Towing speed (?)

L

localboy

New member
Having just completed the longest tow of my life I'm curious about this. Those of you that tow long distances; WHAT IS THE TOP SPEED YOU ARE COMFORTABLE TOWING? I realize there are variables like what size boat, what tow vehicle, towing flat lands or over mountain passes etc. But I noted the difference on long, relatively flat portions of the interstate.

Going across I-90 in Washington I can't tell you how many trucks towing boats & camper trailers passed me. Some left me in the dust. I pretty much "right-laned" it the entire trip. Set my cruise control at 65 and left it there.

I'm talking about 20-25' wake board boats, 20' bass boats, 20-35' travel trailers...all usually pulled by 3/4 or 1 ton trucks like mine (but usually newer). The bigger 5th wheel trailers seemed to be in line with my speed. Occasionally, I'd go 70 to say, pass a big rig...but then it was back into the right lane and 65 for me.
 
I tow my 22 at around 70 when the road conditions and speed limit allow it. Don't usually use the cruise control when towing unless the road is quite flat (like Ohio).
 
Mark,
I can relate to your experience. I generally like to stay no faster than 60-65, so it seems that everyone is going faster. With decent tires and well-maintained hubs, I think the trailer will be fine going a little faster, but my bigger concern becomes the ability to stop if needed.

Les
 
Mark, I'm with you, in fact you would probably be passing me. I'm towing with a 07 Tundra, 5.7 and i really like about 60. Don't really like to impeded the big trucks, so I will try to run about their speed, but yes, on the freeway, it is Right lane for me.

I tow my 22 Cruiser that scales at 5100 loaded for cruisng and an encolosed cargo trailer that runs around 2-3K depending on the load. Both are tandem axle. Depending on the terrain and traffic, I may be on Cruise control, and the tow Haul mode is off and on, again, depending on conditions.

I have towed trailers all my life and never had an accident or a ticket. Kind of like to keep it that way. :smiled

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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This really depends on the driver and the tow vehicle. Big heavy SUVs and trucks hardly know a CD 22 is back there. Smaller, lighter, short wheel based trucks and SUVs get moved around a lot by the CD 22 in comparison. I would go the speed you are confident and comfortable with remembering that while your speedometer, time, and distance relationship is linear, the laws of physics are not and you can get into a heap of trouble quickly by going too fast. I personally think 65 mph is a great speed when towing on good roads.
 
Good question!

I’ve done two long tows of our CD 22 so far: the first to pick it up (GA to PA) and the second to NY Thousand Islands and back.

I’m very happy with the performance of our new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with Duramax Diesel. It pulls well, always feels in control, and slows and stops when needed.

But I feel a whole lot better towing it now that we replaced both axles, added electric brakes, mounted new hitch, cleaned out the bearings, replaced the lights, and added an emergency breakaway switch.

I’m comfortable up to 70 mph, but usually set it at 65. I use cruise control on long empty stretches. The Chevy has a 10 speed transmission so there’s no hunting for the right gear as we traverse Pennsylvania’s many, many ridges.
 
What’s wrong with using cruise control on long stretches? I thought that’s what it’s for. Honestly, until I’m moved here I had never used CC. Not much open freeways on O’ahu. :lol: I do use the “tow/haul” feature on my truck whenever I’m pulling/ carry a load.
 
We have done a LOT of long distance towing, four round trips to Lake Powell in Utah and one round trip to LaBelle, Florida, We tow Daydream at 60 with our 2006 1 ton Silverado 3500. That gives me a much better chance to react to the unexpected than at 70 or even 65.
 
localboy":rn74fx95 said:
What’s wrong with using cruise control on long stretches? I thought that’s what it’s for. Honestly, until I’m moved here I had never used CC. Not much open freeways on O’ahu. :lol: I do use the “tow/haul” feature on my truck whenever I’m pulling/ carry a load.
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Hey Mark,
I think the issue is with older trucks without the tow haul modes or a truck that might be towing at the upper limits. In these cases the transmission will constantly "hunt" for a gear.
 
I roll slow on downhill runs, way under speed limit unless theres an 18 wheeler bearing down on me. Uphill I’ll go faster and pass the big trucks again. Level ground it seems like there’s always wind and crazy people so right lane and 5 under is about right for me. Exception: Texas metro areas where going under the speed limit could get ya killed. Then its just whatever the speed of traffic is, and I try to keep a gap between me and the next car. Sometimes thats 80+ Mph and I’ll have to take a back road. I drove a drill rig for awhile, and towed a lot of trailers full of pipe. The people who taught me said “get in the right lane and let the little cars do their little car things”
 
With the towing we did with Wild Blue and still do with our RV rig, 65mph is my max. Most trailer tires are speed rated at 65. Yes, people blow by us all the time, towing bigger boats, travel trailers, and cargo trailers. Those people are what we call: not too bright. When your retired time allows, and you tow across west Texas, there is about 500 miles of 80mph speed limit on I-10. I've seen people go by us doing every bit of 80, pulling a 5th wheel, which isn't level, so they're putting the majority of the trailer weight on the rear axle. See above for what we call them.

When we towed Wild Blue (CD25, like yours) our tow rig was a 3/4 ton diesel GMC (Duramax and Allison transmissiom); it was certainly up to the task. On long level stretches, I use cruise control. Never for up/down hills or mountains. On mountain climbs, I figured the downhill side would generally be a lower speed than the uphill.

Be safe, let the other guys be the statistics.
 
