Wasted Income

Towed my 288 sunny with my dad's 2005 K1500 Chevy this past weekend. Pulled it surprisingly well, but to the tune of 10-11 mpg. Stopping was a little hairy too, even with electric/hyd brakes on the trailer.

I much prefer hauling it around with my 2500HD duramax silverado. HD brakes and suspension are the bomb.

Also, for the guys seeing 26 on the DIC, but only hand calc'ing 20...were you running any sort of flash tuner? The tuners change fuel pressure and pulse width from normal so it throws off the DIC in the optimistic way.

Finally.....people who don't know how to hand calc fuel economy....REALLY??

soldier4402

Thanks for the info.. yeah I get 11.4 DIC with towing my fountain right now.

But like said towing MPG is not my concern the distanace and frequency is so small its marginal in the grand scheme of things.

handfulz28

Dead wrong. Factory tow ratings are dictated primarily by the transmission's GVWR. The highest power with the shortest axle ratio gets the max tow rating. Downward adjustments are made from there.
Tow ratings ASSume that your trailer has adequate brakes, that you follow the owner's manual for tongue load and speed restrictions, that you follow state and Federal laws with regard to speed while towing. The guys (and gals ) that tow for a living are probably the only ones that realize most states have lower speed limits while towing. These are the rules that companies use to develop their ratings and capacities.

Sure, lots of vehicles "can" tow much more than they're rated for - on level ground at less than highway speed. And I saw the Ford video of their EB pulling two 3500lb Nascars on an ALUMINUM two car hauler around Homestead. There's no way that setup weighted 11k, but all of it was on level ground...at sea level...in a controlled environment.

Don't really mean to be a d!ck here, but you're going to be disappointed if you're relying on what the factory says it can do.

Also, maybe it's just me, but those MPG numbers don't impress me all that much. My '99 Silverado 5.3L 3.73 got 18-20mpg at 70-75mph empty, 13-15mpg pulling 6k at same speed.

soldier4402

Things can always do more than they are rated at thats because like I said companys do not put ratings on the absolute max of what they can do SAFELY.

And yes I get you with the gas mileage, they arent a ton better than anything else out there. THE KEY is none of them can tow my boat or tow over 11k . I tow over 10k and not 6k, your truck like many other half tons were designed to tow 5k-9k or so and thats it. I hook 10k to your chevy and its going to do it but will end up puking and youll get 5-6mpg.


Whether the factory is right or wrong plenty of people raving about these trucks and the new hemi towing comparable loads. And my goal was to get real information and numbers and not opinion from people that dont have one. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas, but its kind of a your truck is bigger than my truck kind of a thing going.

Quicksilver

No, it run's on 87, and the numbers posted (365/420) is for 87 octane. If your towing heavy constantly in extremely hot weather, then that's where it says to run a higher grade if you want to prevent pre-ignition. People have run both and either said made no difference, or some noticed even a lil better mileage premium (but the slight difference negates the cost).

All power, mpg numbers etc that the truck is rated at is on 87

handfulz28

Are you sure you don't want to re-read/re-write that? You can hook 10k to a Pinto and it'll pull it; is that really where you want to go with people's lives? Just how long is that overloaded elevator going to last? You want to be the last one to find out?

Hmmm, back then truck was rated at 8800lbs (more than anything in its class at the time). Now they're rated at 10,700.

I think YOU'LL be the one puking when you have to make the payment for a truck that doesn't tow well at it's limit, on top of paying the gas bill for a truck that doesn't get the mileage claimed.

Those of us that UNDERSTAND WHY there's a safety factor, use bigger trucks to haul our loads.

chewyjr18

Iv ran 91 in mine since the first time i filled it up i know the dealer put in 87 bc gas millage sucked until i put 91 in it i noticed 2mpg more!!!!

bdubs

F150 with Ecoboost will pull your boat with no problems, and make a great daily driver. Of course a 250 would be better, but a 150 is enough.

If you are pulling with a 350, or a 150, a big case of stupid can get you in trouble with either one.

Common sense and good driving habbits go a long way when pulling a trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seKk4633Heo

soonenough

Another thread that has turned into "you need an F650 to safely tow your 25' boat" blah blah blah!

As he stated in his first post he knows a 250 would pull better but does not want that. So lets not try to make this a pissin contest just because you dont feel safe towing over 6k with your 03 chevy.

Quicksilver

Uhhh my friends get's around 15 city with a lead foot, and 19-20 highway while still breaking in and that's with the 3.73 gears. He know's someone else with the same truck (crew eco) but with the 3.31 gears and they've been getting 23 average highway. Either one, that's pretty f'n impressive considering the size of the truck, weight, luxury/comfort fit finish that blows away the 1500 and power that will destroy your 1500 in towing effortlessly/passing power or just regular driving, 5.3 isn't even remotely close to the acceleration or passing power at highway speeds of the Ecoboost.

Sure you have some people on forums complaining about poorer gas mileage, kinda hard to get better mileage when you live in a hilly ass place and conditions (weather etc), all that stuff affects it. But so far the people we know are impressed with the truck both power and mpg wise. Friend has no problem towing, stopping, handling with his 29ft Donzi CC behind it, the truck pulls like it's running a diesel.