Hey guys, I'm scheduled to leave Mason City, Iowa today to drive to Knoxville, Illinois and it is windy. We have an F-350 dually pulling 40 feet of fifth wheel weighing 16000 pounds. The winds are from the NW at 19mph gusting to 28. Tomorrow, the winds are predicted to be 13mph and gusting to 22. The winds would be at our back most of the way. For about 20 miles in Iowa, the winds would be at the back ans drivers side when we are heading straight east. Would you pull my rig today or wait until tomorrow? We'd like to leave because this storm is bringing some cold weather.

I would go and not worry about it those winds ar not bad.

That's a lot of weight with (probably) a low center of gravity. Combine that with the DRW and I think you are safe.Bruce

I have traveled in worse with out issue.

Keep it slow and you will be fine. 50-60 ish during the bad weather with your truck and you should be fine. Just use common sense...if the conditions change to the point where you are not comfortable pulling then listen to your gut and get to a close campground and hunker down till the weather passes. ps...I just drove through Chattanooga and it's raining...but it's not that windy right now. Thanks!Jeremiah

If it's mostly going to be a tail wind, I wouldn't worry too much. If it was a head wind, I would be more worried about MPG. 65mph going into a 28mph head wind is the equivilent of doing 93mph which would burn a lot of fuel really fast.If it starts to get uncomfortable, slow down and find a place to stop for the night.

windy towing | Good Sam Community

B_O__Plenty
Explorer II
Oct 21, 2014
As long as you keep it under 75mph..no sweat..

B.O.
RvingMike
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
I wouldn't even hesitate to leave. As stated by others, with your rig you, won't even notice it. I tow a large, heavy trailer and would appreciate the "tail wind".
YakFishMo
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
Road Ruler wrote:
I like the way your truck sits low. The low center of gravity must be helping with stability.

Since my DW is short, she likes the truck sitting low! I believe it does help with stability. I've often wondered why the duallies sit lower than the SRW trucks, but all three of the manufacturers dually trucks sit low. And, that's fine by me since I don't plan to be off road with it.
wandering1
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
So whats the problem? Go.
mileshuff
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
20mph winds are not an issue for us. We did drive highway 395 in CA many years ago. We were not towing that trip and they had 395 closed to all trailers from highway 14 to Big Pine. It was white knuckle windy even without towing. We quickly learned why they had shut it down to RV's, Semi's etc. Along the way we passed at least 6 RV's overturned along with another 6 overturned Semi's. Never saw anything like it.
Road_Ruler
Explorer
Oct 09, 2014
I like the way your truck sits low. The low center of gravity must be helping with stability.
2BLAZERS
Explorer
Oct 06, 2014
ktmrfs wrote:
YakFishMo wrote:
Hey guys, I'm scheduled to leave Mason City, Iowa today to drive to Knoxville, Illinois and it is windy. We have an F-350 dually pulling 40 feet of fifth wheel weighing 16000 pounds. The winds are from the NW at 19mph gusting to 28. Tomorrow, the winds are predicted to be 13mph and gusting to 22. The winds would be at our back most of the way. For about 20 miles in Iowa, the winds would be at the back ans drivers side when we are heading straight east. Would you pull my rig today or wait until tomorrow? We'd like to leave because this storm is bringing some cold weather.

that's the typical wind on any day driving down the columbia river gorge on I-84. Wouldn't worry a bit. When wind hits 40 then I start to notice it. about 45 is time to find a place to pull off.

Beat me to it. I was just going to say the Gorge, that is normal :)
Mr_Beebo
Explorer
Oct 06, 2014
I was pulling a 23' cargo trailer loading with construction material thru the same winds. Had a job that had to be done so I went west against it in the morning and back south with it that afternoon. I could feel it but other than a sharp turning off ramp from the interstate, I never really thought too much about it.
ktmrfs
Explorer II
Oct 06, 2014
YakFishMo wrote:
Hey guys, I'm scheduled to leave Mason City, Iowa today to drive to Knoxville, Illinois and it is windy. We have an F-350 dually pulling 40 feet of fifth wheel weighing 16000 pounds. The winds are from the NW at 19mph gusting to 28. Tomorrow, the winds are predicted to be 13mph and gusting to 22. The winds would be at our back most of the way. For about 20 miles in Iowa, the winds would be at the back ans drivers side when we are heading straight east. Would you pull my rig today or wait until tomorrow? We'd like to leave because this storm is bringing some cold weather.

that's the typical wind on any day driving down the columbia river gorge on I-84. Wouldn't worry a bit. When wind hits 40 then I start to notice it. about 45 is time to find a place to pull off.
YakFishMo
Explorer
Oct 05, 2014
Turtle n Peeps wrote:

You did a lot better than I did on my vacation this year. I hit head winds 4 days in a row. Just killed my fuel mileage this year. I would have loved a 25 mph tail wind!!

Glad everything went well for you. :)

Thanks Turtle. My mileage improved by almost 1 MPG on that trip! :B

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