Towing and 10 speed transmission

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5280tunage

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Quick response on my towing adventure and a tune. Everything went great as far as the tune and tranny were concerned, no issues there at all. The only major issues I had were wind related and sway. the trailer was equipped with a really nice anti-sway hitch and let me tell you, the first actual bit of sway scared the crud out of me. I instantly knew the electronic sway prevention and the mechanical sway prevention were fighting each other. I had to pull over on the highway and shut off the electronic sway control and bam, it was night and day.

the other issue was fuel, the way there we did pretty good, averaged about 12mpg doing around 65-70, with a monstrous 6500lb dry weight trailer. Of course, it helps that we lost about 3k feet of elevation too. But the way back was miserable, we had major winds (in fact they closed I80/I76 for a bit to high profile vehicles) with alternating winds at 30+ mph. couple the wind and the elevation gain, I was down to around 6.5mpg and the engine was effectively at 3k rpm all the time just trying to stay at around 55mph. Terrible!

It's not often I feel like the expy is small!
 

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JasonH

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Quick response on my towing adventure and a tune. Everything went great as far as the tune and tranny were concerned, no issues there at all. The only major issues I had were wind related and sway. the trailer was equipped with a really nice anti-sway hitch and let me tell you, the first actual bit of sway scared the crud out of me. I instantly knew the electronic sway prevention and the mechanical sway prevention were fighting each other. I had to pull over on the highway and shut off the electronic sway control and bam, it was night and day.

It's not often I feel like the expy is small!
Glad to hear the trip went well. Thanks for sharing your experience.
 

Squark

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Quick response on my towing adventure and a tune. Everything went great as far as the tune and tranny were concerned, no issues there at all. The only major issues I had were wind related and sway. the trailer was equipped with a really nice anti-sway hitch and let me tell you, the first actual bit of sway scared the crud out of me. I instantly knew the electronic sway prevention and the mechanical sway prevention were fighting each other. I had to pull over on the highway and shut off the electronic sway control and bam, it was night and day.

the other issue was fuel, the way there we did pretty good, averaged about 12mpg doing around 65-70, with a monstrous 6500lb dry weight trailer. Of course, it helps that we lost about 3k feet of elevation too. But the way back was miserable, we had major winds (in fact they closed I80/I76 for a bit to high profile vehicles) with alternating winds at 30+ mph. couple the wind and the elevation gain, I was down to around 6.5mpg and the engine was effectively at 3k rpm all the time just trying to stay at around 55mph. Terrible!

It's not often I feel like the expy is small!
How long was the trailer? Towing in winds that strong is no fun, especially if they're crosswinds. I average about 8.5mpg towing 65mph (33' 7800lb), so your 12mpg is amazing. If it's flat and no headwind I can get about 9.5mpg.
 

lurch

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Hi, I was towing this weekend and thought about something related to this thread and wondered what the forum thought. First, I tow in Colorado mountains and probably one of the most grueling passes is the pass along I70 that goes through Eisenhower tunnel down into Silverthorne/Summit County from Loveland Ski area. I find myself wondering if the manual shift mode or locking out gears is preferred to folks when braking downhill. The previous comment about tow mode and letting it work, doesn't work for me at the speeds and sharp turns that are on this route. I put it in tow mode and found the engine working to slow down for too long at times, probably just my preference but I left it in that mode. I have to intervene and worry about heating my brakes up to much. My TT is a 27 ft weighing in around 7500 lbs loaded. I generally would use the Manual mode other times but I was locking out gears this weekend and it seemed to work well. I think I was even more aggressive about keeping the RPM's in the 3-4K range going up the hill as it seems to be not feeling bogged down at those RPMs when climbing. What do people find themselves most often using when braking downhill? Average MPG out from Denver was 7.3... total average after coming back was 9 something. We camped near Leadville at twin lakes, beautiful spot
I also live in Colorado and tow a similar trailer. Grand Design Imagine 2400BH 28-foot box and in the low 7000s loaded. When I first started out I manually shifted when going down grades. For the last two years, I have just been putting it in Tow Haul mode and leaving it. I very rarely find myself having to use my brakes on grades. The turns coming down the west side of Vail pass come to mind but it is not a long sustained breaking that would lead to brake fade.

What speed are you trying to maintain?
 

duneslider

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Curious what hitch and sway control you are using?

