I took my fiver (10000lbs GVWR loaded to the gills) out last week. For those familiar with So Calif, I drove from Simi Valley to San Bernardino (about 130mi) and climbed from San Bernardino to Big Bear (1200' elevation to over 8400' in about 50 miles) via Hwy 38. Here are my observations:

1) Awesome power! It outpulled my mildly enhanced PSD (see sig) and is a much heavier truck (4x4, quad cab, etc.). And my CTD is still bone stock. I can't wait for the VA Duration/Timing box if they ever come out.

2) Engine temp (not EGTs - still no gauges) lingered around 200 (little under to a little over). I realize this gauge is almost useless, but it shows a little more variance than the PSD does.

3) The tranny worked well on the climb, but on low-speed descent the shifts were very hard - slammed hard into gear between 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I'm not sure if this was TC lock/unlock events or shifts. I ended up putting it into 2nd on the steep, low-speed descents. It was much smoother.

4) There was a slight missfire when maneuvering the trailer in the campground. I noticed the same thing at home when parking it earlier. It only happened at extremely low (almost idle) rpms and was very intermittent. The slightest touch of throttle got rid of it.

5) Mileage was poor- but not unexpected. On the way up, I got about 8.5 and on the way down, closer to 10 (still a lot of climbing to get out). It will be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get on the flats while towing.

6) Pullrite Superglide hitch is fantastic. I'm so happy I decided on this. My only complaint with it (besides the co$t) is that I had to be almost perfectly square to the trailer to hitch up. The instructions said it could be up to an 18* angle, but it didn't work for me.

7) Prodigy controller is great. Braking was very controllable and it was a breeze to install.

8) Ride quality was OK. However, it was actually better before I flipped the axles on my fiver. I guess before the flip, all the trailer weight was going back onto the rear axle of the trailer. When it became more level, weight then shifted to the truck more often on bumps and dips. I see shock upgrades in my future.

9) The radio (I have the cassette/cd version) sucks for fringe reception. It's probably the worst I've ever owned. It will make it easier for me to upgrade to the Pioneer NAV/radio.

That's it for now.

Neil

 

Thanx! Great report Neil!

 

I've pulled that road up to Big Bear and I don't think 8.5 sounds too bad! That's a lot better than any gasser!

At a little over 200° the fan kicks on and the water temp drops right back down, real good cooling system

Nice report, thanks