Tow speed/rpm

[RSG]

Am going to get a large-ish box trailer: 21'L x 8'w x 12'h (+4' of trailer tongue). It (bumper) hitch sits 22" off ground and I imagine it is a great bug catcher in warmer weather. It will have only a few thousand pounds of equipment in it, and I believe it is only rated at 6600lbs so it isn't heavy. But I don't normally haul stuff with this much "sail".

It is about 1050 miles away and I'm looking for experienced advice on what speed/rpm settings are best for safety and efficiency and planning purposes.

Truck is stock chip, turbo and auto tranny, just opened up the intake and exhaust. Since I get 16-20 mpg running around 1900 rpm typically, I assume the rear end isn't a 4.1. What about OD on level ground, do you use it or keep it locked out? Thanks in advance for tips, as always it is much appreciated!!

 

[BIG JOE]

My .03 would be:

On level ground.. keep the rpm's @ 18, 1900.. letting the Torque do the work.

Pulling long grades, or dealing with strong headwinds... Downshift to whatever gear is needed to keep the rpms @ 2400.. letting the Horsepower, And Torque, And boost.. do the work. But down shift Before.. you loose momentum.

Joe

 

[WD40]

Pulling in OD is fine as long as the tran is not hunting gears. Plus what Joe said.

Doug

 

[JLDickmon]

what they said.. they're the tow bosses...

 

[RSG]

Thanks guys!!! Much appreciated. So 2400 +/- is the majic rpm under load--for peak hp? I get the (no) OD part and really like 1800-1900rpm when cruising with heavy loads or no loads.

Guess I'll go find out what speed I get @2400 and high/no OD and 2nd/no OD. I'm debating on freeway back or dodge the SoMO hills and run north of KC across MO...I *know* there's no hills in the TX/OK panhandle, nor around home. Just in between!

edit: 1900 rpm = 68 mpg and, & 2400 rpm is about 60mph with OD off (in drive). Looks like my setting if it's windy, & on the smaller grades. thanks all.

 

[NevrKnow]

What Mr Dickmon said. You just got advice $$ can't buy!

 

[powerboatr]

i pulled a cargo trailer like you described with the tow boss 350
other than WIND drag that killed mpg
i drove it at 70 with no issues

i did have the 4.30 rear gear 6.0
selected tow haul and off we went

i found that if i kept the rpms under 2k mpg was a scooosh better, but overall
i just drove and cleaned up the dead bugs later


i will add, finding the sweet spot for your truck is going to net you the best tq and mpg....
let her settle in and try to run there.
wd40 and i had similiar trucks cept for rear gearset
i was getting about 2 mpg better towing than him....i contributed that to the 6.0 liking higher rpms. 2200 and above loaded

 

[RSG]

Well, after 2012 miles I can say my truck likes it as low rpm as I can get away with w/o lugging the tranny. 8 mpg was typical, could get 8.5 downhill with wind in OD. I really wish I had replaced the boots on the intercooler when I replaced all the other boots, since one decided it was time to let go yesterday.

I really don't like the auto tranny downshift routine -- it slams down, boost goes waaayy up, then it seems to sort of upshift and stabilizes. What is that? This is happens, for example, if I'm running 62-65mph and a big grade starts rising and it downshifts (in OD or not in OD, it acts the same, just speed/rpm different). I found myself running it down to about 1500 rpm before manually down shifting or taking OD off...is that lugging too much?

Joe's round numbers of 1800 rpm OD / 2400 rpm w/o OD work real nice. The challenge for me is going between the 2 gradual grades. (Sorry, I'm a manual tranny driver by training).

Thanks for everyone's advice and help. Much appreciated. Happy New Year all!

edit: last night we were arguing about how much mpg improvement a tow chip would have made. Your thoughts?

 

[sss521]

I just towed a 24' enclosed trailer that weighed about 10000 3200 miles with my truck and the tow haul mode was awesome on the downhills, just tap the brakes and the truck would drop into 4th and if you needed more hit the brakes again and it will drop all the way down to 3rd and slowed me down easily. I loved it!