Is it just me, or is something wrong with my truck?

[jungleexplorer]

So I had a 2007 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3L engine and a little 19ft TT rig. I was a good combo, but when I decided to get a bigger TT I wanted to get something a little beefier, so I traded my 1500 in on a 2011 Silverado 2500HD with the 6.0L engine. I also sold off my TT, but ended up not being able to find the TT I wanted locally, so I got a small 16 foot Jayco to use until I find what I want.

So today, I towed this little trailer with my new (to me) 2500HD. Is it just me, or this truck really lacking power? I thought it would be towing this tiny TT without problem, but I swear that my 1500 could have run circles around this 2500HD towing my old 19ft TT which was bigger and weighed 1500lb more this this Jayco.

Is something wrong with my truck, or are these 2011 models of the Silverado 2500, really lacking power?

[Walaby]

Couple comments...

1) How are you calculating mileage? Old fashioned way or with the computer. I've found that computers can be off by more than a mpg. My Sierra 1500, towing a 6500 (loaded) TT with 5.3L motor got around 9. If your neighbor says he gets 11-12, ask if it is hand calculated, or computer.

2) It sounds like maybe something is going on with that truck. I don't know what "a pretty good climb" is in terms of grade but if you started from dead stop and that's the best it will do, maybe there is something going on. If it can't lug a 2600lb trailer and get out of 2nd gear on a hill, that doesn't seem right to me either.

3) Remember, fuel mileage is not just a function of weight. The frontal area has as much, if not more impact to mileage. Try tying a 4x8 sheet of plywood and tow it like a kite. Betcha your mileage would suck but the plywood only weights what, 15-20 lbs.

I honestly believe 9MPG is gonna be about what you get, regardless. And, I will betcha lunch your neighbor, if he is truthful, and calculates by hand, probably gets closer to 9, not 11-12. Alot depends, as you can see, on the conditions you are driving in. Best I ever got with my 1500 Sierra was 11.5 and that actually was in the hilly area where I might have gotten like 4-5 going up, but like 20 something going down the other side.

Can't troubleshoot over the internet, but one thing I would check (maybe you have) is what the rear end gear ratio is. My 1500 had I think 3.73's and pulled my 6500lb trailer up hills (not mountains) fairly comfortably.

Gas mileage, I think you're where everyone seems to be with gassers. Torque and pulling ability, doesn't sound like it to me.

Mike

[Lynnmor]

Too much reading for me.
Did you replace the air filter?
Did you try premium fuel?
Is the catalytic converter plugged?

[jungleexplorer]

I am not trying to talk myself into anything. I really love this truck. I have been on the road for almost a month and my wife has not once complained about being uncomfortable in this truck. That is a miracle. She hated my 07 1500 LT with leather seats.

Right now I am camped in Ruidoso, New Mexico next to a guy with a 2013 Silverado 1500 that is pulling a Jayco a littLe larger then mine. I talked with him yesterday. His TT has an unloaded weight of 3000lb vs mine that is 2600lb. He said his 1500 gets 11 to 12 mpg pulling his TT and does not struggle. His 1500 has a 5.3L V8, vs mine that has the the 6.0.

Coming into Ruidoso from the north on highway 48 there is a pretty good climb. I had start from a complete stop at the bottom of the hill and try to accelerate. The best I could do was 30 mph and I had her wound up to over 4000 rpm in 2nd gear. Had to have my flashers on the whole climb as people sped by me. If that is the best truck can do pulling this tiny TT, how will it do with 9 or 10K behind it?

Again, I am not trying to convince myself of anything, but numbers do not lie. My truck has a 36 gallon tank and I am hitting half a tank at 150 miles. The absolute best mileage I have gotten on this (Texas to California and back) trip was 12 mpg, but that was on the flat Mojave desert doing 55 mph with a tail wind. My average for this trip so far has been 9 mpg. That is just not acceptable to me, because it can can only get worse when I get a bigger TT and I am planning a 10K+ trip to northern Canada next year. So either this truck gets better, or it goes away. Those are the real numbers.

[kw_00]

I'm not sure why your having issues with power. I pull much more wieght and higher profile and have no issues. My fifth wheel is 10k, pull easily with my 09 6.0. Looking at your sig, u don't need a diesel unless ur talking yourself into getting one. But the camper you currently have if I see it correctly should be an easy task for that truck. I'm curios if u ever get an resolution regarding this truck. I mean it won't pull like a diesel, but it's got more then enough grunt to even pull 10k around. Keep us informed, hope it works out for you.

