2020 Sturgis Rally Escape - AMF!

[Redfish]

John

That is pretty good gas mileage pulling that trailer.

I only get 9-10 pulling my cargo trailer with bikes and camping gear in it. My 1/2 ton chevy has plenty of power but drinks the gas when the trailer is back there.

You guys are doing it wrong. All of the diesel guys lie about their mileage. It goes sort of like this:

"I am pulling a 40 foot 5th Wheel that weighs 15K pounds with (Insert Ford/Chevy/Dodge) I get 18mpg when I pull at 85mph. If I pull it at 90mph my mileage drops a little."

Sadly, both of my GMC Duramax engines have consistently averaged just over 10 mpg pulling that 37 foot toy hauler. And I rarely pull faster than 65 mph. I start worrying about the tires on the camper above 65mph in the summer heat.

Sorta related.... today we passed a guy getting a performance award on HWY 20 in Idaho, 20-30 miles south of Yellowstone. He was driving a Porsche Cayenne that had an R1200GS in a cargo carrier basket mounted in a receiver on the rear end. I don’t know if he was speeding or the LEO wanted to see why his front end was bouncing down the highway.

Many years ago I was headed to the coast towing a 22 foot Pathfinder behind my 2500HD Duramax. I was behind some sort of SUV towing a 27 foot Donzi with twin 225 Mercurys. He would pull away from stop signs and red lights with Authority but then would barely do the speed limit. When I finally was able to find a straight to pass him it was a Porsche Cayenne Turbo. He was badly overloaded but he could sure accelerate!

[Hppants]

Since we are jacking Johns thread....

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

[escapefjrtist]

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

That’s the scary part seeing some of these rigs rolling down the road...no business towing the loads that are behind them.

~G

[wheatonFJR]

Since we are jacking Johns thread....

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

Just like an ol’ XS Eleven.

[Cav47]

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

That’s the scary part seeing some of these rigs rolling down the road...no business towing the loads that are behind them.

~G

Confession time: NO NOT than kind Wheatie. That is between BUST and Zilla.


A few years ago we were in a bind because we were supposed to pick up our fundraising order from a warehouse. We sell 5 gallon buckets of liquid laundry detergent for the football team. We wind up making decent money because we do not pay for shipping. Anyway, the guy that was supposed to go get our order had an accident on the farm and could not go pick it up with his gigantic dually.

We could still use his trailer, but no truck. So I asked him if my wifes Sequoia would pull the trailer. It has a V-8, towing package, and rated to haul a lot of weight. We were gonna take back roads and only county highways where I could keep the speed below 55 if needed. Apparently trailer brakes are kinda mandatory on something like this.

So we pulled up with a 32 foot 3 axle trailer. It pulled okay on the way down there unloaded.......

After they threw 6.5 pallets of product on there, things got weird. We had just shy of 350 5 gallon buckets. Start doing the math. Each bucket weighed 44 lbs. Apparently adding almost 15K pounds of soap to the trailer changes lots. We were fine taking off, but stopping that rig was not pretty. A couple of times, gravel on the road was preventing my Toyota from stopping effectively. We kept speeds under 30 the whole way back after ending up in the middle of an country intersection at a 4 way stop.

Never again. Just because the vehicle will pull it, doesn't mean it will stop it safely. We pulled into a gravel parking lot for distribution, the downhill slope was pushing the truck a few inches until we got enough product off the flatbed.

[raYzerman]

Don't know if this is universally adopted, but any tandem trailer here requires brakes on at least one axle. So you better have the right tow vehicle and a brake controller. Towed a 16' tandem flatbed with a Kubota on it with my RAM 1500 rated for 10k lbs. Trailer and tractor were 7000. Had to place the tractor so tongue weight was appropriate, even then.... was OK if I stayed around 50 mph. Shoulda been a minimum 2500, not a 1500. Beware of tow ratings.. stick to something 2/3 of what the "rating" is.

[Auburn]

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

That’s the scary part seeing some of these rigs rolling down the road...no business towing the loads that are behind them.

~G

same with the idiot driving the vehicle

[gixxerjasen]

I asked him if my wifes Sequoia would pull the trailer. It has a V-8, towing package, and rated to haul a lot of weight.

After they threw 6.5 pallets of product on there, things got weird. We had just shy of 350 5 gallon buckets. Start doing the math. Each bucket weighed 44 lbs. Apparently adding almost 15K pounds of soap to the trailer changes lots.

Wow, weren't you at around twice "a lot of weight" there? That had to be super scary.

[juniorfjr]

Just like redfish, my EcoBoost gets great mileage empty, 19 to 20. But when we went back to Minneapolis to get our trailer, coming home it averaged just under 10. It takes fuel to tow weight.

[Redfish]

Since we are jacking Johns thread....

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. The Big 3 have steadily improved all aspects of the modern truck. I can honestly say that I have never seen the quality or capability offered by all the manufacturers in the half ton market today, the only one I wouldn't buy is the Nissan and that only because I think it is ugly. The Tundra is as good as anything with an American label on the grill.

