Well, last week I hitched up my 14' pop up trailer to The DOGG and went camping in Ruidoso NM for spring break. Total mileage for pulling the trailer was 1500 miles R/T with campsite at around 7,000 feet. Mileage for the first two tanks was around 8.5 to 9.0 MPG but then it improved for the rest of the trip to 10.5 MPG. Cruised between 62 and 68 MPH the whole way with O/D OFF and cruise on. RPM's were steady at 2500 to 2800 with 3.55 highway gears. Engine never missed a beat. Oil pressure was always 40+ psi and water temp gauge needle always just touched the "2" in 210 degrees.

I'm sure the factory cam or towing cams out there are better for straight pulling, but with 3 adults, payload, and trailer I was never wanting for more low end with the cam grind I have. The only incident worth reporting was the engine gasping for air at altitude for a few seconds on cold start up. Don't know if that is a PCM "learning" issue or what. Overall, I was very satisifed with the trucks performance. I still need to get a tranny kit, cooler, deep pan, and gauge before I venture out again.

 

glad to hear your trip went well!

 

Oh, and I rolled over 100k miles.

 

almost got her broke in! should see an increase in mpg!lol

 

Drive it up here to Indiana and I'll install your tranny stuff!

 

Thanks for the offer, Purpl, but I still like getting ATF in my hair (or what hair I have left)!

BTW, engine burned 1 qt. of oil for entire trip.

 

Sounds like the PCM was reading a presupposed MAP signal before the real MAP sensor gave it the correct info. A PCM reset at altitude should correct that.

 

sounds like a great trip. but i'm surprised the mpg sucked so bad. i expected a little better out on the highway. must have been uphill both ways.

 

Oh snap did you take a pic lol

 

That sounds like a logical explaination. It only did it when the engine was stone cold. If I just took a short trip somewhere and let it sit for a few hours, it never did it.

Yeah, I wished it had been a little better, but I know I was pulling around 5k lbs. loaded. Plus, my mods don't do much for mileage either.

Nope. Had the trip odometer on instead. Anyway, it's not as dramatic anymore since they switched to LED's, lol.