New Tow Rig Options

[trackbird]

<SNIP>

I took it through the mountains of western MD and through WV and down into VA. We "reset" the "best 50 mile average" to 21.3 mpg with the cruise on 72 MPH.

That's some GREAT mileage there!

I certainly wasn't mad about it. We left central Ohio for the Hagerstown, MD area, then south to Harrisonburg, VA and then out to Elkton Va. 530 miles on a tank and 90+ miles to empty on the display. Averaged 17.0 mpg per the dish display. I have not tested it with a calculator to see how accurate it is at this time. I threw 15 gallons of diesel in it (I had cans in the bed) and drove it to the VA line (an hour and change away) and stopped at a truck stop (fuel is cheaper in VA than in WV, often by a lot). Topped it off there, drove around town for 4 days, threw a 5 gallon can in it and came back to Columbus with 8 gallons or so in the tank. Averaging another 17+ mpg for the trip home through the mountains of western MD.

[trackbird]

A few updates.

I have 8500 miles on the truck now. a bit over 3,000 of them are towing my camper (9-10k total weight). We reset the best 50 mile fuel mileage at 23.8 mpg and the best 25 mile at 24.2 mpg. That's insane for 65-69 mph freeway cruising in a giant brick.

In interesting news, the rear tires are down to about 2/32" of tread and the fronts are about 4/32". So, I rotated the tires. But I don't think I'm going to get anywhere near the 50k mileage warranty. I don't know exactly who I'll argue with about it, but I'll figure that out as I get the rest of the way down to the wear bars. It came with Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner AT tires. That's what the manufacturer installed. They aren't holding up at all. I don't know if it's the weight or the locking rear or both? I'm guessing when towing up mountains, the large amounts of torque are being used to lock up the locking diff and scrubbing the rears. But I'm not totally sure about that. I figure I can get Goodyear to prorate one set, and then I'm going to have to upgrade to something else. Goodyear Duratrac tires say they are a commercial A/T tire and they claim they are good for towing and high torque. I need to start checking to see if there are other options that are recommended.

I just changed the fuel filter (it was down to 39%), that job wasn't as bad as I expected. Only took me 15 minutes. I rotated the tires and found that I'm getting old. I was fighting to get them back onto the studs. The wheel and tire combo is something over 100 lbs each. My old 3500 was around 110 lbs per tire, these feel much heavier.

I need to swing by the dealer. I see a little ATF on the torque converter access plug and the flange between the engine and the transmission. Just a few drips, but I'm not expecting to see any there.

Beyond all of that, I absolutely love the truck. But it might get expensive if I have to buy new tires every 9-12 months. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[CrashTestDummy]

Sounds like you're enjoying the thing!! I don't remember what the mileage on ours was when we did tires, but it certainly was more than 8500, even though, like yours, the truck usually had a trailer with a 3000# car on it attached to the hitch. That's awesome mileage!! I drive like an old man, and was 'only' getting high-teens MPG in our 2500. Note that the mileage did drop notably when we changed the tires. I opted for the next size up, and went from GY to Michelin. The larger size really punched the MPG in the nards.

When doing the bump stops on the B4C, I also noted how hard it was for me to lift the tires back into place. I can usually just leverage the tire between my legs and arms and boom, it's on, but really struggled with both of them this time. I guess I need to spend more time in the shop doing stuff, as I seem to have lost my touch, too, and these tires don't weigh anywhere near 100 lbs. That was one of the deciding factors on taking the bus to a shop to have PM and the rear shocks put on. I figured we could get the wheels off, which is necessary to get to the rear shocks, but would probably not be successful getting them back on, even with our tire lift, and then we'd be stuck with a bus on jack stands in the shop forever.

I think gravity is getting stronger as time passes. Yep, that's my theory!!

[GCrites80s]

That's why shops these days have special tools/equipment for moving huge wheels and tires around. It's not like 1986 where they're literally tossing 175/80/13s all over the place and the biggest tire they'll see all week is a 235/75/15 off of a Squarebody.

[trackbird]

That's why shops these days have special tools/equipment for moving huge wheels and tires around. It's not like 1986 where they're literally tossing 175/80/13s all over the place and the biggest tire they'll see all week is a 235/75/15 off of a Squarebody.

Yea, these are 275/65-20" tires on aluminum wheels, but there's a LOT of aluminum in those wheels.


