First Long Haul with New Fiver
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From: Windsor, Ontario
First Long Haul with New Fiver
Even though I have had the truck for over a year and a half this was the first long distance run with the new rig and some real weight.
After an overnight stop at my buddy, Charlie Rider's place in Jackson, MI the two us and our wives headed south on April 3rd, destination, Gulf Shores, Alabama. Our 2003 dually was pulling our new 36 foot Mountain Aire fiver. My buddy was pulling his 30 foot fiver with his 2002 manual transmission equipped Chevy Duramax which was quite a bit lighter than my rig as I soon found out. Conditions on the way down were sunny with a slight tail wind off the right rear quarter. Total distance one way was just over a thousand miles and we stopped overnight near the Kentucky/Tennessee border. I noted early on as we entered Kentucky that the Chevy was just catching up on the long hills. Not a lot but he was definitely out-pulling me. He was also averaging about a mile to the gallon better than me but then his truck has more miles than mine, which has about 12,000 miles and probably is not completely broken in. His rig weighs in at around 20,000 pounds and since I had only guesstimated my rig at 24,000 pounds combined I figured I might as well weigh this thing. We stopped for lunch and a bite to eat on the first day at a truck stop. Noting they had a truck scale I decided now was as good a time as any. I pulled the rig up on the multiple platform CAT scale and pushed the button. After paying my 8 bucks, I checked the weight sheet. Surprise!!! The rig weighed 26,500 with everyone on board. Based on previous weights for the truck alone, I calculated the truck at 12,000 gross, the pin weight at 3500, and the trailer axles showed about 14,500 pounds. That put the trailer at 18,000. Eeek. Well I went nuts on my wife who has the really nasty habit of putting stuff into every nook and cranny, even if she has absolutely no use for it. She in turn blamed the small tool box I had in one of the compartments. To be fair I did have around 70 gallons of water on board which I promptly drained most of. Of course, when I got home, I started turfing stuff out. I was just glad I had ordered the trailer with the optional dual wheels.
Regardless of the weight of the rig, it towed the trailer just great. We cruised in overdrive 99% of the time at anywhere between 62 and 65 mph. She was rock steady and I calculated my mileage at 11.0 mpg for the trip. By buddy averaged around 12.0 mpg. All in all not bad for a couple of good-sized rigs. The difference in mileage between the new fiver and the old 31 footer, which weighed 11,500, was about .5 miles to the gallon.
We spent 4 great weeks in Gulf Shores. We were joined by another Cummins owner, Lee Stubbs and his wife Lisa. Just before leaving on vacation, I ordered the Westach Combo egt/boost gauge from Geno’s for the SRT-10 pillar I already bought from the dealer. Because I was leaving the next day, I had it shipped by 3 day priority to my friend and Cummins owner, Dean Upson who was leaving the following week for Tennessee and was meeting Lee for a few days there. He handed the gauges off to Lee and he completed the rest of the relay to Gulf Shores the following week. Lee and I spent an afternoon doing the gauge installation and generally “talking truck”. He was kind enough to bring a drill and tap and with the exception of a fitting that went missing for an hour after I dropped it the installation went smoothly. The only problem I had was the boost hose blowing off the fitting on the back of the gauge on the way home. I just about had a coronary when that let go with a loud pop and a long hiss about a foot and a half from my left ear. I wire tie at the next rest stop fixed that. I didn’t notice any mention of clamping the hose in the instructions but no big deal. The gauge looks and works great.
Overall, I could not be more pleased with the rig. The truck was bought specifically for pulling this trailer and she performed as expected. Thanks again to my friends Dean Upson and Lee Stubbs for helping with the gauge relay and installation.
Sad to say, the month was over before we knew it and were headed home. If all works out, we will be joining Dean in Bar Harbor for a few days in the fall.
