2619 Behind V6 Silverado - and Altitude

[grakin]

I'm considering a Trailmanor - the smallest one, the 2619 (with A/C). I'm a little worried that it's still more trailer than I'll feel comfortable pulling. I want to know if my fears are well founded or not.

I have a 2003 Silverado 1500 with the small engine - V6 4.3L. It's got the 3.42 axle. I'm not worried at all about staying under weight limits of the truck - the truck can pull 4900 according to the manual, I don't think GCWR is going to be an issue, and I travel light (seriously - usually it will just be myself, no passengers, empty water tanks, etc). I do tent camping now and I do that with one tent and one (largish) bag.

I live at high altitude, about 7500 above sea level. So I know my truck is not running as well as it would at sea level. I also know that I can climb any hill in fifth gear in my small Ford Focus anywhere east of the Rockies - but I can't do that around here - not because the hills are steep, but because there is no air for the engine. So I'm most interested in experiences at high altitude, as I think driving this rig at sea level (or even a couple thousand feet) will be like driving a sports car compared to what I'm used to - that's sure how my Focus feels with it's puny engine.

I'm not worried about safety on this - I have no doubt with the right hitch, brake controller, etc, that the rig will be stable and able to be stopped. I also have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in pickup trucks, so I know they don't drive like a car, nor do I expect them to. That said, I have done very little towing, so that's a new area which will take some practice. Of course if someone thinks I'm wrong, let me know. I'd rather have someone disagree with me then end up dead!

Basically, when I go up some of the hills around here, am I going to be going up them at 20 MPH with black smoke belching behind my truck, or am I going to be able to make up the hills at a comfortable speed (50+ MPH)?

I also do a lot of trips east - I'm assuming that I shouldn't have any problem keeping 65 or so on the flat areas east of the Rockies (slower when conditions dictate, of course).

So, should I just ditch the idea of pulling a TM with this vehicle, or am I more scared than I should be? I of course plan on talking to some dealers about this, but I also think they might have a tad bit of vested interest in overselling my tow vehicle!

[rtry9a]

Id think gearing would be your biggest concern- 7500 ft is not a big deal if your TV is tuned (leaned out fuel mixture) correctly.

FWIW, I routinely pull a 3027 with a 4.0l V-6 Explorer- it has a 5-speed tranny and 4.1 axles and does quite well around here, 5000-9000 ft. I dont really notice the trailer much. Just lock out overdrive (going up and down mtns), shift down, when needed, to avoid lugging the engine. I try to stay around the speed limit in mountainous areas, no more than 65-70 on flat roads.

If your engine performance bothers you a lot at high altitude, consider a supercharger (not a turbocharger- they can easily overheat engine while pulling) upgrade to add more air/fuel to your engine.

[Freedom]

We tow a 2619 with a GMC Jimmy with the same engine you're talking about. We average around 15 MPG while towing - our last trip was from Washington (State) to Virginia, South Carolina, back to the TM factory in Tennessee, and through Denver and over the mountains through th Eisenhower tunnel. 9515 miles in all - the worst place was Lookout Pass on the Idaho Montana border and we topped that at around 40. Do you have the "Tow-Haul" button on your truck? We always use that when we tow because it keeps your transmission from overheating. If you don't mind a few 40 mph pulls, you should be fine with the Silverado. We almost always tow with the cruise control set at about 65 and rarely have to turn it off. Do you have an automatic - the tow capabilities on the automatic are higher than on the stick shift. Good luck!

[grakin]

Responses to a couple of posts...

My understanding of the 2003 V6 4.3L engine was that the fuel mixture is computer controlled, and using the O2 sensor the engine will automatically lean the fuel for you as you gain altitude. Of course leaning the fuel means less fuel which means less bang which means less torque (but it runs well which it would not do if it was not leaned). I remember adjusting carburetors, and hope that time is past now, but if I'm wrong I'd love to know it so I could do some tuning on the truck.

As for the transmission, yes it's an auto, and it does have the tow/haul button on it. I'm glad I went for the auto at least - that's one of the few things I did right with this truck!

If I could manage 15 MPH, I'd be thrilled. That wouldn't be much less than I get now.

[Bill]

GRAKIN -

You have a good, realistic attitude, and that's refreshing. No expectations here that a Ford Focus will pull a 3326 over the Himalayas!

IMHO, everything that has been said above is good. If you have an transmission cooler beyond the basic OEM cooler, that is a plus. If you don't, you might consider adding one. Cheap insurance.

To add another real-world data point:

We tow with an Explorer, 4.6L V-8, 5 speed automatic. It seems to start feeling the altitude at about 7000-8000 feet. By 10-11K, it is really gasping. The western approach to the Eishower Tunnel was not fun.

