Truck and trailer thread???

[gcassidy]

Hi Greg,
Yes we met at Summit Point last year. That was my 1st track event with SVT, (and an instructor). I couldn't do it this year. I live in Baldwin which is in northern Baltimore county near the Harford county line. I had my car on the track at SAAC 33 and I'm going back to New Jersey Motorsports Park on 9/15 for a Hooked on Driving event.
Sorry guys, I didn't mean to get off topic here.

Cool. I thought so.
And my fault, I shoulda PM'ed. :nonono:

 

[wheeliejones]

how in the hell do you post pictures ? sorry guys

 

[gcassidy]

Link to a pic somewhere else on the web (PhotoBucket, PutFile, or other web hosting site), and make sure it has the and [/img ] tags on either end.

And I don't know if there's a post limit needed. You need 5 posts to PM I think.

 

[Great Asp]

Yea the 36' is no easy task on a windy day I'll just say that much, but we don't like fifth wheels because we utilize the bed of the truck when we go racing. Gear, bags, wheels, tires, ect. We have a huge hitch with weight distribution. It's actually pretty easy to tow up hills and such. the sonol grade, altamont pass, pachaco pass, and the great vine. All pretty easy and can maintain 65mph with the PS. If we wanted to go longer we would have gone fifth wheel, but we would have had to buy a dedicated truck to pull it because my dad drives the truck as a DD and love the camper shell..

If you would get rid of the stripper pole in the 36' trailer, you wouldn't need the camper shell!

oke:

E

 

[VENM]

a few pics, best thing I have ever bought was the oil burner :thumbsup:

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[wizbangdoodle]

I've had my '08 F-350 diesel for over a year now and love it. I have a 40' 5th wheel toy hauler and it tows that really nice. The only thing I wish I had gotten was the tailgate step. I want to add air bags and maybe some traction bars to get rid of a bit of shudder when starting with the trailer attached.

 

[VENM]

Have you thrown a tune into it yet? What a difference it made for me, 2-3mpg and gobs of torque :thumbsup:

 

[brkntrxn]

Clay,

When I was reading up on my 6.4, supposedly the new computers will hold a record if the stock tune has ever been messed with. As quick as Ford is to deny a warranty on anything, I wouldn't want to risk it. Not sure about Wizbang above.

Does anyone know if this is true? I even heard Ford was anal about the exhaust since the vented tips are supposed to be functional (although I can't see how that would affect anything that would be covered under warranty). Either way, I don't plan on doing anything. It has plenty of power as it sits.


So far with 200 miles on the odometer, through 3/4 of a tank, the dash indicator says I am holding 10.6 mpg. This is in daily driving of 5.5 miles of stop lights each way to work. The truck isn't even good and warmed up by the time I get there. The farthest I have driven it on the highway has been literally three miles from one exit to another.


Kevin

 

[wheelhopper]

I have seen on other boards that DPTuner tunes can be removed and are undetectable. I would check with them first though. Also, from the research I have done, the '08s fuel mileage will go way up if you get rid of the DPF. You need a tune when you do this however. And, it voids your warranty

I found this out because I wanted to get the info for my new "08 F350 I recently aquired. Pics coming next month when I have everything hooked up and am heading to Summit.

My '02 diesel if for sale if anyone is looking.
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=523318

 

[VENM]

Clay,

When I was reading up on my 6.4, supposedly the new computers will hold a record if the stock tune has ever been messed with. As quick as Ford is to deny a warranty on anything, I wouldn't want to risk it. Not sure about Wizbang above.

Does anyone know if this is true? I even heard Ford was anal about the exhaust since the vented tips are supposed to be functional (although I can't see how that would affect anything that would be covered under warranty). Either way, I don't plan on doing anything. It has plenty of power as it sits.


So far with 200 miles on the odometer, through 3/4 of a tank, the dash indicator says I am holding 10.6 mpg. This is in daily driving of 5.5 miles of stop lights each way to work. The truck isn't even good and warmed up by the time I get there. The farthest I have driven it on the highway has been literally three miles from one exit to another.


Kevin

Kevin:
Thats a good looking truck you picked up :thumbsup: I did the SCT tune on mine before the trip to VIR this spring and picked up 2 mpg. I've been told that as long as you don't hardwire a tune the flash can't be undetected and can be returned to stock. I don't know if thats true or not :read:

Now that you have the rig, you should plan the trip to the north so we can pay back some northern hospitality :beer:

http://www.nwshelbyclub.com/index.php?page_id=37&event_number=18

 

[ac427cobra]

Don't assume your trailer brakes are working properly

On our recent trip to VIR my motorcoach had a problem decending the severe grade. We smoked the left rear brake on the coach pretty badly.

Just this week, I jacked up the trailer and took off the wheels to inspect the brakes. Seeing I had nothing else to do! :rollseyes

My first clue that there was a problem was when I pulled off the grease cap. The entire cap was jamb packed with grease. Apparently what happened was the factory (either Dexter axle or ATC?) severely overgreased my front axle when it was manufactured. There was so much grease that grease had nowhere to go but to escape the rear seal and thoroughly lubricate the entire inside of the braking mechanism. This completely nullified the braking capabilities of my front axle on the trailer. The rear axle was just fine thankfully.