Casey
After an overnight stop at my buddy, Charlie Rider's place in Jackson, MI the two us and our wives headed south on April 3rd, destination, Gulf Shores, Alabama. Our 2003 dually was pulling our new 36 foot Mountain Aire fiver. My buddy was pulling his 30 foot fiver with his 2002 manual transmission equipped Chevy Duramax which was quite a bit lighter than my rig as I soon found out. Conditions on the way down were sunny with a slight tail wind off the right rear quarter. Total distance one way was just over a thousand miles and we stopped overnight near the Kentucky/Tennessee border. I noted early on as we entered Kentucky that the Chevy was just catching up on the long hills. Not a lot but he was definitely out-pulling me. He was also averaging about a mile to the gallon better than me but then his truck has more miles than mine, which has about 12,000 miles and probably is not completely broken in. His rig weighs in at around 20,000 pounds and since I had only guesstimated my rig at 24,000 pounds combined I figured I might as well weigh this thing. We stopped for lunch and a bite to eat on the first day at a truck stop. Noting they had a truck scale I decided now was as good a time as any. I pulled the rig up on the multiple platform CAT scale and pushed the button. After paying my 8 bucks, I checked the weight sheet. Surprise!!! The rig weighed 26,500 with everyone on board. Based on previous weights for the truck alone, I calculated the truck at 12,000 gross, the pin weight at 3500, and the trailer axles showed about 14,500 pounds. That put the trailer at 18,000. Eeek. Well I went nuts on my wife who has the really nasty habit of putting stuff into every nook and cranny, even if she has absolutely no use for it. She in turn blamed the small tool box I had in one of the compartments. To be fair I did have around 70 gallons of water on board which I promptly drained most of. Of course, when I got home, I started turfing stuff out. I was just glad I had ordered the trailer with the optional dual wheels.
Regardless of the weight of the rig, it towed the trailer just great. We cruised in overdrive 99% of the time at anywhere between 62 and 65 mph. She was rock steady and I calculated my mileage at 11.0 mpg for the trip. By buddy averaged around 12.0 mpg. All in all not bad for a couple of good-sized rigs. The difference in mileage between the new fiver and the old 31 footer, which weighed 11,500, was about .5 miles to the gallon.
We spent 4 great weeks in Gulf Shores. We were joined by another Cummins owner, Lee Stubbs and his wife Lisa. Just before leaving on vacation, I ordered the Westach Combo egt/boost gauge from Geno’s for the SRT-10 pillar I already bought from the dealer. Because I was leaving the next day, I had it shipped by 3 day priority to my friend and Cummins owner, Dean Upson who was leaving the following week for Tennessee and was meeting Lee for a few days there. He handed the gauges off to Lee and he completed the rest of the relay to Gulf Shores the following week. Lee and I spent an afternoon doing the gauge installation and generally “talking truck”. He was kind enough to bring a drill and tap and with the exception of a fitting that went missing for an hour after I dropped it the installation went smoothly. The only problem I had was the boost hose blowing off the fitting on the back of the gauge on the way home. I just about had a coronary when that let go with a loud pop and a long hiss about a foot and a half from my left ear. I wire tie at the next rest stop fixed that. I didn’t notice any mention of clamping the hose in the instructions but no big deal. The gauge looks and works great.
Overall, I could not be more pleased with the rig. The truck was bought specifically for pulling this trailer and she performed as expected. Thanks again to my friends Dean Upson and Lee Stubbs for helping with the gauge relay and installation.
Sad to say, the month was over before we knew it and were headed home. If all works out, we will be joining Dean in Bar Harbor for a few days in the fall.
Casey
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From: Sarasota, Florida
Casey,
EEEKS is right. I was looking at Mountainaire first, but the weight is sure up there. We are hitting about 23,600 loaded with about 1/3 water (30 gallons). The Ghost does handle it very nicely. Glad you had a good trip. They are an awesome truck. And, that extra 4 - 5000 pounds makes a lot of difference, so I would expect that Chev to start catching up with you.
Watch for me in another two months - - I'll wave.
Bob
EEEKS is right. I was looking at Mountainaire first, but the weight is sure up there. We are hitting about 23,600 loaded with about 1/3 water (30 gallons). The Ghost does handle it very nicely. Glad you had a good trip. They are an awesome truck. And, that extra 4 - 5000 pounds makes a lot of difference, so I would expect that Chev to start catching up with you.
Watch for me in another two months - - I'll wave.
Bob
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From: Windsor, Ontario
Mike, I did use it on this trip primarily because of all the bugs down south. However the bugs stayed home. 
We may be going to the east coast this fall and will go without the wing. I really don't think I will see much difference in mileage or handling but will know in September for sure.
Casey
We may be going to the east coast this fall and will go without the wing. I really don't think I will see much difference in mileage or handling but will know in September for sure.Casey
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From: Myrtle Creek Oregon
Yea I almost bought one of those over priced bug I mean wind deflectors but I figured I could buy alot of rv bug cleaner for the price of one of those things. But they do look cool especially with a senic painting or an American flag on them.