On the other hand, we probably travel a good deal heavier than you describe. First, there are two of us. Then, on our cross-country twice-a-year migrations, we load up the way-back of the Explorer pretty full. And we have a 2720 SL, which starts (dry weight) at 200 pounds heavier than a 2619, and again we carry quite a bit of stuff in it when we are migrating. On the other hand, we do have a 3.73 rear end ratio.

The conditions you describe sound do-able. You won't go charging up the mountains like a Maserati, but you won't be pulled over in the slow lane belching black smoke, either. At the highest of your planned altitudes, you might not maintain 50 mph, but 40 ought to be an easy go.

Part of it depends on how hard you are willing to flog the engine/drive train. On tough grades with the trailer behind, I often just lock the gear shift in 3rd (out of 5 gears) and keep the pedal at 4000 RPM, even though red-line is 6000. I could go faster by letting the revs climb to 5000+, and accepting a constant stream of 4-3-4-3 shifts. But I'm real conservative about that stuff.

Let us know what you experience. More data is always useful to future owners.

Bill

[PopBeavers]

Well, my 6.0 engine statistics won't help you, but I can say that when I weighed my TM 2720 it was 3380 pounds on the TM axle. I did not weigh the tongue, but would guess total weight at not more than 4,000 pounds. I had it loaded with every piece of camping gear I own and full of water, 40 + 6 gallons. I have no doubt that your 2619 will weigh less than 4,000 pounds as long as you don't have a rock collection.

It sounds like you will do fine.

fwiw, the very best mpg I have ever gotten in my crew cab was 15.5, running at 60-65 mph and no passengers or cargo. My nominal fuel consumption when empty is 13.5 and when I take DW and the TM I get between 9.5 and 11.5, depending on how I drive. Friday night is a little rushed and going up into the Sierras. Sundays coming home is more leisurely and downhill. Thus the difference.

[grakin]

Okay, I bought the 2619 from the Car Show in Colorado Springs. I'll take delivery of it next week, and then we'll see how it goes. I'm just using a standard hitch on the vehicle, no weight distribution or anti-sway, but I think with the weights, wheelbases, balance points, etc, involved, I won't need any either.

It's going to be a bit heavier than I planned - a couple of extra options that will probably make things a bit nicer. But I'm a bit more at ease about towing it back home next week than I was before I posted this. Thanks everyone for the help - I'm looking forward to using this thing a lot!

[cali camping]

Will somebody help me out with the "DH" and "DW" use? I know it is husband and wife, but the "D"is for...?

[BrianS]

D=Dear

[cali camping]

As usual the group had the answer! Thanks!

[grakin]

Congratulations on your new trailer.
I met the Car Show folks last June during our National Rally. They are great to deal with...
Which options did you get?
Also, we would like a trip report from you after your first outing, even if it is in your dirveway...

It's got a few smaller options, but the big ones are the A/C, the awning (I'm not a fan of awnings - too windy here to ever use them, but I will probably use it when I'm somewhere other than this state - I remember as a kid always thinking that people who drove big RVs with awnings through Wyoming were nuts, you always saw the awning torn off the side of their vehicles, but the TM awning looks fairly sturdy when stowed so I have hope it will survive if I don't put it out when windy), a 40 gallon water tank, and the 80 watt solar panel. It also has dual 6V batteries.

The solar panel was an option I didn't really think about, but anything that would extend my dry camping time is a good thing in my eyes. I love some of the state park and national forest campgrounds in my area, and unlike what I read from others about state parks having electrical hookups, Wyoming doesn't typically do that! I also like the idea of it being done at the factory. It's a bit more expensive than something I could probably do myself, but I'm happy to have it (in theory) done right. I'm hoping that I can dry camp for 4 days in this thing, as that's what I usually do when I'm backpacking - of course I think with my telecommuting I'm going to be in the generator market before too long.

Unfortunately I've just started realizing that I'm going to have two complete sets of camping gear - the backpacking stuff and the trailer stuff! Life is so tough sometimes if you don't want to sleep in your backpacking sleeping bag while in the TM! This weekend will be a trip to the local thrift stores for bedding, pots, etc.

I've also got a bunch of ideas for modifications already. The first mod will be an external high-gain wifi antenna (I plan to telecommute from the trailer, so I want to be able to get a good wifi signal when in places with wifi) and small server inside to handle the routing and VPN needs I have. I'm also looking at what satellite internet system I want. Putting in some DC distribution using powerpoles will also be fairly early on my list. It'll be nice to be able to work from anywhere - might make the work slightly more pleasant. :)

As for first trip, I'll be camping in Denver overnight after picking up the trailer, which has the benefit of being between home and the dealer (I also have a business meeting the next day in Denver). I'm really interested in recommendations for campgrounds in or very near Denver, if anyone has one.

[Freedom]

Our last trip through Denver we stayed at a Wal-Mart parking lot - not fancy, but free! We also needed to get a tire rebalanced before we left in the morning so it seemed like a logical place to stay.

[ddnavar]

http://www.dakotaridgerv.com/