[Harold_Fairbank]

Ford Ecoboost. Problem solved.

...and this is coming from someone who is absolutely NOT a Ford fan. At all.

But the Ecoboost pulls a trailer like a cheap hooker rides a pole. Fast, easy, and cheap.

[jungleexplorer]

Walaby wrote:

jungleexplorer wrote:
My average MPG for the last 1500 miles has
been 9.2 mpg. The best has been 10.5 in California in the Mojave desert (55 mph). My worst was 8.8 in New Mexico and Arizona.

Seems about right.

Driving any better for you?

Mike

Been boondocking in the mountains. Yes, I think it is driving better. Maybe I have gotten more use to it or it has improved. It seems to sound different though. Standing by the tail pipe now it sounds like a muscle car. It did nit sound like this before. My friend thinks maybe the catalytic converter was clogged a little and when I got it up to 5000 rpm passing a wide low up a hill and smelled a burning smell, that it might have burned the clog out. It does seem to have a little more b power now then when I started and it sounds different.

It still does not have the power I expected, but I may be able to live with it. Economy is still lower then I expected too. Honestly, it is costing me more to pull this tiny rv and stay in RV parks then it would cost to dive my Toyota minivan and stay in hotels. It cost my about $75 in fuel cost to travel 300 miles a day and then $30 to $40 for a park. That is over $100 a day for 300 miles. My minivan cost about $40 to fill and can do 500 miles on a tank. Throw I. A $60 hotel for the night and I am at the same cost as towing the RV, but a lot further down the road. And a nice hotel would be a heck of a lot more comfortable then this tiny piece of junk uncomfortable Jayco. And then if I consider that when I get the RV I really want that weighs three times as much as this Jayco, well now my cost per mile just went way up.

I love this truck, but I am not sure it is the right tool for the job.

[Walaby]

jungleexplorer wrote:
My average MPG for the last 1500 miles has
been 9.2 mpg. The best has been 10.5 in California in the Mojave desert (55 mph). My worst was 8.8 in New Mexico and Arizona.

Seems about right.

Driving any better for you?

Mike

[Ralph_Cramden]

jungleexplorer wrote:
Okay, I have been on the road for the last week and have drive over 1500 miles, from Texas to California. For about 60% of the way my maximum speed was 65 mph. In California autos with trailers are limited to 55 mph maximum. I have kept detailed records of my fuel usage this whole trip. My average MPG for the last 1500 miles has been 9.2 mpg. The best has been 10.5 in California in the Mojave desert (55 mph). My worst was 8.8 in New Mexico and Arizona.

That's what I would of expected. I did not track it 100% but suspect I averaged around 8 mpg on a 500 mile trip to Vermont last fall, crossing and in the ridges of the alleghenies most of the way.

If you want to increase it a little with the 6.0, change to a K&N cold intake kit and do a cat back high flow exhaust.

[jungleexplorer]

Okay, I have been on the road for the last week and have drive over 1500 miles, from Texas to California. For about 60% of the way my maximum speed was 65 mph. In California autos with trailers are limited to 55 mph maximum. I have kept detailed records of my fuel usage this whole trip. My average MPG for the last 1500 miles has been 9.2 mpg. The best has been 10.5 in California in the Mojave desert (55 mph). My worst was 8.8 in New Mexico and Arizona.

[dave17352]

I drove back and forth on the interstate yesterday morning from lincoln ne to omaha ne average 15.9 mpg at 75 miles an hour. Of course I was empty but still not bad for a 6.0 gasser.

[Towin_Toys]

keymastr wrote:
How many miles are on the truck? When was the air cleaner and fuel filter last changed? Have you tried premium fuel? The owners manuals state that if you are towing or it is hot out that premium is recommended.

Sometimes you have to look out of the box......

[BenK]

But...when someone asks and/or answers a question based on a technical/science/laws-of-physics topic...how else can one answer ???

Trying to dumb it down has many then accuse talking down to them...kinda sorta yes, but again, how to do that ?

