Attention: TDR Forum Junkies My wife and I finally got so fed up with our jobs in Idaho, we both put in our notices and then started looking for new jobs. We wound up taking travel assignments. When this first started, we thought we were moving from Blackfoot ID to SLC. (some of you may remember my previous post about trailer parks in SLC. Thanks to those that replied. ) Since we thought it would only be a 4 hour trip, we were not as diligent as usual with our packing. We unplugged the rig to put it in the shop in Idaho Falls for some minor repair work.
While we were hauling from Blackfoot to Idaho Falls, I kept thinking that I could not get the trailer brakes adjusted like I like them. It was 20 miles on Interstate, and I used my new Jacobs to get us stopped at the off-ramp. It worked like a dream. I barely had to touch the brakes at the bottom of the ramp. Anyway, to make a long story short, when we picked up the trailer a few days later, we found out we had NO trailer brakes at all. This thing weighs 16K!!! When the dealer in Pocatelo hooked up our in-bed plug in, they didn't tighten the wires, and the light connection worked, but the brake connection had come loose.
Anyway, while we were waiting to get the rig out of the shop, the people in SLC started jerking us around on salary, length of contract, and a few other things. We were really getting a bad feeling about this job. Luckilly, we hadn't signed any commitment contracts yet. About that time, Yuma AZ called us. Their numbers sounded MUCH better than SLC. We said we would head that way.
We picked up our trailer, and by the time we figured out the brake thing, we didn't get out of town until 1300 Saturday. We made it to northern SLC before we called it quits. It had been a stressful few days trying to deal with the people in SLC, and we were both tired. We got up the next morning and got through SLC while everyone was in church. Almost no traffic at all. Stopped in ST. George that night. We had plenty of time to get to Yuma, so we didn't push it too hard. My wife was driving the Toyota and pop-up, so we couldn't switch driving and rest during the day.
We finally made it to Yuma 2 days later. There is some beautiful country to be seen out here.
The Dodge did great with the trailer. It seemed happiest in 5th gear running 2500-2600 rpms. This kept me around 60-62 MPH, which is pretty comfortable to me with that big rig. I tried 6th a few times on a flat run, but that dropped the rpms to around 1600, and it just didn't feel right. I always wound up going back to 5th. I think I could have done 6th on the flat if I wanted to run 70 or 75, but that is too fast for me.
The highlight of the trip was on a long hill south of St. George UT. I was slowly gaining on another RV in front of me. About the time I wanted to get into the hammer lane to pass, I looked in the mirror and saw a semi highballing up behind me to get up speed for the long hill we were starting up. I didn't want to jump out in front of him, so I stayed behind and let him pass. By this time, I had dropped to 4th gear and was barely running 40 mph, and was already started up the hill. I had lost all my momentum. As soon as I could, I got out into the hammer lane and didn't have any trouble accellerating in 4th. I got my speed back up to 55 and grabbed 5th and away we went!! Now I saw there were 2 RVs in front of me. Both fivers smaller than mine. One was pulled by a Chevy, the other by a Ford. I wish I had a camera to get a pic of their faces when I went by them! My wife said on the radio they were still looking and shaking their heads when she went by them. BUT WAIT!!!... there's more... By the time I got to the top of the hill, I had overtaken and passed the semi too!!! I topped the hill about 65 no problems.
I am really glad i had the EGT gauge. It didn't take long on the hills to get up to 1100-1200. I quickly learned how th feather the throttle to keep it between 1200 and 1250. On one really long hill, I slowed down and used 4th just because the EGTs would have been so high for so long.
The highest boost I saw was 23 when I was passing on the hills. I have decided the boost gauge is a fun tool to have, but the pyro is a necessary tool. It can be your best friend and worst enemy at the same time. The Jake brake was also a wonderful addition. It was really nice to help keep my speed in check coming off the long hills.
The entire trip was just short of 1000 miles, and average mpg was 8. 6. For only having 3500 miles on the truck, I don't think this is too bad. Since this trip, I have noticed an increase in my around town mpg. Without the trailer, and going to and from work, I am getting 14. 6 now.
Thanks for listening. This was my first tow with this truck and I was excited to tell someone about it. I don't think it hurt the truck at all to run 2600 RPM all day long. It runs great now. I would appreciate your comments and observations.
