Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Well, we got back from our annual summer trek to Colorado. Everytime I get back to this 100+ degree weather I wish I had just stayed in CO. I could live with the winters for the cooler summers.
The truck pulled the new 37' Montana with ease. It went across the scales at 21,980lbs. A tad heavier than I had figured, but we carried a ton of stuff this time. The front axle was 5500lbs. The rear was 6680, and the trailer was 9800lbs. The new airbags sure made the towing real smooth. . a great addition for a heavy trailer. I averaged 9. 6 towing with a low of 8. 6 going from Amarillo to Raton... . very windy this time, and a high of 11. 8 from Walsenburg to Leadville. We run at 65-70 most of the time. The truck ran the passes great. . getting up most at 50-55 in drive. Monarch was tuff going to Gunnison. It was around 40-45 in second behind a bunch of traffic. That was about all the truck had in it anyway.
We managed to get the big rig stuck in a dry lake bottom... Taylor reservoir Northwest of Gunnison. Two more got stuck trying to get it out. We snapped the winch cable on mine on the front bumper trying to winch a truck out behind me. Luckily the cable was almost all the way out. I reattached it the next day. After digging on mine for a couple of hours..... the front end was resting on the oil pan. . we managed to get it out with two trucks pulling at the same time. That was a good lessen learned. Emerald Lake north of Crested Butte is a real nice place to drag a fire up to. We ventured up 12 new passes this time around trying to find the ultimate. The area around Ouray is a blast. We like that the best so far. Leadville was a let down. We had heard a lot of nice things about this town, but didn't really care for it. It seems to be going downhill. We made a bunch of day trips from there. Aspen is pretty sweet, but pricey!! The DRW was a hoot coming down the West side of Independence Pass into Aspen. The whole world just kind of stopped for us.
We chatted with a ton of truck owners at all the RV parks. A couple of guys are going to be chipping their rigs after riding in ours. Everybody seemed pretty happy with what they were making payments on. We only saw two Duramaxes. One was towing a 24ft trailer. He was getting around 13 towing it at 70mph. It was a 4X4 2500 Extended Cab. The other guy had a 33 ft Cardinal fiver. He wasn't completely satisfied. His was a 4X2 2500 2500 extended cab. He thought his old 8. 1 gasser had more power than the diesel. He averaged about 2 mpg more in the diesel than the gasser, but had better speed up the hills in the gasser. He was getting around 10 mpg. He wanted the 4. 10's his gasser had. Neither one had any engine or drivetrain issues. They both had around 20K miles.
All in all a great trip. I would have a blast living up there... it is a definite option in about 10 years... CJ
The truck pulled the new 37' Montana with ease. It went across the scales at 21,980lbs. A tad heavier than I had figured, but we carried a ton of stuff this time. The front axle was 5500lbs. The rear was 6680, and the trailer was 9800lbs. The new airbags sure made the towing real smooth. . a great addition for a heavy trailer. I averaged 9. 6 towing with a low of 8. 6 going from Amarillo to Raton... . very windy this time, and a high of 11. 8 from Walsenburg to Leadville. We run at 65-70 most of the time. The truck ran the passes great. . getting up most at 50-55 in drive. Monarch was tuff going to Gunnison. It was around 40-45 in second behind a bunch of traffic. That was about all the truck had in it anyway.
We managed to get the big rig stuck in a dry lake bottom... Taylor reservoir Northwest of Gunnison. Two more got stuck trying to get it out. We snapped the winch cable on mine on the front bumper trying to winch a truck out behind me. Luckily the cable was almost all the way out. I reattached it the next day. After digging on mine for a couple of hours..... the front end was resting on the oil pan. . we managed to get it out with two trucks pulling at the same time. That was a good lessen learned. Emerald Lake north of Crested Butte is a real nice place to drag a fire up to. We ventured up 12 new passes this time around trying to find the ultimate. The area around Ouray is a blast. We like that the best so far. Leadville was a let down. We had heard a lot of nice things about this town, but didn't really care for it. It seems to be going downhill. We made a bunch of day trips from there. Aspen is pretty sweet, but pricey!! The DRW was a hoot coming down the West side of Independence Pass into Aspen. The whole world just kind of stopped for us.
We chatted with a ton of truck owners at all the RV parks. A couple of guys are going to be chipping their rigs after riding in ours. Everybody seemed pretty happy with what they were making payments on. We only saw two Duramaxes. One was towing a 24ft trailer. He was getting around 13 towing it at 70mph. It was a 4X4 2500 Extended Cab. The other guy had a 33 ft Cardinal fiver. He wasn't completely satisfied. His was a 4X2 2500 2500 extended cab. He thought his old 8. 1 gasser had more power than the diesel. He averaged about 2 mpg more in the diesel than the gasser, but had better speed up the hills in the gasser. He was getting around 10 mpg. He wanted the 4. 10's his gasser had. Neither one had any engine or drivetrain issues. They both had around 20K miles.
All in all a great trip. I would have a blast living up there... it is a definite option in about 10 years... CJ
I used to live in Crested Butte (Ski
Bumin) and mved back east. Love to spend as much time out there as I can. How was that trail from Lake City to Ouray? Did you attempt it? I want to try it this year. And if RMTDR is doing anything I want to say hello.
