brake controller will be one of the best trucking and trailering investments you ever made.