NEW RIDE Just did the deed, 2021 style. Pics pending.

[Mr_Roboto]

So, once back, does this get traded for a Silverado?

Whats interesting about this remark is we were asking another camper about this yesterday and they have a 3v 5.4 f150. it sounds as if they really did no better in truth. It just may be the area honestly. It seems to be very demanding far as I can tell.

 

[Yaj Yak]

Sinclair station on the way out of town. We are at Lake Francis in South Dakota.The view is pretty good.

View attachment 92559

View attachment 92560

View attachment 92561

which way is it that you are going? that's kinda out the way right?

 

[Yaj Yak]

Whats interesting about this remark is we were asking another camper about this yesterday and they have a 3v 5.4 f150. it sounds as if they really did no better in truth. It just may be the area honestly. It seems to be very demanding far as I can tell.

you're pulling a parachute. towing anything with that much frontal area sucks mpg no matter what you're driving short of a semi.

6.2 ten-speed Sierra SLT. Unicorn located.

Does this thing have a trailer behind it yet?

www.thechicagogarage.com

we went to wyoming for vacation with a tandem axle 18' enclosed trailer and our sxs in it.

since friday, the 6th, every mile i added to it (2900?) was with a trailer.


towed through 8-10% grades, set the cruise at 80 mph for most (if not all?) of south dakota, saw almost 100* temps outside, ~10k ft elevations, and yeah, the thing just took anything thrown at it. trans temps never exceed ~160 or so.

im 90% sure you could set the cruise control at 100 mph with the trailer and mow down mountains. it has such stupid power and coupled with the 10 speed- the ability to hit 5k+ rpm on nearly any downshift, the thing's a rocket ship that never runs out of power. my sxs felt a lot slower 5500ft-10k... the truck felt just a touch slower/less power.

the truck's gradient braking is RIDICULOUSLY awesome, it's seemless, it doesn't over rev the truck, brakes don't heat up crazy, and keeps truck basically putzing down these gnarly ass mountains without much input. was really amazed by that.

i had one hiccup leaving town friday- the infotainment system- for lack of a better word- "froze"- wouldn't change radio stations or audio inputs. a few minutes in i pulled over and found out i could cancel/close apps and then i was good to go.

best tank mpg i saw was 13.5 yesterday driving through the wisco hills. worst i saw was saturday morning, in south dakota, i had a tank that got 7.9. i was going into about a 25-30 mph headwind, in the rain, and running 80mph. overall for the trip was 11.0 mpg- again. every single mile with a trailer behind it. mostly an 18' tandem enclosed, some trips with a 14' single axle open utility trailer. (way easier to load the sxs on here than in the enclosed for the short trips we took)

the thing is currently absolutely filthy. im excited to get the trailer off of it, and get into really cleaning it inside and out.


really anxious to see if removing the running boards, and running all these gravel roads at 30-40 mph was a bad idea and if i chipped my rockers or not.


9666 ft

the trailer i was pulling was/is a lot more aerodynamic than what you're pulling i feel.

 

[Yaj Yak]

which, always leads me back to electric vehicles in the next 3-5 years still will not be able to tow long trips anywhere worth a shit.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

I think that time will tell on the EVs and towing. We just don't know yet really. Lack of infra in SD would be interesting I wasn't looking but dont recall a single charger.

A 6.2 with a shorter trailer is another animal entirely. That said similar mpg is interesting as well. I may or may not get mpg on the way back just due to the stops.

I will say that the difference in towing with the tongue raised 2-3 inches or so is great. Not sure how the mpg will work out but the truck is a lot happier.

I am thinking about pulling the 2" lift too.

 

[Yaj Yak]

I think that time will tell on the EVs and towing. We just don't know yet really. Lack of infra in SD would be interesting I wasn't looking but dont recall a single charger.

A 6.2 with a shorter trailer is another animal entirely. That said similar mpg is interesting as well. I may or may not get mpg on the way back just due to the stops.

I will say that the difference in towing with the tongue raised 2-3 inches or so is great. Not sure how the mpg will work out but the truck is a lot happier.

I am thinking about pulling the 2" lift too.

Too much power is needed to tow at these speeds with that much aero disruption

 

[guspech750]

I like the tow mode in my 2017 Expedition XLT EL. Shifts nicely, stays in gears longer but not obnoxiously long and down shifts nicely when slowing down. It has heavy duty tow package. While towing our 7,000+lb travel trailer. I average 8.5-10mpgs usually driving 70-75mph.

My first two times towing our trailer was a nightmare. So much trailer sway. It was impossible to maintain 55 - 60mph. I then realized the dealer provided me the wrong weight distribution hitch. Dealer gave me the one I originally asked for and the trailer was much better but not perfect. I made a few adjustments to the hitch along with 10 ply tires on my truck and all is fantastic now.


Not long ago I saw a nicely equipped new Ford Ranger towing a two axle travel trailer that looked like it was in the 6000+lb range. I was a bit surprised.

 

[CMNTMXR57]

Whats interesting about this remark is we were asking another camper about this yesterday and they have a 3v 5.4 f150. it sounds as if they really did no better in truth. It just may be the area honestly. It seems to be very demanding far as I can tell.

Well, that's the whole issue there...

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Yeah, I am not sure about mpg but the trailer definitely rides better. Did another Sinclair with a selfie that I managed to fuck up. I want to see how the tanks work out going home to be real sure. I am thinking about .5 to .9mpg difference though. Cat slip attached. MPG table so far:

4250
4371 12.242 9.88mpg
4546mi 17.91 9.77mpg
4711mi 17.484 9.43mpg
4868mi 20.364 8.20 mpg
5007mi 17.75 7.83mpg
5057mi 8.76 5.72 70mph+
5544 start after hitch change, trailer reconnected.
5705 18.052 8.92

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Calculated one tank back from wi with the rv. Really mixed driving, 25+ mi of 55 and a decent amount of 70 as well. I also did some cruise but left it off a lot. Got 10.33mpg, I think the cruise kinda sucks in this tbh when towing. It hit 6th a teensy bit but really hung out in 5th and then dipped to 4th some time.

Overall workable and less annoying than the crazy hills.

Looking at the gear box ratios I really wonder if I gain much grearing up tbh. The spread is 7:1 overall and the gears are pretty close really.

 

[GTPpower]

What's up with the pictures of the Sinclair stations?

 

[Mr_Roboto]

What's up with the pictures of the Sinclair stations?

The dinos are an amusement much like muffler men.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

No room for cases of beer, doing truck shit getting ready to flee Ill annoys.


first off some new flooring for the kitchen and outdoor carpet for the front porch.



Then about a ton of scrap metal. Prices were lower than I would have hoped but I am free of it. Had another 1500 or so lbs I gave away already. For you karens that bitch about your neighbors I probably am the neighbor you bitch about. What's funny is looking at the weight and considering I have a 14 foot enclosed trailer behind me the truck weight is considerably less than what I had at the Cat Scales. I'd say 600ish lbs less even. Then again, it could also be the trailer was putting considerable tongue weight on the truck too.