Travlingman wrote:
NC Hauler wrote:
Now you know we don't have "mountains" east of the Mississippi:B
close to the top of I26 where you leave TN and go into NC, I was at 60 mph and truck was in 6th gear...so, like you, we've got enough HP and TQ to "get er done".....Coming up I64 Sandstone Falls to Beckley, a 7% grade for a pretty long stint, (6-7 miles)...same thing, dropped into 6th gear at 63 mph.. my 5er weighs 16,050#... Imagine it would have done even better if I dropped 2500-3,000 #....I too can live with the 385HP and 850ftlb of TQ...may want to get a heavier 5er one day...
Good to hear your report. To do 60 in 6th gear at the top of Sams Gap with that weight is impressive. Did you happen to catch the RPM you were running? Wondering what the "sweet spot" is. Mine is around 2200/2300, but I don't dog it, not in a hurry. Haven't pulled new rig over the Gap yet, but last rig at 14.5K I usually hit around 55 MPH but in 5th gear. Usually go into 5th around the pull up out of Flag Pond after you get by the rock wall on the right.
What is your gear ratio? Mine is 4:10....I don't dog it either, nor do I drive faster than 65 when towing....I normally run 55 to 62-63 mph , I get my best mpg there...I sped it up 2 to 3 mph more on this trip...Don't know why, I just did and figured that mountain would let me know how this truck compared to the last 3 I've owned that have towed the same 5er over the same mountain..
The truck hit 60 several times would drop to 6th, then start slowing, I would manually put it in 5th, so I'm saying that I hit 60 and seeing as how you've driven the mountain, as I have, you can build speed up in a couple of spots. I WANTED to try to top the mountain at 60...color me stupid, tell me I drive like a maniac, but I wanted to see how the truck would do? I manually shifted to 5th....Could have kept it in 5th all the way up the mountain, but wanted to see what it would do...I didn't run 70-75-80 mph on the interstate, but did TRY to see if I could top the mountain at 60, and I did...I actually monitored oil temp, oil pressure, coolant and tranny temp more than RPM, but never got anywhere high enough RPM to worry....truck ran it great...
......and you're right, that is impressive because I've never been able to do it before,and I've been driving/towing that part of I 26 since it opened...but, in reality I64 is steeper from Sandstone to Beckley, just not as curvy, though the secondary road in WV I drove would put both stretches to shame....speeds I ran were fairly slow, quite a few "ESS" curves to maneuver, so you would almost come to a stop to make the curve then speed back up for the next one...
and again, I ran 65 in a 70...normally I run 55 to 62....I ran speed limit everywhere else, ie 45-55-65...I don't call that "in a hurry".....now the Ford and Chevy towing smaller 5er's that blew by me, one on I81 and the other on I77, running probably 75 mph+...now THEY were in a hurry...or thought I was going to race them??? Guess I didn't get that memo..
I only looked at rpm when I was pulling certain mountains, were no issues and next time I come back up that mountain, or make the trip back like I did yesterday, I'll make a few more notes....the truck right now has approx. 8800 miles on it (255 were the trip home, towing for the first time)....I will probably go back to my "normal driving" and see if I can boost the mpg by running slower on the interstate, seeing as how that was the only part of my trip that I changed the way I normally drive...That includes only running 50 mph up the side of that mountain as the speed limit states, I know the truck will easily run the posted speed limit..