The mileage is really sweet with the 10 speed. I babied it a little (4-5 miles of 35-45 mph backroads and then onto the freeway, and then onto another and another freeway (a couple entrance ramps) and still got the numbers I saw. Previously, I set the best mileage when I hit the Ohio line coming from WV with the cruise on 73 mph. I still got 22+ mpg at 73 mph (on cruise without a trailer).


Climbing hills, it adds torque and stays in 10th as long as it can. I have the Banks display that shows "commanded torque". I've seen it call for 988 ft lbs. If that doesn't work, it shifts a gear or two. If it's a really big hill, it shifts to where the engine is at 2,400 rpm (HP peak is at 2,600 rpm) and it stays there and uses the gears to stay right there while climbing hills at any speed I want (I'm only pulling a bit less than half of the rated towing capacity). At 3,000 rpm the gears are about 300 rpm drop as it shifts. So at 2,400 it has about 240 rpm between gears. Basically, it always has a gear to put it at the HP peak. It climbs and shifts and just makes boost and "thrust". It's much different than towing with gas.

[trackbird]

Guess it's time for an update. I put new tires on it at 19,675 miles. The oem tires were down to about 5/32" of tread. That's not "illegal", but it was getting pretty slick in the rain. Leaving traffic lights at light throttle resulted in wheel spin when I hit the white stripe. Turning left at traffic lights would let the locker lock up and I'd go around tail out (not driving like an idiot even). So, I put new Cooper "highway off road" tires on it. A friend has them on a Dodge 2500 diesel and they have held up well. Sadly, I don't like how they tow. The truck wanders and they feel really soft and "squishy". It rides like a 1500, but it tows like one two. Oh well,l I have them now.

I took it to the dealer for the tailgate recall (the switch gets wet and the tailgate opens randomly. Mine has not actually opened, but I got it done. I also told them the DEF tank level was all over the place. It went from full (8 bars on the graph) to 3 bars, to 5, to 4, to 8, back to 3, etc. They flashed the computer and that was supposed to fix it. They also filled the DEF tank. That was Thursday (it's now Sunday). Yesterday I went up to work on the camper (it got new goodyear endurance tires after one exploded last week and damaged the camper, so I'm fixing that) and as I left, it said DEF empty, 500 miles until 65 mph top speed and a few other warnings. I have a bit over 20k miles on the truck. I'm starting to understand why people just delete these things. I'm also starting to consider trading it for a gas truck. If it pulls this crap while I'm 900 miles from home and pulling a trailer, then what? So, it's going back to the dealer tonight (I scheduled it to come back before all the alerts went crazy). It was also doing frequent regens. Like every 50 miles. I think the DPF is getting clogged up. And the check engine light is on for NOx sensor issues.

I love the truck, but I may not keep it very long. We actually spent last night talking about the truck and camper and possibly selling the camper and trading the truck on a 1500 again. We will see where we go and how irritated I get with it. I still really love the truck, but I don't know if I'm going to put up with the headaches for long.

[CrashTestDummy]

There are claims that some of the diesel fuel treatments really help the regen crap. A Yuutoober puts this in his Screw and claims it really helps with that: Archoil AR6500 Diesel Treatment (40.6 oz). I dunno, but was thinking of getting some for the bus and 2500HD. Neither are DEF machines, but the stuff is said to help with top end lube, which is important on older diesels with newer fuel. Seems to do it all. Real snake oil, huh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

[trackbird]

I run Diesel Power Service (silver bottle summer and white bottle winter). I just ran a bottle of the Archoil DPF filter treatment and it seemed to help the frequent regens. It's currently at the dealer for them to sort out all of the lights and warnings. I'm expecting a new NOx sensor and likely a new DEF tank (the sensors are built in and not serviceable, it's also a $500+ part). Probably more flashing of the computer and god knows what else they'll find. Hopefully I have it back before I need it next. Parts have been a challenge for these trucks lately.

[GCrites80s]

Guess it's time for an update. I put new tires on it at 19,675 miles. The oem tires were down to about 5/32" of tread. That's not "illegal", but it was getting pretty slick in the rain. Leaving traffic lights at light throttle resulted in wheel spin when I hit the white stripe. Turning left at traffic lights would let the locker lock up and I'd go around tail out (not driving like an idiot even). So, I put new Cooper "highway off road" tires on it. A friend has them on a Dodge 2500 diesel and they have held up well. Sadly, I don't like how they tow. The truck wanders and they feel really soft and "squishy". It rides like a 1500, but it tows like one two. Oh well,l I have them now.

