First long tow with TT.
I've been camping for years but, I always stick close to home and often go to the same parks. Last weekend 2 adult friends of mine, one 11 year old, and I went camping at Lake Thompson Recreation Area in South Dakota. This is near the town of De Smet where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote some of her children's books. We live near Walnut Grove where she wrote one of her other books. There is a lot of big lakes and good fishing around there so it seemed like, and turned out to be, a nice destination.
It's about 120-125 miles from me and I took my 2004 Chevy 1500 with the 5.3 liter engine and 4 speed OD automatic transmission. I towed my 1993 Cobra Sunrise 22 foot TT. I've had it on the scale and the whole package weighs 10500 pounds. The TT weighs 4580 , I have 600 lbs of tongue weight, I'm reducing the front axel by 120 lbs when hooked up. I have no weight distribution or sway bars.
Those number were taken with just me my 2 dogs and a tank of fresh water. This time I left the dogs at home I had 3 adults (including me), a smaller 11 year old in the truck, and a extra 7 gallons of fresh water in the box of the pickup. I had the extra water behind the rear axle. After I got home I went "Duh" and realized I would have been better off to have moved the extra water further ahead in the pickup box.
We left in the evening. After getting to the South Dakota boarder I found the speed limit is 65 MPH on two lane roads out there. I went "YEA!" and tried to average 63 MPH. I would get up to 65 going down hill and let the speed drop off to 60-61 going up hill. Doing this I was able to keep the transmission in high gear and get my best gas mileage. On the way home I took the chance, even on the MN side of the boarder where the speed limit is lower, and drove all the way home that way. On the way home I averaged 10.7 MPG according to the mileage meter built into the truck.
It was all two lane roads (Most of it down highway 14) and it towed easily and was a nice drive. The only issue I had was that after dark some of the oncoming traffic would flash their lights at me because they thought I was bright lighting them. If I ever do something like this after dark again I will have to find a solution for that. Moving the 7 gallons of water ahead in the bed of the truck might have helped a little.
A enjoyable weekend if you ever get around that area I recommend it.
Have a nice Day . Caveman Charlie
It's about 120-125 miles from me and I took my 2004 Chevy 1500 with the 5.3 liter engine and 4 speed OD automatic transmission. I towed my 1993 Cobra Sunrise 22 foot TT. I've had it on the scale and the whole package weighs 10500 pounds. The TT weighs 4580 , I have 600 lbs of tongue weight, I'm reducing the front axel by 120 lbs when hooked up. I have no weight distribution or sway bars.
Those number were taken with just me my 2 dogs and a tank of fresh water. This time I left the dogs at home I had 3 adults (including me), a smaller 11 year old in the truck, and a extra 7 gallons of fresh water in the box of the pickup. I had the extra water behind the rear axle. After I got home I went "Duh" and realized I would have been better off to have moved the extra water further ahead in the pickup box.
We left in the evening. After getting to the South Dakota boarder I found the speed limit is 65 MPH on two lane roads out there. I went "YEA!" and tried to average 63 MPH. I would get up to 65 going down hill and let the speed drop off to 60-61 going up hill. Doing this I was able to keep the transmission in high gear and get my best gas mileage. On the way home I took the chance, even on the MN side of the boarder where the speed limit is lower, and drove all the way home that way. On the way home I averaged 10.7 MPG according to the mileage meter built into the truck.
It was all two lane roads (Most of it down highway 14) and it towed easily and was a nice drive. The only issue I had was that after dark some of the oncoming traffic would flash their lights at me because they thought I was bright lighting them. If I ever do something like this after dark again I will have to find a solution for that. Moving the 7 gallons of water ahead in the bed of the truck might have helped a little.
A enjoyable weekend if you ever get around that area I recommend it.
Have a nice Day . Caveman Charlie