T.R. Bauer":sp7lupg2 said:
This really depends on the driver and the tow vehicle. Big heavy SUVs and trucks hardly know a CD 22 is back there. Smaller, lighter, short wheel based trucks and SUVs get moved around a lot by the CD 22 in comparison. I would go the speed you are confident and comfortable with remembering that while your speedometer, time, and distance relationship is linear, the laws of physics are not and you can get into a heap of trouble quickly by going too fast. I personally think 65 mph is a great speed when towing on good roads.
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Where have you found a good road in AK???? :wink:
 
tsturm":3tjtq1t1 said:
T.R. Bauer":3tjtq1t1 said:
This really depends on the driver and the tow vehicle. Big heavy SUVs and trucks hardly know a CD 22 is back there. Smaller, lighter, short wheel based trucks and SUVs get moved around a lot by the CD 22 in comparison. I would go the speed you are confident and comfortable with remembering that while your speedometer, time, and distance relationship is linear, the laws of physics are not and you can get into a heap of trouble quickly by going too fast. I personally think 65 mph is a great speed when towing on good roads.
Click to expand...

Where have you found a good road in AK???? :wink:
Click to expand...

It's pretty good between the potholes.....
 
Sounds like I’m not alone. Drive smart and live on. I’ve seen the results of way too many collisions/crashes and don’t feel like being a statistic. And with 26+ years of driving tactics & emergency vehicle operations under my belt, I have nothing to prove.

Our rig is a 2005 F250: 3/4 ton, 6 liter V8 turbo diesel 4X4. It’s up to the task when mechanically sound. I do slow on the downhill portions, as noted, and let the truck’s tow setting control speed with as little braking as possible. Locally, I pretty much maintain 55-60 mph; the freeways are much more crowded on the west side of the mountains and with that the moronic imbecile driver coefficient increases substantially. I’ve had drivers literally cut me off to save 30 seconds.

Appreciate all the input and experience.
 
When we drove to Ohio 2 years ago to pick up our C-Dory we probably averaged 80 mph. The 1,900 mile tow back to AZ was 65 mph. I had checked the bearings and aired tires to max rated pressure (tires were a bit older than I liked but ran them anyway) and off we went. We had zero issues.

Last month we did a 3,800 mile loop to the PNW and back with zero issues. Again, pretty much stuck to 65 mph.

The boat/trailer (single axle) weighed in at 4,700 lbs and we tow with a 2010 5.7L Tundra rated to tow 10k lbs. Trailer tire are E's and rated for 78 mph. I use tow/haul mode and manually shift, usually in S4 or S5, on the 6 speed trans. We saw high 90's to low 100's degree ambient air temps most of our trip and the truck was usually running running 198 coolant temp and 195 trans temp. Never saw more than 200 on the trans, even thru the steepest/longest mountain passes. The truck could easily hold 60 mph, even on the steepest grades, when using the gears properly. We averaged 12 mpg for the 3,800 mile trip.

I do have a compressor on my truck and check trailer tire pressures often. I also check hub temps and tire temps at every stop, which seems to be every 220 miles or so.

I'm a firm believer that slow and steady wins the towing race.
 
Dessert Dory, Thanks for the numbers. How are you measuring the coolant and Transmission temps?

I just completed a 1800 mile trip on I-90 and WOW, I don't drive my car as fast as many of those PU/Trailer combos travel. 65-70 is my usual, and I have been passed by 3/4 and 1 tons, pulling every size of travel trailer, boats and 5th wheels. Some in the (I'm guessing here) somewhere over the 80mph range.

I saw one that had passed me a few hours earlier, scattered in pieces on its side in the median in ND. Whoops!!!! :shock:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I like 60-62 MPH, because the rig overall (truck plus trailer plus boat) seems to like that speed best as the max. ST trailer tires are rated for no more than 65 MPH (with few exceptions including Goodyear Endurance), and the federal testing standard only requires that they manage that for a grand total of 30 minutes without exploding or overheating. The ‘feel’ through the wheel is less ‘jerky’ or nervous. The stopping distance is significantly less. 60 MPH gives me much more reaction time. The last two reasons are 95% of why I tow at 60 MPH. We’re retired, so it’s easier, but we’ve been towing 11,000 lb boat loads since 2004 this way.

I agree that in some rare areas (parts of I-75 for example) safety requires going at least 65. However, I’m always able always able to find a semi driver who is paying for his own diesel fuel that is going at least as slow as me, and I just follow him at a gap that makes it ABSOLUTELY clear to all surrounding traffic that there is NO advantage to them to cutting me off. If loaded, he’ll go slower than me up hills, but faster than me down hills, and it’ll average 60 MPH overall.

Adaptive cruise control is not available and not desirable on HD250 tow trucks. I don’t use CC on Ohio hills because it will maintain the selected speed within 5 MPH even if that requires way too much turbo boost uphill and way too much severe engine braking downhill. It’s got to decrease MPG.

This worked very well on our just completed 2,700 mile towing adventure to upstate New York and back.

Hope this is helpful.

As always, your mileage may vary!

Cheers!

John
 
Harvey asked how folks measured various temperatures: Most truck will have this information (and a lot more) on their OBD ports.

On the Ford diesel we have 2 Bank's gauges, which I feel are the best for diesel trucks. I have about a dozen items reading out, include boost, Exhaust gas temp, transmission and coolant temps, instant mpg, etc.

For gassers I use Scan G gauges. Another feature of the OBD reader is that you can read codes if they come up, and clear them if it is nothing important...If it is important, then you can shut down before damage is done...
 
" . . . and we tow with a 2010 5.7L Tundra rated to tow 10k lbs."

Specifically I was curious about Desert Dory since he is running the same tow rig I am. I have a a Scan Gauge II, and run it full time but I have not figured out how to get the Tranny temp out of it.

And Yes, Bob, I am a believer in the Banks systems. Have driven with them many times.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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