My friend 'Zilla has a Super Bad A$$ Dodge that is a direct competitor to my GMC Duramax. I already know that he and I both are driving More Truck than either of us ever dreamed of. I have never towed with anything like this and these trucks just keep getting better.

[Powerman]

My buddy saw a huge trailer with MC lift at Daytona one year. He bought it and a bigger truck.
Haven't seen him since he parked it on my buddies property.

[Uncle Hud]

^^^^^. Appropriate post, since Daytona is Sturgis South.

[Hppants]

Since we are jacking Johns thread....

This is a Big issue With towing today. The engine has the power to pull it, but the chassis is woefully under braked and under suspended.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. The Big 3 have steadily improved all aspects of the modern truck. I can honestly say that I have never seen the quality or capability offered by all the manufacturers in the half ton market today, the only one I wouldn't buy is the Nissan and that only because I think it is ugly. The Tundra is as good as anything with an American label on the grill.

My friend 'Zilla has a Super Bad A$$ Dodge that is a direct competitor to my GMC Duramax. I already know that he and I both are driving More Truck than either of us ever dreamed of. I have never towed with anything like this and these trucks just keep getting better.

No disagreement here. My former comment was not directed at light duty trucks, which are well designed for towing. I was referring to SUVs and crossovers and sedans, which have plenty of motor, but not much chassis.

[bigjohnsd]

Just like redfish, my EcoBoost gets great mileage empty, 19 to 20. But when we went back to Minneapolis to get our trailer, coming home it averaged just under 10. It takes fuel to tow weight.

No, it takes fuel to tow an unaerodynamic box through the air at 65 mph, the weight is much less of a concern.
Many Manufacturers towing specs now quote both weight and Frontal Area maximums.

[Redfish]

Just like redfish, my EcoBoost gets great mileage empty, 19 to 20. But when we went back to Minneapolis to get our trailer, coming home it averaged just under 10. It takes fuel to tow weight.

No, it takes fuel to tow an unaerodynamic box through the air at 65 mph, the weight is much less of a concern.
Many Manufacturers towing specs now quote both weight and Frontal Area maximums.

And I am sorry we de-railed your camping thread. I really appreciated the pics.

You mentioned generators, I take it there was no electrical service at that campground? It has been in the mid-90F range here every day and it stays above 90F for most of the day. No way we could go camping and not have the A/C going all day.

I rarely tow our camper above 65mph. The Duramax can pull it as fast as I want to go but I always worry about the camper tires. And of course you are correct about the weight vs. wind drag. The wind drag affects my mileage directly, my mpg is directly related to my speed of advance.

[HotRodZilla]

Just like redfish, my EcoBoost gets great mileage empty, 19 to 20. But when we went back to Minneapolis to get our trailer, coming home it averaged just under 10. It takes fuel to tow weight.

No, it takes fuel to tow an unaerodynamic box through the air at 65 mph, the weight is much less of a concern.
Many Manufacturers towing specs now quote both weight and Frontal Area maximums.

And I am sorry we de-railed your camping thread. I really appreciated the pics.

You mentioned generators, I take it there was no electrical service at that campground? It has been in the mid-90F range here every day and it stays above 90F for most of the day. No way we could go camping and not have the A/C going all day.

I rarely tow our camper above 65mph. The Duramax can pull it as fast as I want to go but I always worry about the camper tires. And of course you are correct about the weight vs. wind drag. The wind drag affects my mileage directly, my mpg is directly related to my speed of advance.

My truck's owner's manual has an entire section on frontal area and wind drag. It is almost as important as overall weight. The gas F250's last straw was when we towed our 5th wheel to Ruidoso in the WIND. 4mpg and maxed out at about 65. In the weird uphill curves, it couldn't get over 45 because that was a shift point and 3rd gear was too high while 2nd was maxing around 4500RPM.

The Cummins does not have those problems. Low end torque and pulls like a train.

[Redfish]

My truck's owner's manual has an entire section on frontal area and wind drag.

Oh yeah? Well MY Truck's manual has an entire section on how to properly tow a Dodge Cummins to the repair shop! It tells where to hook the tow strap or chain, warns of towing over 70 mph since the Dodge was never designed to go that fast on its own, explains how to soothe the hurt feelings of the Dodge owner and which salvage yards are most likely to accept a Dodge/Cummins combo.


Sorry. Sorry, SORRY. That was Wrong and it was Mean. I just wish that one day, someday both of our trucks could be parked in the same campground and we could say mean things to each other sitting in front of a campfire.

[bigjohnsd]

My Ford F150 3.5 Ecoboost would pull this camper as fast as you were brave enough to go. I don't pull over 65 for the same reason, most trailer tires are only tested and rated to 65mph.

No problems on the thread change of direction. It is what it is.

[gixxerjasen]

Thread direction might have changed, but it looks like Mr. Redfish is back!

[wheatonFJR]

Thread direction might have changed, but it looks like Mr. Redfish is back!

I jes call him “ol’ smiley”.