My first TV and trailer setup...
Hi All,
First, great Forum! Spent the last several hours looking around, and the information/advice is first rate. Apologies in advance for my first post being a novel.
I'm a trailering noob, but not a camping/RV noob, having camped and traveled around in Class Bs and Class Cs since the mid 70s. Soonour youngest will leave the nest, and the wife and I will be travelling at least 1/2 time, and maybe even become "full-timers" someday. But not in the real sense, as she will never give up our home.
We have discussed, for years, what "set-up" we want to use in this next phase of our lives, be it Class A, B, C, or, a trailer or fifth.
To that end, we decided to get our feet wet and try trailering. We already had a truck (1998 Ford F250 Lariat, 5.4L V8 Triton, 3.73 rear, tow package, tekonsha brake controller, Leer canopy). Yeah, it's the "weird" one with 7 lugs and all that, but it's a nice ride, and has been a great truck.
I did some preliminary homework to determine what I could comfortably tow, and found a real clean 2008 Layton Trailer, with a floor plan she liked....it's 25+ft long, with the "house being 22+ ft long, dry weight is 4,000lbs.
Installed a WDH, which moved 250+ pounds from the Ford's rear axle to the Front axle. (I towed it around a bit with a standard hitch...........it's not nearly as "comfortable" as the WDH, to say the least.) Put new tires, bearings, and brakes on the trailer, dialed in the Tekonsha, inflated the truck tires to 75lbs rear and 65lbs front ....(they are rated at 80lbs pressure, 3042lbs carrying capacity).
I went to a big empty parking lot, and practiced various parking scenarios for several hours, and then just drove it around town for a week. I figured we were ready for our shakeout trip. We packed it all up, and I put in about 30 gallons of water, both propane tanks full, and it also has 2 xtra large batteries on the hitch. Truck gas tank full (25gals)
On the way out I stopped by the truck scales.
Fronts axle - 3050lbs.....GAWR for front is 3375lbs
Whole truck - 6650lbs.........GVWR for truck is 7,500lbs
Rear axle - 3,600lbs.........GAWR for rear is 4,800lbs
Trailer wt - 4,950 lbs.........GVWR for trailer is 6,500lbs
The truck (with wife and gear) weighs 6,050 without the trailer, so I'm guessing my hitch weight is around 600lbs, but not sure about that.
So, I'm guessing my truck and trailer together weigh about 11,600lbs? My "combined" truck/trailer max is 13,000lbs.
So, it appears I'm "OK". But I was hoping to stay at around 75% of max. My combined truck/trailer weight is at 89% of max.
Guess I didn't do my homework very well!
We drove 160 miles up the Oregon coast to Florence on Hwy 101. As luck would have it, it was one of the more windy days. Got 8.9mpg, doing 55mph (2400RPM, OD turned off), and pulling the numerous grades in 2nd gear at 45mph and 3,200RPM)
I could have pulled the hills faster, but the motor seems "like" 3200RPM more than it does 3500RPM.
On the way back, same route, same driving style, this time with little or no wind, and I got 9.8 mpg. I never tow in OD by the way, based on a recommendation from a mechanic friend who knows Fords, old and new.
Engine temp never went up (according to the stock gauge)
Trans temp (it has a separate after-market temp gauge) stayed between 162 and 174 most of the time, and only went to 182-184 a few times on some of the longer grades when I was pulling them in 2nd gear.
So the truck performed quite well in my opinion, even though if "felt" like it was really working on some of those hills.
To further reveal my noobishness, I was hoping I'd get 12 mpg. Um......not quite.
But we'll see. On a flat road, no wind, I think I'll be able to squeeze out 11.
So, if you're still reading, a few questions:
1) Is this "too much" trailer for my truck, given I'm 89% of max for combined truck and trailer.
2) Is my miles per gallon about what I should expect?
Thanks!
First, great Forum! Spent the last several hours looking around, and the information/advice is first rate. Apologies in advance for my first post being a novel.
I'm a trailering noob, but not a camping/RV noob, having camped and traveled around in Class Bs and Class Cs since the mid 70s. Soonour youngest will leave the nest, and the wife and I will be travelling at least 1/2 time, and maybe even become "full-timers" someday. But not in the real sense, as she will never give up our home.
We have discussed, for years, what "set-up" we want to use in this next phase of our lives, be it Class A, B, C, or, a trailer or fifth.
To that end, we decided to get our feet wet and try trailering. We already had a truck (1998 Ford F250 Lariat, 5.4L V8 Triton, 3.73 rear, tow package, tekonsha brake controller, Leer canopy). Yeah, it's the "weird" one with 7 lugs and all that, but it's a nice ride, and has been a great truck.
I did some preliminary homework to determine what I could comfortably tow, and found a real clean 2008 Layton Trailer, with a floor plan she liked....it's 25+ft long, with the "house being 22+ ft long, dry weight is 4,000lbs.
Installed a WDH, which moved 250+ pounds from the Ford's rear axle to the Front axle. (I towed it around a bit with a standard hitch...........it's not nearly as "comfortable" as the WDH, to say the least.) Put new tires, bearings, and brakes on the trailer, dialed in the Tekonsha, inflated the truck tires to 75lbs rear and 65lbs front ....(they are rated at 80lbs pressure, 3042lbs carrying capacity).
I went to a big empty parking lot, and practiced various parking scenarios for several hours, and then just drove it around town for a week. I figured we were ready for our shakeout trip. We packed it all up, and I put in about 30 gallons of water, both propane tanks full, and it also has 2 xtra large batteries on the hitch. Truck gas tank full (25gals)
On the way out I stopped by the truck scales.
Fronts axle - 3050lbs.....GAWR for front is 3375lbs
Whole truck - 6650lbs.........GVWR for truck is 7,500lbs
Rear axle - 3,600lbs.........GAWR for rear is 4,800lbs
Trailer wt - 4,950 lbs.........GVWR for trailer is 6,500lbs
The truck (with wife and gear) weighs 6,050 without the trailer, so I'm guessing my hitch weight is around 600lbs, but not sure about that.
So, I'm guessing my truck and trailer together weigh about 11,600lbs? My "combined" truck/trailer max is 13,000lbs.
So, it appears I'm "OK". But I was hoping to stay at around 75% of max. My combined truck/trailer weight is at 89% of max.
Guess I didn't do my homework very well!
We drove 160 miles up the Oregon coast to Florence on Hwy 101. As luck would have it, it was one of the more windy days. Got 8.9mpg, doing 55mph (2400RPM, OD turned off), and pulling the numerous grades in 2nd gear at 45mph and 3,200RPM)
I could have pulled the hills faster, but the motor seems "like" 3200RPM more than it does 3500RPM.
On the way back, same route, same driving style, this time with little or no wind, and I got 9.8 mpg. I never tow in OD by the way, based on a recommendation from a mechanic friend who knows Fords, old and new.
Engine temp never went up (according to the stock gauge)
Trans temp (it has a separate after-market temp gauge) stayed between 162 and 174 most of the time, and only went to 182-184 a few times on some of the longer grades when I was pulling them in 2nd gear.
So the truck performed quite well in my opinion, even though if "felt" like it was really working on some of those hills.
To further reveal my noobishness, I was hoping I'd get 12 mpg. Um......not quite.
But we'll see. On a flat road, no wind, I think I'll be able to squeeze out 11.
So, if you're still reading, a few questions:
1) Is this "too much" trailer for my truck, given I'm 89% of max for combined truck and trailer.
2) Is my miles per gallon about what I should expect?
Thanks!
