First Tow with Travel Trailer EcoD
Today was move the trailer to the campground, roughly 60M/98km door to campsite. As per signature, my truck is a Quad cab 4X4 6'4" box, 3:55 diff. Regular springs, no air suspension or air bags of any type. The trailer is an '87 Prowler Lynx, 22', weighs roughly 4-4500lbs/2100kg as best as I can estimate with the added weight of 2 X 30lb full propane tanks and a Gr 27 battery up front. Using the old hitch from my 3/4T 5.9 Ram wouldn't work, way too much squat (3 inches between front and rear) for my liking. I had a WDH, so set that up as close as I could come, truck is about 3/4 inch lower in the back and trailer level. About as good as it was going to get without dickin around too much.
The road I traveled is what you call a secondary, anywhere from 30-55mph/50-90km/h. A little bit of flat with long gentle ascents/descents. Impression of the ride quality, I must have had the WDH dialed in pretty close, no bobbing or bouncing, just a wee tiny bit of sway(bum wiggle) and I'll contribute that to the wind, 25mph/40 km/h. Straight on no problem, side wind was noticeable, transports coming the other way, nothing exciting. The sway may also be due to the cheesy Good4aYear SR/A tires, no where close to surefooted ride from the Michelin LTX MS/2 LR E that were on the other truck. I used the Tow/Haul mode for most of the way, it keeps the RPM up a fair bit and in the power band longer. Now for the killer, the liars gauge(which I have found to be pretty accurate) floated around 20.5 US mpg, 24.2 IMP mpg, 11.6-11.7 l/100km. That's nothing to turn your nose up at.
For the amount of towing and distance I do with that trailer, that's just fine. If on the other hand I was towing a lot more, I would be lean towards the 3:92 diff to allow upshift within the power band.
After these tires are worn, I will most likely go back to Michelins, load range I'll have to juggle that for a while, I know the LR E's are stiffer but can be effectively aired down to provide a reasonable smooth ride.
Happy with the new truck, so far. Although not comparing apples to apples, the old 5.9 didn't know it was towing that trailer and never had to be taken out of 6th gear other than slow speed zones or stopping.
The road I traveled is what you call a secondary, anywhere from 30-55mph/50-90km/h. A little bit of flat with long gentle ascents/descents. Impression of the ride quality, I must have had the WDH dialed in pretty close, no bobbing or bouncing, just a wee tiny bit of sway(bum wiggle) and I'll contribute that to the wind, 25mph/40 km/h. Straight on no problem, side wind was noticeable, transports coming the other way, nothing exciting. The sway may also be due to the cheesy Good4aYear SR/A tires, no where close to surefooted ride from the Michelin LTX MS/2 LR E that were on the other truck. I used the Tow/Haul mode for most of the way, it keeps the RPM up a fair bit and in the power band longer. Now for the killer, the liars gauge(which I have found to be pretty accurate) floated around 20.5 US mpg, 24.2 IMP mpg, 11.6-11.7 l/100km. That's nothing to turn your nose up at.
For the amount of towing and distance I do with that trailer, that's just fine. If on the other hand I was towing a lot more, I would be lean towards the 3:92 diff to allow upshift within the power band.
After these tires are worn, I will most likely go back to Michelins, load range I'll have to juggle that for a while, I know the LR E's are stiffer but can be effectively aired down to provide a reasonable smooth ride.
Happy with the new truck, so far. Although not comparing apples to apples, the old 5.9 didn't know it was towing that trailer and never had to be taken out of 6th gear other than slow speed zones or stopping.