I took it to the dealer for the tailgate recall (the switch gets wet and the tailgate opens randomly. Mine has not actually opened, but I got it done. I also told them the DEF tank level was all over the place. It went from full (8 bars on the graph) to 3 bars, to 5, to 4, to 8, back to 3, etc. They flashed the computer and that was supposed to fix it. They also filled the DEF tank. That was Thursday (it's now Sunday). Yesterday I went up to work on the camper (it got new goodyear endurance tires after one exploded last week and damaged the camper, so I'm fixing that) and as I left, it said DEF empty, 500 miles until 65 mph top speed and a few other warnings. I have a bit over 20k miles on the truck. I'm starting to understand why people just delete these things. I'm also starting to consider trading it for a gas truck. If it pulls this crap while I'm 900 miles from home and pulling a trailer, then what? So, it's going back to the dealer tonight (I scheduled it to come back before all the alerts went crazy). It was also doing frequent regens. Like every 50 miles. I think the DPF is getting clogged up. And the check engine light is on for NOx sensor issues.

I love the truck, but I may not keep it very long. We actually spent last night talking about the truck and camper and possibly selling the camper and trading the truck on a 1500 again. We will see where we go and how irritated I get with it. I still really love the truck, but I don't know if I'm going to put up with the headaches for long.

Perhaps stories like this are why Ford brought back the "Big Block" for their trucks.

[CrashTestDummy]

I run Diesel Power Service (silver bottle summer and white bottle winter). I just ran a bottle of the Archoil DPF filter treatment and it seemed to help the frequent regens. It's currently at the dealer for them to sort out all of the lights and warnings. I'm expecting a new NOx sensor and likely a new DEF tank (the sensors are built in and not serviceable, it's also a $500+ part). Probably more flashing of the computer and god knows what else they'll find. Hopefully I have it back before I need it next. Parts have been a challenge for these trucks lately.

I think we're waaayyyy past the 'supply chain' BS, and the manufacturers have found it a good way to move from just-in-time inventories to 'order it when needed' inventories. Frees up a lot of shelf space. They blame it on 'supply chain', and the public is none the wiser. Really sucks for dealer repairs, and even recalls where you have to drop your vehicle off for work and it sits in the lot for weeks while they're WOP. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rant2.gif)

But I'm not bitter!!

[trackbird]

Guess it's time for an update. I put new tires on it at 19,675 miles. The oem tires were down to about 5/32" of tread. That's not "illegal", but it was getting pretty slick in the rain. Leaving traffic lights at light throttle resulted in wheel spin when I hit the white stripe. Turning left at traffic lights would let the locker lock up and I'd go around tail out (not driving like an idiot even). So, I put new Cooper "highway off road" tires on it. A friend has them on a Dodge 2500 diesel and they have held up well. Sadly, I don't like how they tow. The truck wanders and they feel really soft and "squishy". It rides like a 1500, but it tows like one two. Oh well,l I have them now.

I took it to the dealer for the tailgate recall (the switch gets wet and the tailgate opens randomly. Mine has not actually opened, but I got it done. I also told them the DEF tank level was all over the place. It went from full (8 bars on the graph) to 3 bars, to 5, to 4, to 8, back to 3, etc. They flashed the computer and that was supposed to fix it. They also filled the DEF tank. That was Thursday (it's now Sunday). Yesterday I went up to work on the camper (it got new goodyear endurance tires after one exploded last week and damaged the camper, so I'm fixing that) and as I left, it said DEF empty, 500 miles until 65 mph top speed and a few other warnings. I have a bit over 20k miles on the truck. I'm starting to understand why people just delete these things. I'm also starting to consider trading it for a gas truck. If it pulls this crap while I'm 900 miles from home and pulling a trailer, then what? So, it's going back to the dealer tonight (I scheduled it to come back before all the alerts went crazy). It was also doing frequent regens. Like every 50 miles. I think the DPF is getting clogged up. And the check engine light is on for NOx sensor issues.

I love the truck, but I may not keep it very long. We actually spent last night talking about the truck and camper and possibly selling the camper and trading the truck on a 1500 again. We will see where we go and how irritated I get with it. I still really love the truck, but I don't know if I'm going to put up with the headaches for long.

Perhaps stories like this are why Ford brought back the "Big Block" for their trucks.

