snookwheel Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 We tow with an '08 Tundra. Gas mileage is less than stellar at 8.5-9.0mpg towing a 24 ft. race trailer. BUT, comfort is king once we are there! We can save money camping in it... complete with generator, AC shower/hot water etc. Roll the car out, and a 24 ft.living area appears! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/snookwheel/P1010664.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/snookwheel/P1040547.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/snookwheel/P1030493.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Wow, travel with real comfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Hey, Martin; I notice you have an Oregon "tree" plate on your dually. Are your vehicles registered up here and you have dual residency w/ CA? When we bought our motorhome in '98 and living in Santa Barbara we also had a proper OR address, so were able to title and register it up here even though we were mostly residing in CA. A year later we left Santa Barbara after 43 years and made the move lock, stock, and barrel up here to GP. If my memory serves me, don't you have ties in Newburg? Yes I still have ties to Newberg and Portland. I actually have Calif. plates on all of our vehicles as we spend more time in Ventura, CA. than in Oregon and it is less hassel once you have a job in this state although it cost you way more than Oregon dose to register your vehicles every year. Nice setup! Is that the 7.3 or the 6.blow? Arya, Yes it is a 6.0 and I am very happy with it and knock on wood I have not had any trouble with it and I am always towing something some where with one of the two trailers that I have and I don't waste any time when out on the road. I do make sure that I change the oil every 6500 miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arya Ebrahimi Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Seems like those 6.0s are hit or miss. Glad you've had good luck with yours! I had the turbo go on my Duramax which is 100% stock @ 55k miles. Had the dealership baffled and GM even said they hadn't had many turbo failures. Good thing the Duramax warranty is to 100k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 (edited) Seems like those 6.0s are hit or miss. Glad you've had good luck with yours! I had the turbo go on my Duramax which is 100% stock @ 55k miles. Had the dealership baffled and GM even said they hadn't had many turbo failures. Good thing the Duramax warranty is to 100k. Arya....only thing that has gone wrong on my truck at 87000+ miles about two years ago was a trans over temp which the dealer had the factory rep look into and they replaced the trans and did it all in one day. So far no other problems and my factory 100K warranty is long gone now but I have an extended warranty that I purchased with the truck new as an extra insurance policy for my self. Edited November 25, 2009 by MHKflyer52 Added word to make sence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have been using a 05 Dodge 2500 cummins. I now has 120k on it no problems except a water pump at 45k. I have been running B100 biodiesel in it for the last 45k miles no problems at all. The only difference I see is my fuel bill is 75 % less. It get about 21mpg on the highway with my 20ft car hauler and the Ultralite on board runs closer to 18-19. It will drop to 12 with a 7x16 enclose trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 (edited) Additional research shows that limiting American cars to 1000 lbs seems to be the norm, regardless of real world ability. For instance, the new Cadillac CTS sport wagon is rated at 1000lbs, tho it makes 300 hp and weighs 4000lbs and should have no trouble pulling 3500 lbs.The only car that seems to be rated at 3500lbs ls is the Suburu Outback 6 cyl. I suspect the car makers are trying to drive people to their SUV & truck offerings w/these low ratings (Suburu makes neither). I am attracted to the BMW X5 diesel, wh/is rated to tow 6500 lbs and gets 26/19 mpg. Sadly, it costs $52K, stripped. A new Silverado can be had for $16K locally, so its hard to justify all those bucks for the Bimmer (The savings could be spent on an upgraded Se7en:)). Edit: The perfect Se7en hauler mite be the Subaru Forester if the company decides to bring it here with its 2.0 flat four turbo-diesel, which is rated at 41/34 mileage and can lug 4400 lbs, for under $30K. Sort of the tow vehicle of my dreams. Mike Edited December 1, 2009 by Kitcat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparecr Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I have always felt that the low tow ratings for cars/CUVs is the unibody construction and crumple zones. Most of the things that have a real tow rating in the US are full frame trucks. Which at least seem to have good places to mount hitches and real transmissions. (transmissions seem to be the weakest link in all this towing stuff) This of course does explain why the Euro guys get to tow everything with their small cars, of couse have we all seen the Top Gear episode with the Caravan towing/u-turn/fire content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I also had an 1998 2500 Suburban 6.5 turbo Diesel . It was