Thanks,
Steve
While we were hauling from Blackfoot to Idaho Falls, I kept thinking that I could not get the trailer brakes adjusted like I like them. It was 20 miles on Interstate, and I used my new Jacobs to get us stopped at the off-ramp. It worked like a dream. I barely had to touch the brakes at the bottom of the ramp. Anyway, to make a long story short, when we picked up the trailer a few days later, we found out we had NO trailer brakes at all. This thing weighs 16K!!! When the dealer in Pocatelo hooked up our in-bed plug in, they didn't tighten the wires, and the light connection worked, but the brake connection had come loose.
Anyway, while we were waiting to get the rig out of the shop, the people in SLC started jerking us around on salary, length of contract, and a few other things. We were really getting a bad feeling about this job. Luckilly, we hadn't signed any commitment contracts yet. About that time, Yuma AZ called us. Their numbers sounded MUCH better than SLC. We said we would head that way.
We picked up our trailer, and by the time we figured out the brake thing, we didn't get out of town until 1300 Saturday. We made it to northern SLC before we called it quits. It had been a stressful few days trying to deal with the people in SLC, and we were both tired. We got up the next morning and got through SLC while everyone was in church. Almost no traffic at all. Stopped in ST. George that night. We had plenty of time to get to Yuma, so we didn't push it too hard. My wife was driving the Toyota and pop-up, so we couldn't switch driving and rest during the day.
We finally made it to Yuma 2 days later. There is some beautiful country to be seen out here.
The Dodge did great with the trailer. It seemed happiest in 5th gear running 2500-2600 rpms. This kept me around 60-62 MPH, which is pretty comfortable to me with that big rig. I tried 6th a few times on a flat run, but that dropped the rpms to around 1600, and it just didn't feel right. I always wound up going back to 5th. I think I could have done 6th on the flat if I wanted to run 70 or 75, but that is too fast for me.
The highlight of the trip was on a long hill south of St. George UT. I was slowly gaining on another RV in front of me. About the time I wanted to get into the hammer lane to pass, I looked in the mirror and saw a semi highballing up behind me to get up speed for the long hill we were starting up. I didn't want to jump out in front of him, so I stayed behind and let him pass. By this time, I had dropped to 4th gear and was barely running 40 mph, and was already started up the hill. I had lost all my momentum. As soon as I could, I got out into the hammer lane and didn't have any trouble accellerating in 4th. I got my speed back up to 55 and grabbed 5th and away we went!! Now I saw there were 2 RVs in front of me. Both fivers smaller than mine. One was pulled by a Chevy, the other by a Ford. I wish I had a camera to get a pic of their faces when I went by them! My wife said on the radio they were still looking and shaking their heads when she went by them. BUT WAIT!!!... there's more... By the time I got to the top of the hill, I had overtaken and passed the semi too!!! I topped the hill about 65 no problems.
I am really glad i had the EGT gauge. It didn't take long on the hills to get up to 1100-1200. I quickly learned how th feather the throttle to keep it between 1200 and 1250. On one really long hill, I slowed down and used 4th just because the EGTs would have been so high for so long.
The highest boost I saw was 23 when I was passing on the hills. I have decided the boost gauge is a fun tool to have, but the pyro is a necessary tool. It can be your best friend and worst enemy at the same time. The Jake brake was also a wonderful addition. It was really nice to help keep my speed in check coming off the long hills.
The entire trip was just short of 1000 miles, and average mpg was 8. 6. For only having 3500 miles on the truck, I don't think this is too bad. Since this trip, I have noticed an increase in my around town mpg. Without the trailer, and going to and from work, I am getting 14. 6 now.
Thanks for listening. This was my first tow with this truck and I was excited to tell someone about it. I don't think it hurt the truck at all to run 2600 RPM all day long. It runs great now. I would appreciate your comments and observations.
Thanks,
Steve
If you are ever comming to Tucson, look us up. What kind of work are you doing?
I have 2 boxes on mine and I tow a 11K TT Toybox and it gets 9-12 MPg on the flats and I usually use 6th all the time but you said yours is 16K so I guess that is OK. Depends on the size of the tires. Mine was 1900 at 65-70 on 285-75/ 16 At. tires. 