I'm trying to find one in stock that I can go drive. I'm thinking I might want to consider the 7.3 liter Ford. But I'm not sure. I hate to go back to the awful fuel mileage. Maybe it is time to sell the camper and just buy another 1500?

[trackbird]

At this point, parts are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Of course they were supposed to arrive last Monday too. Thus, they have had the truck for most of 3 weeks now and I suspect it will be another week or so before I get it back....assuming the parts actually arrive. This is getting frustrating.

[mikedamageinc]

In for the gas vs diesel discussion. I'm planning years ahead for my next tow/daily purchase and always thought diesel truck is the holy grail. I've towed with one and it does do a great job but rides rough especially when not towing and cost so much even used. And even a quad cab doesn't haul the family plus friends like a suburban or Yukon XL would.

I'm currently driving an 08 Yukon Denali and the 6.2 does much better than the 5.3 for power and fuel mileage. I've got 15mpg while towing if AC is off and I keep it 55 and easy on the hills but typical is more like 12 towing and 15 around town daily driving. Handling isn't bad either with Fox shocks, Eibach sways, weight distro hitch and air bag helpers. I do have intake, exhaust and tune for a little extra power too but I imagine the newer 6.2 with 10 speed trans would do even better.

Based on cost, comfort and your review Kevin, I'm starting to lean back towards another 6.2 SUV, with the 2015-2020 Denali/Escalade being my favorite. Wonder if they would let me test drive tow one, lol.

This post has been edited by mikedamageinc: Aug 13 2024, 12:56 PM

[trackbird]

My friend is on his 5-6th diesel truck. I always said "With all the ways these things break, I'll never own one". I amended that to say "I'll never own one out of warranty". So, I bought one. I mean, they can't all be bad....right?

I did find out that parts came in and they plan to start mine today. With any luck, I'll have it back by the weekend. That would be really handy. I have truck things to do (hauling a bunch of recycling/cardboard to the dumpsters and scrapping some rugs that need to go, etc. The Camaro is much more fun to drive, but it's a lousy truck.

I'm hoping this is the last issue I have with it. I don't know that it will be the case, but I can hope. I may buy the HP tuners tool to "unencrypt" the computer and carry that with me on the road. If I'm ever in Florida with a camper and I get "speed limited to 5 mph", I might fix it. I don't want or intend to delete it. I might just fix the "penalty" for emissions issues. Change it to "1,500 miles until speed limited to 358 mph" and get it to leave me alone. That's my biggest issue with the diesels. They slow you down and down and eventually it's 5 mph. No other vehicles get this for a check engine light. They just run them forever. So, why diesels? I am not sure what the answer is....assuming it acts up again.

I got 5-7.5 mpg towing the camper with my 5.3. I fear a 7.3 Ford would be worse, same for a 6.6 GM truck. I have averaged 9.2 mpg towing my camper with the diesel (at 73 mph most of the time). I'd do a lot better if I slowed down....but who does that?

Also, to be fair, I think my 3500 rides fine. My father in law has a 2022 2500 diesel and I feel like mine rides better than his. His will get really bouncy over rough stuff. Mine hits the helper springs (3500 springs) if there's enough travel and it keeps you off the bumpstops. If you're ever considering a 2500, just buy a 3500 "Single Rear Wheel" truck. The cargo capacity difference is 600-800 lbs. But 800 lbs is enough to cover people and stuff and leave you the capacity of the 2500 "leftover" to do work.

[mikedamageinc]

I appreciate all the info, maybe i just need to do some casual test drives at different dealerships on lunch break. That's always fun anyways, as long as i don't get carried away and buy something i wasn't planning on! And evaluate my financial situation when the time comes, if things keep going the way they are i might drive this Yukon until I die...

Towing is tough to slow down. I always start out doing the speed limit and tell myself I have plenty of time but before i know I NEED to get to the track now! I've never towed a camper and have a open car hauler since I've heard how bad gas mileage is with enclosed. Seems like the more powerful the engine the better the mileage given all else is equal. I get much better mileage with my 6.2 than lots of people i talked to with 5.3 whether its in a truck or SUV. Far from scientific of course though.

[CrashTestDummy]

<SNIP>

Also, to be fair, I think my 3500 rides fine. My father in law has a 2022 2500 diesel and I feel like mine rides better than his. His will get really bouncy over rough stuff. Mine hits the helper springs (3500 springs) if there's enough travel and it keeps you off the bumpstops. If you're ever considering a 2500, just buy a 3500 "Single Rear Wheel" truck. The cargo capacity difference is 600-800 lbs. But 800 lbs is enough to cover people and stuff and leave you the capacity of the 2500 "leftover" to do work.