a great tow truck, leather and all. At 96,000, and towing a 28" enclosed trailer @ 1000 RPM over redline (chip) with an 1933 RR PII inside. I think the PII was about 7,000 empty. In a slight race with with one of the N.J. trash trucks down a large hill on I70 a little or lot over the posted limit, he won. That trash truck was 100 MPH +. This was around Weeling WV. It spun a rod bearing. It sounded like a bent push rod, so I drove it to Hershey, Pa & back. When I got back to OH & the dealer pulled the pan it was quite ugly. If I had known it was a rod, I sure would not have drove it another 600 miles. It still ran very strong, but more deisel noise than norrmal. A new engine took care of the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 My 12’ aluminum trailer that weighed 683 LBS, now is enclosed and weighs 950 LBS. I also added disk brakes with a surge brake operation. It had no brakes. Tomorrow I will get the hitch from the U.K. and install it on the Jetta TDI wagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 well, I towed my Yukon (failed axle) with Arya's Duramax on a flatbed trailer. I knew it was a nice setup, but man, it does REALLY well. Between the Yukon and the open steel 16' trailer, I was towing about 8000 lbs. NO problem AT ALL on the hills on I-70, and the 6 speed Allison was great, especially with auto downshifts in tow mode. Even more convinced that'll be my next truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg350 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 That is not overkill it is just pure comfort and safety....like my setup ...safe for you but not the person you hit with that big rig. Dear me the 7 weighs like a pack of chips, you could get a bicycle and pull it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball7754 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 My 12’ aluminum trailer that weighed 683 LBS, now is enclosed and weighs 950 LBS. Details on your trailer? The only trailers I've found that are that light are Trailex. Haven't seen anything enclosed as light as 950 lbs. We're also looking at the new Outback - but I think it's only rated at 3,000 lbs. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Steve, I started with an 12' Aluma open trailer like listed here: http://www.alumaklm.com/7710-7712_utility_trailer_models_2200_lb_axle.html I then built a frame, & doors and covered it with .020 Polycarb. My quest was to build light. The open trailer W/15" tires weighed 683 LBS I added brakes and enclosed it, new weight: 950 LBS I have pulled several open & enclosed trailers, most with dually diesels, and other trucks. I also pulled a few with diesel pusher motor homes. Now that I'm unemployed and have a light car to tow, I wanted to scale down to low fuel usage and not ride in a truck. That is this years quest. If unhappy with the results, it will be back to the truck route. Today I will be taking the rear off the 2010 VW Jetta Sports wagon and add a Westfalia hitch that is rated to 4,000 LBS to tow my less than 2400 LBS. It was air shipped from the UK. (2) days. I missed it Friday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 ...safe for you but not the person you hit with that big rig. Dear me the 7 weighs like a pack of chips, you could get a bicycle and pull it. in this context, IMO safe means the setup is well within its capabilities in acceleration, maintaining its speed on highway hills with general traffic, and handling emergency breaking. It is "safer" when you can maintain 70MPH when going uphill, than to slow down to 50MPH because your rig can't maintain speed going up the hill, and traffic has to slow down and move around you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogsBollocks Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 in this context, IMO safe means the setup is well within its capabilities in acceleration, maintaining its speed on highway hills with general traffic, and handling emergency breaking. It is "safer" when you can maintain 70MPH when going uphill, than to slow down to 50MPH because your rig can't maintain speed going up the hill, and traffic has to slow down and move around you. SomehowI do not think thats what he means, I think it is because it is a castle on wheels.:smash: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I started with an 12' Aluma open trailer like listed here: http://www.alumaklm.com/7710-7712_utility_trailer_models_2200_lb_axle.html I then built a frame, & doors and covered it with .020 Polycarb. My quest was to build light. The open trailer W/15" tires weighed 683 LBS I added brakes and enclosed it, new weight: 950 LBS Gary - How tall did you make it? Any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Bruce, It will be a few days, but I'll try to get some posted. I built the frame from 1 square tube .063. It took some time to mig it up. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I just up loaded photos of the trailer with the 7 in it to my photos. I lack the skills to upload them here. Oh, F.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 interesting w/ the polycarb siding. i would tint it. i have some roll if u want to play around with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now