Maybe tell'm to look it up...or say "just because"... :R

Had a PM cycle with someone asking what I meant by: "tie a rope to a piece of plywood with the same frontal area of that trailer...hold on to it while is run up to 55 MPH...and we could fly you like a kite" No clue what that meant... :S

It is the frontal area in square inches or square feet vs the load (the person holding on's weight) vs speed...there is lift generated...or resistance to the wind loading...resulting in something...known as a vector to some...

[Ralph_Cramden]

Talk about overcomplicating something LOL.

I did not know I needed a doctorate in physics or mechanical engineering to figure out if my TV is adequate.

Funny stuff.

[travelnutz]

blt2ski,

Read closely. Let's say I have a truck at the bottom on a 25% hill incline and it has a measured 500 ft lbs of torque (the twisting force that turns the drive wheels) at the rear drive wheels but it doesn't move the truck up the incline 1/10 of inch in even ten minutes with the full 500 ft lbs of torque the drive wheels have applied. What's the horsepower that has been produced???

Can you say ZERO HP as that is the correct number because there was absolutely NO RPM of the drive wheels and thus no movement of the truck up the incline at all! Please look up what "horsepower" is and how to establish a value (number) for it.

Once again, only torque moves the load and only torque moves the load to the velocity you desire by turning the drive wheels (RPMs) to make the truck go fast enough to achieve the velocity (speed) you desire. Then using the 2 knowns with plus values, you can calculate the derivitive of theoretical HP.

Measured TORQUE number times measured RPM number divided by 5252 = a calculated HP number is the formula for HP. Let's put the long established only formula to work for my truck on the incline. This should be real easy! 500 ft lbs of drive wheels rotational force transmitted to the road's surface to move the truck up the 25% incline but the truck wheels did not turn at all to move the truck up the incline one inch.

Thus grab your calculator: 500 ft lbs known torque at the drive wheels times 0 wheel RPM acomplished = 0 and that 0 is divided by 5252 and still = 0. ZERO HP was developed. Why did the HP come up 0? Because HP moves nothing, only torque does and when there's enough torque to create drive wheel RPM, the truck moves up the incline, and not before. How fast the torque moves the truck is the RPM. That's the facts!

The formula you are using works backward from the known torque it took to rotate the vehicle wheels to the RPM speed to move the vehicle to the stated velocity and uses factors of several variables that should or might enhance or detract from the basics. How accurate these variables are and their effect is mostly like a dart board but it is better than nothing.

It's all about averaging and not being precise. The formula and it's using of variables for things like aerodynamics, for example, of airflow but not considering suction vacuum created by the vehicle's or item's rear shape. The suction created is huge and can even equal wind resistance in front but it's not factored in. You in your younger years probably had driven close behind a semi-truck before and been sucked along with your foot totally off the accelerator. It works!

Why are airplanes tapered to virtually a point in the rear or even a canoe which is tapered to a point on both ends. We won't get into sailboats you and I had discussed before or ships shapes and so many other things also. Only will find a lot more accuracy by using wind tunnels for airflow numbers and characteristics. Just one of the many mis-applied variables of xxxx in xxxt out.

[blt2ski]

Nutz,

You know as well as I know, reality is, you need both torque and HP to get a load going etc. The formula's I have that tell me how fast one can go, are HP based. While I am sure I could use torque per say......I do not know that formula. That formula has factors for tire type, tread type, tire active radius, road bed type, frontal area, along with a factor for aerodynamics etc. Plug all these numbers into the formula, it tells you HP needed!
On the other hand, if you want to do how steep of a grade I can pull, that is torque multiplication oriented. Again, I need the tire type and tread, road surface, trans gear(s) and axel ratio. Then if one has one, a transfer case ratio.
Using these formulas, lets me know if I have steep grade somewhere, and need to move 20K plus lbs, I use the Navistar dumptruck, with its whopping 330 lb ft of torque vs my now sold dmax with 620 lb ft of torque. The gearing behind the Dmax sucked. I could only pull a 24-25% grade at 20K lbs, yet the Navistar could do 30K up a 30+% grade. A 4% freeway grade, the 320HP dmax left the navistar with 175hp behind assuming equal weight!
You probably know a few things, maybe even a lot on some things I do not know. Figuring out what a truck will or will not do, is not to hard from the formulas I have to work with, along with a few rigs that stalled out on grades when reality, they should not have.
Oh, the new towing specs suck! Better to not have them, than now with them. They still do not let me know if I can pull the local 20-30% grade side roads and driveways I pull at what weight! 12% yes, 20+ no.

Marty