Man..... If I wasn't hooked before I sure the heck am now......

My wife and I picked up our popup at the dealer last night (it was being serviced). It's a 2003.5 Coleman Utah, the largest PU unit Coleman makes with a 12' box. It's not terribly heavy (3600 gvw or so) but I always knew it was behind my Expedition. There was no way I could haul it with both OD on and cruise on unless I was on perfectly flat level ground or going down hill. Last night we hauled it home, OD on and cruise set to 65 and the Silver Ghost barely broke a sweat!!!

 

Condgradulations on the new to you truck, Guess what it will do the same with a 5th wheel behind it,, so if you do not want to go the expense do not let your wife know it's full capability's. , My wife tends to think the stronger I make my truck pull and run the bigger 5th wheel trailer she can get???? Goodluck and Happy camping...Rick

 

That brings up the question. Most of what I had heard and read about my Expedition said NOT to tow in OD. And as I said above, I couldn't use cruise very often.
Are there any sorts of prohibitions when hauling with the CTD?

 

Below 55mph, turn OD off. Above it, leave it on. That's about it. I love these trucks.

 

I would have figured that. I pulled away from the toll with OD off and couldn't go much above 50 or so without revving over 2k.
Fair enough. Thanks!!

 

Yeah, look what my wife did to me (see signature)!

Rusty

 

Revving above 2K isn't bad. In fact, the CTD gets the best mileage somewhere around 2000-2300 RPM's w/ a moderate load of 10,000 lbs. Those RPM's also depend on what kinda gearing you have in the rear axle. If you don't wind up the RPM's w/ a turbo diesel the unburned fuel turns into carbon deposits that build up on the valves and pistons and makes your truck a little less spunky over time. You also lose fuel mileage. Sometimes you can't avoid it. A lot of regular unloaded driving around town and on the highways doesn't allow your engine get hot enough to burn off the carbon. The cure: Find something heavy and haul it for about 200-400 miles up mountains. It sounds crazy, but it works! Think of it this way...the CTD is the powerlifter of light duty truck engines...and just like a powerlifter, if they don't workout, they lose their strength.