After 500 easy miles I hooked her up and hit the mountains. There's a handful of 6 and 7% grades and it was around 100 degrees out. But I have to first mention the empty mileage doing 55 mph this thing got crazy good mileage. 38.9 mpg on a 52 mile trip
That probably won't happen often but it did.
Going up to the Mogollon Rim is a pretty good pull and my trailer was right at 7,400 lbs. I set the cruise at 60 and it sat around 1500-2400 rpms. On the hills I dropped the cruise to 55 and it stayed around 2500-3000 rpms and on the 6-7% hills I dropped the cruise to 50 and it sat around 3400 rpm with plenty left over.
I was really surprised with how well the engine brake worked on the down hills. I pretty much left the cruise on and it would just keep down shifting as it needed to hold the speed and worked with out the cruise on too.
I was surprised how well it pulled the hills but the mileage was my biggest surprise. I got a solid 12 miles to the gallon on the way up and 16.7 mpg on the way back down. With about 10 miles unhooked while I was there. The trip averaged a confirmed 14.5 miles per gallon.
I have done this trip many times with many different trailers and trucks and if I ever got 10 mpg on the whole trip I was doing ok.
In the past I would never risk trying to make it on one tank but this thing was between a 1/4 and 1/2 tank when I got home.
I went ahead and got a new 4way hitch also and I would have to say that this truck really handled my weight well.
If I were towing over 8,000 lbs I would get a 3/4 ton truck but I am really impressed with this truck.
I did try manually shifting but found it a waste of time since going uphill or downhill this thing seemed to find the right gear.
I did take it easy since it is new but VERY happy with the first tow!
