Trailering and other things

[Will-C]

Warren,
I guess when we head to Yellowstone in August God willing. I'll be using the manual portion of the Allison transmission to hold me back on long down hill grades. Since running at 55 mph puts the engine at 1600 rpms which is conveniently the engines maximum torque point at 660 ft lb's I let the engine and transmission decide what they want to do. I only have 10 k on the truck so far so good. We don't have the hills like you do out west. You are right though it does elevate the rpm's before shifting to the next higher gear. I like the automatic down shifting when in the tow haul mode. I try to drive like I don't have brakes at least when I'm on the highway. I drove tractor trailers for years started out hauling out of gravel pits and narrow roads next to the Delaware river, then cinders out of Bethlehem steel to cinder block plants, later heated asphalt and # 6 fuel oil when Bethlehem Steel switched it's blast furnaces to oil. They burnt 5000 gallons per hour. Our trailers only could haul 7000 gallons because of the 80,000 pound weight limits. I finished off my truck driving career by hauling meat out of Chicago to New York City Philadelphia etc. with my own truck leased to a company from Chicago. A concrete share cropper of sorts. By 1984 I was in sales and never looked back. My point to all this was that for years I would wake up from bad dreams / nightmares having almost dislocated my knee from hitting the imaginary brake pedal trying to avoid somebody or something while sleeping. I still have truck dreams nightmares now but not as much. Driving a lot I think ages you, now I try to make it fun and enjoy letting the machinery do some of thinking and all the work. I never had any bad accidents in well over a million miles, I'm not bragging I just feel blessed and awful lucky.
D.D.

[journey on]

Well, I'm more in line with Warren. The C-25 represents about 9000 lbs and I've got a gas engine, though the trans is supposed to be the same as the one they supply with the diesel. I just find that it's a lot easier on everything if I select a gear I feel is correct. I'm not sure what the Tow/Haul does in a Dorf, but it doesn't do much.

I'm willing to accept whatever works, but I do know I don't want to end up repairing that auto. It must cost a bunch. So I try to make life easy on it. I'll concede that a diesel is different from a gas engine.

By the way, I saw diesel at a local station for $3.78 today. Yea, things have changed. Gas is about $3.20

Boris

[Will-C]

The thing is my 2001 chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 5.3 gas V8 got about 8 to 10mpg towing the same boat which weighs a mere 5500 to 6000 pounds. The new Chevy is a 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel gets 14 to15 mpg and would smoke the older truck on longer pulls. Diesels go 10k on a oil change but take an additional 3 quarts to do an oil change, gas 3000 to 5000 miles on an oil change. I'm not trying to convert anyone here but for me and where I live and what I do the diesel is a better tow rig. The allison transmissions have a tow haul mode . In tow mode they keep the transmission out of overdrive so the transmission is not constantly hunting in and out of overdrive on rolling hills. It also raises the rpms before shifting into a higher gear so the engine does not lug at lower rpms as the transmission might upshift prematurely in the regular auto setting.
The fact that diesel fuel has gone up in price would not prevent, me from buying a diesel in the future. I like the way it responds and drives. If I was trying to save money I would not own a boat or a four wheel drive diesel powered pickup truck. It snows where I'm from and I tow other types of trailers from time to time. Some old guys by Corvettes I'm just a little more practical. I wouldn't dare call myself a minimalist.
D.D.

[JamesTXSD]

When we bought our diesel pickup, diesel was less expensive than unleaded gas. It has flipped a couple times, but seems to have settled in with diesel being higher. I figure it works out, because the diesel gets better mileage, especially when pulling a load. I use "Where" on my Droid to check local fuel prices, especially when in unfamiliar areas.

Towing with a marginal tow vehicle is more of a concern than just putting a strain on the vehicle, it is potentially unsafe. Most vehicles could get a heavy load moving... keeping it safe while going down the road, being able to move with the flow of traffic, and most importantly: being able to STOP safely all play a part in a safe and pleasant towing experience.

We once had an SUV that had a 5,000 pound tow rating... and a unibody frame. I tried a long tow with a boat behind there and it constantly felt squirrelly; moved to an SUV with a truck frame and it made a world of difference.

Adequate trailer brakes make a significant difference, as well. Switching out our trailer surge brakes to electric over hydraulic REALLY made a difference, especially with downhill grades. If necessary, you can reach down to the controller in the truck and apply just the trailer brakes.

While in New York in 2009, we found that several of our bunk supports broken or nearly so, and had those points welded with additional support added. Just like our boats, the trailers need regular maintenance, too. It's a good idea to check out the trailer with and without the boat loaded.

There's more to safe towing than just avoiding the crazy drivers out there - having the right equipment to tow with is a big part of the equation.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[Wayne McCown]

I note that the experience which initiated this thread was from an owner of a CD-25. I have a CD-22 which is much lighter, but I also tow (not at the same time!) a 32' fifth wheel which is heavier than the CD-25. The amount of weight one is towing makes a BIG difference.

Another major factor, esp. when towing in traffic, is visibility to the sides and rear. I can see well enough around the CD-22 with the truck mirrors that locally I do not hang my extension mirrors, which I MUST have to see down the sides and to the rear of the fifth wheel. If I am towing the CD-22 on an interstate, through heavy traffic or a long distance I do hang the extension mirrors because they allow me to see REALLY good to the rear of the boat and trailer.

I keep trying to coax my wife into driving with the fifth wheel in tow. She has done it, but she is afraid of merging from an interstate on-ramp into traffic. I agree, that is one of the trickiest situations when towing a big rig. Some drivers make it easy, but others....

[thataway]

I certainly agree with the advisability of a diesel when the load gets bigger. There are many varieties of the Allison transmission, and some of the heavier duty versions also have an interaction with the engine exhaust brake, so that it increases the retarding effect. We also get 12 to 14 mpg when towing, and up to 22 mpg when not towing with the diesel truck.

One of the ways to increase visability is to put one to three TV cameras for rear visability. We used one on the upper back of the truck and one on the back of the cabin house of the C Dory 25 or Tom Cat. The complete TV moniter, and 3 Cameras came to somewhere in the $600 range on E-bay. This included a 7" color moniter and the extra cable to plug in the trailer camera. You can also get side cameras--for example for the right side, down low on the front fender.