Well I contacted the dealer and they contacted ATC and of course they never had any issues like this before! :rollseyes:rollseyes So the dealer gave me 20% off on the parts and I put it back together but pics of all of this crap has already been set to the dealer. We shall see what happens! :dw:

One other thing I discovered doing this crap, trailer brakes are NOT self adjusting. You have to manually adjust them with a brake adjusting spoon. For whatever that's worth!

Hopefully I won't have a heart attack next time I go to VIR! :cuss:

 

[Maynor]

Bruce, is that off the coach itself or the trailer? I can't see how you can over grease an e-z lube dexter axle... it'll just come out the front where the grease gun goes and you'll see when there's enough in there... the grease cap will catch any residual but worst case, it'll spill out in front of the wheel face if the cap comes off, not in the brake drum like those pics show..

 

[Maynor]

Clay,

When I was reading up on my 6.4, supposedly the new computers will hold a record if the stock tune has ever been messed with. As quick as Ford is to deny a warranty on anything, I wouldn't want to risk it. Not sure about Wizbang above.


Kevin

Starting in very late model 05's and all 06's forward, Ford added this functionality to the computer. Its a bit that gets flipped and can't be reburned back to stock. I've got the specifics filed away somewhere. I can't confirm for the 08's forward but would presume they'd keep the function.

 

[wizbangdoodle]

Have you thrown a tune into it yet? What a difference it made for me, 2-3mpg and gobs of torque :thumbsup:

No tune....yet. I also wonder about the ability to detect that a tune has been in the truck. But I do have a good relationship with my dealer and may try and slide it by anyway. I'd love to pick up some more mileage, getting 14-15 in combined driving according to the computer.

 

[ac427cobra]

Bruce, is that off the coach itself or the trailer? I can't see how you can over grease an e-z lube dexter axle... it'll just come out the front where the grease gun goes and you'll see when there's enough in there... the grease cap will catch any residual but worst case, it'll spill out in front of the wheel face if the cap comes off, not in the brake drum like those pics show..

John:

This is my forward axle on the trailer. I never greased the axle because I was unaware of the grease fitting until I removed the grease cap on the hub.

Apparently what happened was there was so much grease in the hub it had nowhere to go. Possibly either when it warmed up for the first time or the grease was injected so fast that the rear seal was unable to hold it in. One of the two.

I cleaned everything up, replaced the shoes, grease seals and re-packed the bearings the "Old Fashioned" way with synthetic grease and will most likely never use the fitting and a gun after this experience.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[brkntrxn]

I figured I would post up the real world mileage I am seeing on the F250 I bought back in August. To clarify, when I state city driving I am referring to my 5 mile one-way commute with quite a few red lights. My area gets busy in the afternoons, so I spend a bit of time sitting in traffic. Over Christmas, it was terrible - I could actually see my mileage drop while sitting at a red light. For highway travel, I tend to run 70-80mph. I have seen 19-20mph on the dash indicator while running 55-60mph on level ground.

I would accurately describe my driving style as somewhat aggressive by nature. Meaning, if I am approaching a car on the interstate, I am more likely to get on the gas to pass them than let off and wait for traffic to clear before passing someeone.

I took it in in January and had two recalls performed, one was for the degass bottle replacement and the other was for a PCM reflash. I see the "diesel filter" message on the dash a whole lot more now that before. But, with my excessive short distance city driving, I guess that is to be expected.

Not exactly a "hyper-miler", I have a motorcycle that gets 40+ mpg when I need to be cheap. As for satisfaction with the truck -- I love it. One of the best purchases I have ever made. Towing is flawless, you don't even know the enclosed trailer and car are behind you, acceleration is as fast as a Spec e30 BMW race car (ask me how I know ;-)) and braking is excellent.

 

[wheelhopper]

I only have 2K miles on my '08 F350 Crew cab. I need to get some pics up. But my mileage is averaging low 13's. It has been as high as low 14's on a trip and into the 12's.

My '02, that I decided to keep, gets way better mileage. Damn tree huggers.

 

[///m3]

It's a stock '03 7.3L diesel with a 36ft Kaufman trailer. Gets about 18mpg with no trailer and about 11 with it. Truck and trailer with cars weigh 19,200lbs.

 

[brkntrxn]

Last weekend, I borrowed an 18' open trailer to haul my car to VIR as opposed to one of the 24' enclosed trailers I normally use. On the same exact trip (my house to VIR), driving the same exact mph and style, I averaged about 2.5 mpg better with the open trailer versus the enclosed trailer.

11.45mpg open trailer versus 8.99-9.20mpg enclosed trailer --- both scenarios running 70-80mph with trailer, car, spare rims/tires, tools, canopy, clothes, helmets, etc.

Note, this was a steel and wood open trailer, I imagine an aluminum open would be even better.

For the miles I tow per year, an open trailer will almost pay for itself within a couple of years. So, for those on the fence, an enclosed trailer is nice and still preferable, but more expensive to purchase and tow.

Also on interesting note... my "city" miles I listed above are a lot lower than someone that does not encounter a lot of sitting still at redlights. I have occassionally taken the long way home and my mileage was much, much better. However, I would still be using the same amount of fuel in the long run.


-Kevin

 

[David Hester]

16 feet of car storage, 12 feet of living space. Frig, gas range, closet, 2 6 ft beds, radio, DVD, A/C, gas furnance, generator, toilet, shower, water heater.