| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: What gear?
Another thought.. once you pull it back to 2nd. It stays there. If it feels the need to drop to 1st. It can't. Mine often drops to first at 35 mph in the hills of NC. Only time I lock it in a gear, is coming down.
I've never encountered such a thing. When I've "locked" any of my transmissions into a particular gear, the transmission views it as a "limit." With the selector in 3, it will shift between 1, 2, and 3 as appropriate. Same goes with 2; it will shift between 1 and 2.
The only "lock" in an automatic is lockOUT of a particular gear.
Back to the OP, though... You're making much ado about nothing. The speed limit is 35MPH, right? The transmission likely won't ever shift out of 2nd no matter what gear it's in on the upside of the hump. Just maintain the legal speed limit and don't worry about it.
Even if the transmission starts to hunt a bit, it's just a bridge. You're not running hundreds of miles with the transmission flip-flopping back and forth between direct and OD. THAT is what kills transmissions.
...and just because the transmission is in OD doesn't mean you HAVE to gun it and go 65MPH!!! :)
|
mkirsch
|
12/02/08 12:12pm |
Towing
|
|
RE: Hitch extenders.
IMHO what's important is how it looks hooked up. Regardless of what the specs say, I would not want to see much, if any, vertical deflection in the hitch with a mere 230lbs on it.
I'd also recommend running some 1/4" binder chain braces diagonally from the safety chain loops on the extension to somewhere on the bumper or frame of the truck to minimize any side-to-side slop.
|
mkirsch
|
12/02/08 12:01pm |
Towing
|
|
RE: Winterizing/overbalancing unmounted camper?
Don't worry about overbalancing. There is so much camper weight behind the front jacks, and the lever arm of the cabover gives you no mechanical advantage over that weight. Unless you're two 500lb'ers, and you take your lead teddy bears to bed with lead blankets and lead pajamas.... It ain't gonna tip over. The jacks would collapse first.
|
mkirsch
|
11/26/08 01:40pm |
Truck Campers
|
|
REAL LT snow tires
The rear "Traction King" LT225-75R16 snow tires on my TV are 13, yes thirteen, years old. Bought them in the fall of 1995 for my first truck, a 1988 C2500 Chevy. They were stored in a dark basement for about 7 years because the '97 pickup had 15" rims. When I got the 2003, I started running them again, and now they're FINALLY getting close to wearing out.
What's a good REAL purpose-built snow tire? All I'm finding around here are "all season," and this is Western NY state... I'd do Bridgestone Blizzaks but they're not LT rated, and I can't find anyone who carries them. I'd prefer LT rated, but since I don't tow much in the winter.
|
mkirsch
|
11/25/08 08:56am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Greaseless Hitch Ball
Got a link to the steel greaseless ball?
I've been running with a plain old stainless ball. Before I hook up I paint on a layer of never-seez. After I unhook I wipe the ball clean and put it away.
Before I knew better, I towed "dry." Can't say as I noticed anything but a few minor scratches on the ball.
Friends have gotten never-seez on their pants helping unload the bed after I unook when I don't immediately remove the shank from the receiver.
|
mkirsch
|
11/25/08 08:28am |
Folding Trailers
|
|
RE: RVIA Promotes Improved Trailer Design
No, European trailers get by with low tongue weight because the vehicles they tow them with lack the power to get the trailer up to 75MPH. That 50MPH speed limit mentioned in the article is quite optimistic.
|
mkirsch
|
11/25/08 06:57am |
Towing
|
|
RE: Towing the untowable
How do you do a "driveshaft disconnect" on a FRONT wheel drive vehicle? There is no driveshaft...
Tow dollies were designed for just this situation. Cheap, easy, reliable. No modifications required to anything, and quicker to deploy as well. The only downside is two extra tires to maintain.
|
mkirsch
|
11/25/08 06:49am |
Dinghy Towing
|
|
RE: 4.10 Gear Ratio F250
That is, only if you go up in ratio enough to allow the truck to run in the next higher gear with the trailer behind.
If you are able to tow in OD/overdrive on the flat with the 3.55 gears, jumping from 3.55 to 4.10 will be worth it. You will then be able to hold OD with the trailer most of the time.
