Power Hungry Performance Forum  

Go Back   Power Hungry Performance Forum > General Vehicle Related Topics > Towing

Towing This forum is specifically for questions, comments, or ideas about towing with your vehicle.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old Tue, August 25th, 2009, 12:27 PM
TXWolf's Avatar
TXWolf TXWolf is offline
Native American Redneck
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: outside of San Antonio, TX in Schertz, TX
Posts: 92
TXWolf is on a distinguished road
First Trip with Travel Trailer Complete!

We took our new 36' travel trailer to the Coast (Aransas Pass) last week, and we survived! I had always thought that the highway from San Antonio to Aransas Pass was pretty level ... but I found out differently when pulling a lot of weight behind the truck. LOL We kept the speed between 65 and 70 for most of the 2.5 hours to our destination. The temps stayed in acceptable levels, although the TFT got up to 239 at one point.

One question ... how long is it OK drive with the RPMs at 4000 - 4200?

I'm really impressed with how the truck handled. Although I KNEW I had the trailer behind me, everything felt good. I never felt like I didn't have enough power to pull the load.

On a side note, if any of you guys ever get to the "Big Shell" area of the beach ... When you're driving in the sand, and you realize that there are no longer any other tire tracks around you ... it's time to turn around! Big Shell is a 4x4 area only, and I've gone down part of the way before. But with the truck loaded up with the wife, daughter, daughters boyfriend and our 2 grandkids ... at one point I was just creeping along, trying to find better traction. Everyone but me were freaking out , but I knew that the truck would make it out of there. I am SO glad that it's lifted, with 35" baja tires on it, though! LOL

Can't wait for our next trip ... We're going to Pedernales Falls up in the Texas Hill Country in a couple of weeks. There are a LOT more hills to test the truck, but I'm sure it's going to do fine.
__________________
http://dygytalworld.ehost-services139.com/forums/image.php?

2008 F150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
5.4L - 4.88 Gears
PHP Gryphon Programmer - BDS 6" Lift - Magnaflow Dual Exhaust - JLT Ram Air Intake - 20" Pacer Ridgeline Rims with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs Tires - Westin BullBar with Driving Lights
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old Tue, August 25th, 2009, 01:42 PM
408F150 408F150 is offline
Double Whopper
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Gilroy, CA
Posts: 33
408F150 is on a distinguished road
Default

I'm glad you survived. You need to flush your ATF and replace it now, though. Once you hit 230 you oxidized it and now it's going to degrade very, very rapidly and not protect your transmission or perform as well. Go to a good shop and have them drain the whole trans (not just the pan) and put some high-temp full synthetic in (I use RP). Helps keep temps lower and oxidizes at a higher temp to give you more of a buffer. If you haven't already put a larger ATF cooler in your rig, having one installed at the same time you're swapping fluids is a good idea.
__________________
2007 F150 Screw 5.4L FX4
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old Thu, August 27th, 2009, 07:50 AM
TXWolf's Avatar
TXWolf TXWolf is offline
Native American Redneck
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: outside of San Antonio, TX in Schertz, TX
Posts: 92
TXWolf is on a distinguished road
Default

That's probably a good idea. I also want to look into regearing ... going from 3.73 to 4.56.
__________________
http://dygytalworld.ehost-services139.com/forums/image.php?

2008 F150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
5.4L - 4.88 Gears
PHP Gryphon Programmer - BDS 6" Lift - Magnaflow Dual Exhaust - JLT Ram Air Intake - 20" Pacer Ridgeline Rims with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs Tires - Westin BullBar with Driving Lights
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old Thu, August 27th, 2009, 01:33 PM
88Racing's Avatar
88Racing 88Racing is offline
SENIOR MODERATOR
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere ....
Posts: 5,818
88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light
Default

I have found in the past when driving on sand is to let 25%-50% of the air out of the tires. The only bad thing is putting the air back in when hitting the roads again. You are kinda SOL unless you have a compressor on the truck and who knows how far the next gas station with air is. Glad you had a good trip!

Lars
__________________
SENIOR MODERATOR--PTLA

God doesn't have a Facebook but he's my friend.
God doesn't have a twitter, but I follow him.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old Thu, August 27th, 2009, 01:40 PM
TXWolf's Avatar
TXWolf TXWolf is offline
Native American Redneck
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: outside of San Antonio, TX in Schertz, TX
Posts: 92
TXWolf is on a distinguished road
Default

Yeah, as soon as I started to lose a lot of traction in the sand, I was kicking myself for not going with adjustable air bags in the rear end! When I first started looking at them a few months ago, I was thinking about how nice it would be to have an air compressor in the bed of the truck to fill my tires when I needed to.
__________________
http://dygytalworld.ehost-services139.com/forums/image.php?

2008 F150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
5.4L - 4.88 Gears
PHP Gryphon Programmer - BDS 6" Lift - Magnaflow Dual Exhaust - JLT Ram Air Intake - 20" Pacer Ridgeline Rims with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs Tires - Westin BullBar with Driving Lights
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old Thu, August 27th, 2009, 10:35 PM
88Racing's Avatar
88Racing 88Racing is offline
SENIOR MODERATOR
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere ....
Posts: 5,818
88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light88Racing is a glorious beacon of light
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TXWolf View Post
Yeah, as soon as I started to lose a lot of traction in the sand, I was kicking myself for not going with adjustable air bags in the rear end! When I first started looking at them a few months ago, I was thinking about how nice it would be to have an air compressor in the bed of the truck to fill my tires when I needed to.
Don't look back!
You can still do the upgrade!
That's the one good plus about the air bag systems in my opinion too!
The onboard air compressor!