I pull a 21' hybrid and my weight is only about 5k max. I haven't had any noticeable sway with my trailer. I have the Reese Dual Cam, it has been a good hitch and seems to work great but local support for it is not good. The most common around here is the Equal-i-zer (turns out its a local company). Most my friends and family have that one and they like it. I too generally see 12mpg towing at 65ish. Wind is a killer, I had one trip where I got 6ish due to wind.
 

5280tunage

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it is the equal-i-zer. Worked great, but as I said, with that and the electronic sway control, it was terrible. Night and day when I pulled over and shut it off.
 

5280tunage

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I also live in Colorado and tow a similar trailer. Grand Design Imagine 2400BH 28-foot box and in the low 7000s loaded. When I first started out I manually shifted when going down grades. For the last two years, I have just been putting it in Tow Haul mode and leaving it. I very rarely find myself having to use my brakes on grades. The turns coming down the west side of Vail pass come to mind but it is not a long sustained breaking that would lead to brake fade.

What speed are you trying to maintain?
The only issue I had maintaining speed was the wind, it was essentially like I was trying to drive at 85-95mph... no issues slowing down or breaking ever. But then again, the brake controller was great too, once I got it dialed in properly.
 

duneslider

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it is the equal-i-zer. Worked great, but as I said, with that and the electronic sway control, it was terrible. Night and day when I pulled over and shut it off.
Interesting, I have never had the electronic sway activate while towing my camper. The first time I towed with the expedition I could tell the IRS was different than a solid axle and it took a little getting used to but now I don't notice anything. I haven't had much issue with cross winds inducing sway, just wind pushing the whole rig over.
 

Deep8174

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About to do a rockies trip in the next few days. Had the 5 star 87 daily/tow and it was great with that before. Recently flashed a 91 daily/tow and I believe it should be a lot better. Fingers crossed ~~
 

ColoradoJon

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I also live in Colorado and tow a similar trailer. Grand Design Imagine 2400BH 28-foot box and in the low 7000s loaded. When I first started out I manually shifted when going down grades. For the last two years, I have just been putting it in Tow Haul mode and leaving it. I very rarely find myself having to use my brakes on grades. The turns coming down the west side of Vail pass come to mind but it is not a long sustained breaking that would lead to brake fade.

What speed are you trying to maintain?
I think I am shooting for 5-10 under most of the time but as you know, it is difficult to do that on I70 or 285. It has been varied as I figure out what works best for me. I guess I don't trust the downshifting or maybe I am impatient. It is usually the other traffic that I am working around causing me to slow or speed to get around. I could just wait but even then you get the 30MPH rigs slugging up the hills.
This past weekend we did the 285 loop to Bailey and was at Wellington Lake. Truck did really well going up, I found a similar rig to just work behind and wasn't in a hurry for the 30 mile trip. I will say I was gripping the wheel hard coming down into Bailey even though I was only going 40ish cause I knew I needed to turn left at the curve. Felt like I put a lot of weight on the brakes even though I was down in 2nd engine braking. I did increase my gain to 7.5 at the end of the last trip and that seems to be working better with the trailer. I had the brakes and axle seals done and it seems to have changed what I need to keep my gain at.
Coming home we had the usual traffic on a Sunday back to Denver. Found the tranny temp climbing as we were crawling up the hill out of Bailey at 0-5mph. Got to 235ish at one point, I have seen it up at 230 going up I70 but it seems to cool down quickly with the declines. It heats up with the slow crawls up steep grades. After it cleared up a bit, I was fine to leave it in tow/haul and let it work. At one point it was 4k+RPMS slowing down in 2nd as you get through the last windy part around S turkey creek rd. I think I might just keep doing different things in different situations to figure out what works within my comfort zone. It makes it really interesting towing. I was thinking about the tank weights impacting the drive as well, my black and grey are forward of my rear axles but my fresh is behind. Wondering how that changes my tongue weight coming home vs going.

I have the E2 equalizer setup and it is great; zero sway for me and great control in high winds. I also have the firestone Destination A/T2 wrapping 22in wheels, I think they are doing great for load management. I have them at max PSI cold when towing. I think I may put an intercooler on the rig after I hit 60K. I just put the Haloview cameras on the trailer, looking forward to seeing how they work with the experience.
 
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