If you can't tow in OD at all right now, then 4.10 may not be enough. You might want to jump straight to 4.30 or even 4.56. Otherwise, you will have LOWER fuel economy across the board, and you'll still have to tow in direct gear.
|
mkirsch
|
11/21/08 03:01pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: TV vs PUP
Being nervous about towing in traffic with no prior experience is called "irrational fear." I had some trepidation about it myself initially, but it really turned out to be a non-issue.
Having the trailer back there makes you more intimidating to passenger vehicles, and the trucks give you a little more respect than usual. Just put your signal on and people move out of the way for you.
I'd still advise that you avoid rush hours if at all possible, especially when starting out. I kind of weaned myself into towing in traffic by going through the same place a little closer to rush hour each time.
Choose the style of trailer that best suits your needs and wants.
|
mkirsch
|
11/21/08 02:03pm |
Folding Trailers
|
|
RE: Rear End Ratio on Int. 4200 of 6.50? Why? Is this good?
I am looking at a 2005 International with a rear end ratio of 6.50, automatic transmission.
Most of the trucks I have been looking at have an RE around 4.50.
Is this something I should be concerned about?
I am assuming the 6.50 would give better gas milage but would not be as good for actual towing. Since I am a total amatuer on this I have no idea if my assumptiont is corrrect.
Georgie,
To put it simply, you have it backwards.
The larger the rear end ratio number, the WORSE the fuel mileage. This is because the engine has to turn more RPMs to go the same speed. More RPMs means more fuel is being sucked through the engine.
The larger the rear end ratio number, the BETTER it is for towing. This is because the engine has to turn more RPMs to go the same speed. More RPMs means more power is going to the wheels.
4.50 will give better fuel mileage than 6.50, all other things like tire size, engine, and transmission being the same.
If the truck with the 6.50 has a "double overdrive" transmission, a smaller engine, and/or larger tires than the other ones you've looked at, then all bets are off. You need to consider the truck's drivetrain as a whole to determine which would make a better and/or more economical tow vehicle.
With a 6.50 rear axle ratio, the truck may be designed for local delivery short hauls where top speed is not an issue, not full-timing with a 5th wheel and traveling all over the country.
|
mkirsch
|
11/20/08 07:17am |
Towing
|
|
RE: hitch ball
Those heat treated hitch balls rated for 24K are for goosneck hitches. Nothing stopping you from using them with a bumper pull. It's the same size and shape as a chrome ball.
Frankly, chrome balls are garbage. A few hundred miles and the chrome is wore off and the ball is rusting anyway. Unless you go stainless steel, any hitch ball is going to rust if you don't keep a coating of grease on it between trips.
|
mkirsch
|
11/20/08 07:03am |
Towing
|
|
RE: 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD Tire wear
I suspect that your tires are wearing fast due to the truck. I was following my neighbor to work this morning and his crew cab front end sits really funny compared to other configurations. The tires were tipped in at the top pretty drastically.
Uh, that's not normal. That's either due to faulty suspension components, or abuse.
When I see front wheels cambered in at the top like that, it's easy to see that the rest of the truck has obviously been BEAT, hard.
|
mkirsch
|
11/19/08 07:34am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Towing 6800# with an F150? Should I go 3/4 ton instead?
An F-250 will have the same 5.4L engine in it as the F-150. Plus, the F-250 will be heavier, so performance will be worse.
|
mkirsch
|
11/19/08 07:19am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Hitch Question
To answer the original question, there is no "default" or "basic" setting for the angle of the head. That's where you fine tune the amount of weight distribution that you get. You'll need to go through setting up your hitch on a flat driveway or parking lot to get it right.
If the head has been in a certain position for a while, you might be able to see where it's rusted, or where the paint wore off. Though, if you're trusting the dealer setup, you might want to go through it again yourself just to see.
|
mkirsch
|
11/18/08 10:55am |
Towing
|
|
RE: hitch ball
Rust is only an issue if you don't keep a protective coating of something on the ball. When you're done with the ball, remove the stinger and ball from the tow vehicle, clean the ball off, and cover it with a light coating of grease so it won't rust.
|
mkirsch
|
11/18/08 10:43am |
Towing
|
 |
RE: Bailout Idea
Nah, that voucher system wouldn't be abused...