Lars
__________________
SENIOR MODERATOR--PTLA

God doesn't have a Facebook but he's my friend.
God doesn't have a twitter, but I follow him.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old Mon, September 7th, 2009, 07:33 PM
Jackpine's Avatar
Jackpine Jackpine is online now
PHP Groupie
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Among Elk, Deer and Javalinas on the Mogollon Rim in Aridzona
Posts: 4,328
Jackpine is a name known to allJackpine is a name known to allJackpine is a name known to allJackpine is a name known to allJackpine is a name known to allJackpine is a name known to all
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 88Racing View Post
Don't look back!
You can still do the upgrade!
That's the one good plus about the air bag systems in my opinion too!
The onboard air compressor!

Lars
There's also the 120 volt compressors you can buy at places like Costco. I have one of those and took it on our recent trip into Colorado and Utah. I have a little quiet Honda 1000 Watt generator that powers it just fine and, of course, charges the batteries if we're "boondocking".

Glad your truck pulled the trailer, TXWolf! I was kind of thinking of you during our trip. I seem to recall our TFT being up in the 215 region a couple of times (long uphill climbs at 65 mph).

Be very careful about exceeding 65 mph with a trailer. Trailer tires are rated at 65 and if you drive faster than that, they can fail - it certainly shortens their life. I had a pair fail after about 5000 miles (chord separation). Same goes for pressure in those tires. Keep them at the recommended pressure, and check them before any day of towing.

- Jack
__________________

2014 F150 Platinum SCrew 3.5L EcoBoost 4x4 with SCT programmer
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old Mon, September 7th, 2009, 09:44 PM
TXWolf's Avatar
TXWolf TXWolf is offline
Native American Redneck
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: outside of San Antonio, TX in Schertz, TX
Posts: 92
TXWolf is on a distinguished road
Default

Well, I picked up a 10GAL air tank the other day. I'll take it with me the next time we go to the Coast (within a few weeks, I'm sure ). And thanks for the warning about the tires, Jack. I can definitely do 65MPH if it means possibly saving a life if a tire blows.

We're taking the trailer to a State Park tomorrow. It's in the Texas Hill Country, so I'll be taking it slow and easy. I hope to get the gears and larger tranny cooler after the first of the year. Or maybe those will be an early Christmas present to myself!
__________________
http://dygytalworld.ehost-services139.com/forums/image.php?

2008 F150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
5.4L - 4.88 Gears
PHP Gryphon Programmer - BDS 6" Lift - Magnaflow Dual Exhaust - JLT Ram Air Intake - 20" Pacer Ridgeline Rims with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs Tires - Westin BullBar with Driving Lights
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old Thu, September 17th, 2009, 12:42 PM
TXWolf's Avatar
TXWolf TXWolf is offline
Native American Redneck
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: outside of San Antonio, TX in Schertz, TX
Posts: 92
TXWolf is on a distinguished road
Default

Well, we made it back from our trip to Pedernales Falls State Park with no problems at all! Heeding Jack's warning, I kept the speed between 55-65mph, and still made it to our camping spot with plenty of time to spare! LOL I still plan on getting the truck re-geared, along with a larger tranny cooler. Now that the wife and I have a couple of trips with the trailer under our belt, we'd like to use it more often.

I can't believe that I waited this long to get a travel trailer! It really came in handy when it rained all day Wednesday down here! LOL Sitting in a cool trailer and drinking a cold beer is a LOT better that trying to keep the water out of a tent while you're drinking a beer!

This was also my first stab at backing up the trailer into a camping spot ... and it was almost too easy! I was able to put the trailer EXACTLY where I wanted it ... which was with the back door of the trailer over a large rock that we used to get to the first step easier.



There is also something very, VERY wrong about hand-feeding an 8-point buck ... and wishing that you had your hunting knife with you! LOL

__________________
http://dygytalworld.ehost-services139.com/forums/image.php?

2008 F150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
5.4L - 4.88 Gears
PHP Gryphon Programmer - BDS 6" Lift - Magnaflow Dual Exhaust - JLT Ram Air Intake - 20" Pacer Ridgeline Rims with 35" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs Tires - Westin BullBar with Driving Lights
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old Thu, September 17th, 2009, 04:19 PM
JWBFX4 JWBFX4 is offline
Triple Whopper with Cheese
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Tuscaloosa,AL
Posts: 834
JWBFX4 is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TXWolf View Post
There is also something very, VERY wrong about hand-feeding an 8-point buck ... and wishing that you had your hunting knife with you! LOL


Something is definitely wrong with that picture. But definitely an experience.
__________________
Flowmaster 40, PHP Gryphon, AS 2" kit
Thanks http://screen-fx.net for the sig.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:08 PM.


All Contents Copyright 2008-2020, Power Hungry Performance