If your FIL is still running the OEM shocks, well, there's your problem right there. We got Bilstiens from Sam before we got metal plates for our 2500, and never looked back. I also put a turn, or two, into the. torsion bar adjusters to gain just a bit more room between the control arms and bump stops. That also got the truck a bit more level.

We got our 2500 when the price of diesel and the mileage was a real advantage. Within a year, though, diesel prices went through the roof. The mileage is still there, and I added a front chin spoiler off a hybrid Suburban which gained us a solid 1 MPG better mileage. We averaged 18.6 towing to Topeka to Nationals one year. Kind of pissed a friend off when he rolled in to the hotel parking lot bragging about his 14 MPG he got out of his 1500HD gasser. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

[trackbird]

I appreciate all the info, maybe i just need to do some casual test drives at different dealerships on lunch break. That's always fun anyways, as long as i don't get carried away and buy something i wasn't planning on! And evaluate my financial situation when the time comes, if things keep going the way they are i might drive this Yukon until I die...

Towing is tough to slow down. I always start out doing the speed limit and tell myself I have plenty of time but before i know I NEED to get to the track now! I've never towed a camper and have a open car hauler since I've heard how bad gas mileage is with enclosed. Seems like the more powerful the engine the better the mileage given all else is equal. I get much better mileage with my 6.2 than lots of people i talked to with 5.3 whether its in a truck or SUV. Far from scientific of course though.

When I towed our Lemons car to Flat Rock Speedway, a friend was following us in his 550 RWHP turbo (last gen) Supra. We got separated at a traffic light in a small town in the dark at 11pm or whatever. 15 minutes later my phone rings. He says "where are you guys, I've been doing 80 for 15 minutes and I haven't see you". I said "that's because you're not catching us, we're doing 85 mph". He replied "hang on, be there in a second". A few seconds later I see headlights appear out of nowhere. He apparently spooled the turbo and went into warp drive.

[trackbird]

<SNIP>

Also, to be fair, I think my 3500 rides fine. My father in law has a 2022 2500 diesel and I feel like mine rides better than his. His will get really bouncy over rough stuff. Mine hits the helper springs (3500 springs) if there's enough travel and it keeps you off the bumpstops. If you're ever considering a 2500, just buy a 3500 "Single Rear Wheel" truck. The cargo capacity difference is 600-800 lbs. But 800 lbs is enough to cover people and stuff and leave you the capacity of the 2500 "leftover" to do work.

If your FIL is still running the OEM shocks, well, there's your problem right there. We got Bilstiens from Sam before we got metal plates for our 2500, and never looked back. I also put a turn, or two, into the. torsion bar adjusters to gain just a bit more room between the control arms and bump stops. That also got the truck a bit more level.

We got our 2500 when the price of diesel and the mileage was a real advantage. Within a year, though, diesel prices went through the roof. The mileage is still there, and I added a front chin spoiler off a hybrid Suburban which gained us a solid 1 MPG better mileage. We averaged 18.6 towing to Topeka to Nationals one year. Kind of pissed a friend off when he rolled in to the hotel parking lot bragging about his 14 MPG he got out of his 1500HD gasser. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

I put fox shocks on mine at 230 miles on the odometer (seriously, they were gone almost instantly). My father in law calls and says his truck is bouncing while towing. He asked if he needed helper springs. I said "No, you need shocks". He put Fox shocks on his truck and now he loves it.

They didn't quite get it done today. I will likely see it early next week. Oh well, just as long as it's "right". I'll keep you posted.

[trackbird]

I couldn't get it Friday. I ultimately got it Tuesday. It took 32 days, but it's home.

[landstuhltaylor]

I finally deleted my Touareg because it wanted it's second DEF pump. I normally don't drive it enough so the stuff crystallized and clogs the system. That change really had no impact on towing MPG, but daily driving is a good bump up to 29 or so. I'm not sure I'd go diesel whenever it gets replaced by a truck now that all the delete options are disappearing. I'm a guy who really isn't a fan of deletes, but has two deleted TDIs after getting fed up trying to keep the systems alive.

And on the topic of mpg, the one time I slowed down to 70 it was getting 28mpg with the empty open trailer. 21mpg at 75 with a normal car on it, and only 18 with an Acty sticking up in the wind.