The scam would go like this:
1. Scammer pays poor person a few hundred for the use of their voucher.
2. Poor person goes in and buys car with scammer's cash backing.
3. Poor person signs title of car over to scammer.
4. Scammer sells car and pockets several thousand dollars.
There probably wouldn't be any new vehicles on the lot to use the vouchers on after a week or two anyway, though... Dealers certainly won't be making any deals because demand exceeds supply. You'll be paying full retail, which means your $10,000 voucher is really only worth about $5000, and the dealer will be pocketing the difference.
If you want chaos, corruption, and a complete collapse of the automotive industry as a whole, this is a great idea!
|
mkirsch
|
11/18/08 07:18am |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: New TV-Ford F150
OK re-read the manual. Well just kind of parts I only thought I needed. I also have the chrome pkg. So from what I understand if I stick to something around 6000lbs I should be good. Below is what I found out. Thanks for all the help.
So, what exactly do you understand?
The fact that you're just automatically cutting the tow capacity by almost 1/3 with no explanation tells me you're guessing at something, or using somebody's "rule of thumb" to arrive at your figure.
6000lbs is a good safe number. You should be able to go anywhere comfortably. However, your truck is likely capable of somewhat more.
|
mkirsch
|
11/17/08 11:58am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: EZ Connector---my wiring problems are sloved
The neodym (rare earth) magnets they use to hold the coupler together are VERY aggressive. If you've ever had a chance to play with them somewhere, you'd understand what I mean.
|
mkirsch
|
11/17/08 11:24am |
Towing
|
|
RE: Tongue Weight and Payload - Limited Half Ton Towing
My question is this...I'm sure this has been covered. Say you find the perfect trailer...everything is cool, you are in the 10-15% range for tongue weight...the wife, kids, all the canoes and all come out under your GVWR. Cool. Now let's say said trailer is 11,000lbs, and your truck can "only" pull 10,000lbs. Let's also say 13% (which is on the truck for this example) is 1430lbs. Do you then subtract that weight from the trailer weight? Or do you have to count it twice? If you have to count it twice, your tow weight is over...but if not, are you ok?
Neither. You do not subtract it from the trailer weight, and you do not count it twice.
The weight of the trailer is the weight of the WHOLE trailer.
Tongue weight of the trailer counts against your "tow rating" and your "cargo rating." That's not the same as being counted twice.
HOWEVER, it is often argued that "tow rating" or GCWR (gross combined weight rating, the combined weight of truck, cargo, and trailer) is not a real limit, but a measure of performance.
This is a real gray area. If you're under on all your measures except that "tow rating," are you really doing something wrong? Many say yes, many say no. Realistically, you won't even notice the difference between 10,000lbs and 11,000lbs on the road. Wind resistance is the biggest problem with larger travel trailers.
Most people do not have convenient access to weighing equipment, and RV dealers certainly won't let you hook up and drag a trailer to the scales to get it weighed. There is NO OTHER WAY to figure these things out except to use the numbers provided by the manufacturer. Making sure you figure things out so that you're in-scope on all the numbers is merely a way to make reasonably sure that you're not wheeling off the lot with an overloaded setup.
|
mkirsch
|
11/17/08 11:18am |
Towing
|
|
RE: Its here 1/2 ton Shootout!
I wasn't aware that GM started using the 6.2L V-8 in their 1/2tons. :)
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! And we can all use more power. (Tim Allen grunt ghrr err err)
Anyway, the 2500HD/3500HD has the same 6.0L engine bay dimensions as the 6.2L V-8. So, GM, whats the hold up in getting the 6.2L to the HDs? Well HUH? Whats the problem?
It's a hotrod engine, not a working engine. Good for smoking the tires or charging down the road 1/4 mile at a time, but worthless towing 10,000lbs 500 miles. It wouldn't be able to take the strain.
|
mkirsch
|
11/17/08 06:34am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