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From: Sarasota, Florida
Originally posted by balvert
Mike, I did use it on this trip primarily because of all the bugs down south. However the bugs stayed home. We may be going to the east coast this fall and will go without the wing. I really don't think I will see much difference in mileage or handling but will know in September for sure.
Casey
Mike, I did use it on this trip primarily because of all the bugs down south. However the bugs stayed home.
We may be going to the east coast this fall and will go without the wing. I really don't think I will see much difference in mileage or handling but will know in September for sure.Casey
JealousBob
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From: Cypress, TX
Casey,
My wife, Sandy, coordinates the Texas Boomers, an RVing group associated with iRV2.com. We were coming back to Houston from a Boomer rally in 2003 towing our 13,500 lb 5th wheel, and the next rig in line was a fellow Houstonian who had just bought a new 7.3L PowerStroke and a 30' Cougar 5ver that probably weighs around 9,500 lbs or so at the maximum. I noticed that Ed was closing in on me slightly on some of the steeper uphill sections.
When we got home, I told Sandy, "Honey, we need to get some larger fuel injectors for the truck." Her expected response was, "Why?" I replied, "Well, Ed was catching up to us on some of the uphill sections." She said, "Oh, well, that makes sense to me." Thus, the DD2's were installed this past winter.
I love this woman! 
Rusty
My wife, Sandy, coordinates the Texas Boomers, an RVing group associated with iRV2.com. We were coming back to Houston from a Boomer rally in 2003 towing our 13,500 lb 5th wheel, and the next rig in line was a fellow Houstonian who had just bought a new 7.3L PowerStroke and a 30' Cougar 5ver that probably weighs around 9,500 lbs or so at the maximum. I noticed that Ed was closing in on me slightly on some of the steeper uphill sections.
When we got home, I told Sandy, "Honey, we need to get some larger fuel injectors for the truck." Her expected response was, "Why?" I replied, "Well, Ed was catching up to us on some of the uphill sections." She said, "Oh, well, that makes sense to me." Thus, the DD2's were installed this past winter.
I love this woman!
Rusty
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From: Massachusetts
Hey Rusty, why would you need more power?
If the other guy was pulling the same weight (rather than less as he was) as you wouldn't you be the one pulling away from him on those hills?
Just to bust his chops or does his 7.3L PS have more power than your truck has stock?
Just curious.
DT.
If the other guy was pulling the same weight (rather than less as he was) as you wouldn't you be the one pulling away from him on those hills?
Just to bust his chops or does his 7.3L PS have more power than your truck has stock?
Just curious.
DT.
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From: Cypress, TX
Well, it seems that weight never enters into the campfire discussions about trailer towing, nor would the fact that our 5th wheel is probably 1.5' taller than Ed's. I just didn't want to hear Ed say, "I was having to back off to keep from running over Rusty" at the next outing. 
To Ed's credit, he does have a pretty stout 7.3L, but I just wanted enough power to offset the weight and aero drag differential between our rigs.
Rusty
To Ed's credit, he does have a pretty stout 7.3L, but I just wanted enough power to offset the weight and aero drag differential between our rigs.
Rusty
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From: Minneapolis, MN
Re: First Long Haul with New Fiver
Originally posted by balvert
alone, I calculated the truck at 12,000 gross, the pin weight at 3500, and the trailer axles showed about 14,500 pounds. That put the trailer at 18,000. Eeek. Well I went nuts on my wife who has the really nasty habit of putting stuff into every nook and
alone, I calculated the truck at 12,000 gross, the pin weight at 3500, and the trailer axles showed about 14,500 pounds. That put the trailer at 18,000. Eeek. Well I went nuts on my wife who has the really nasty habit of putting stuff into every nook and
I pull an 8,000lb travel trailer with my 2003 3500DRW HO and I got less than 9MPG driving 68 to 70 MPG on my first trip.
The power is so pathetic that I'm almost ready to buy a used 7.3 Powerstroke like my old truck. Anything more than the slightest grade and the truck will drop out of overdrive. My old truck on the same trip with the same trailer could go for three hours before shifting out of overdrive.
Brian Elfert
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From: Sarasota, Florida
My 2003 HO six shooter, pulling the same size trailer as Balvert but about 1500 pounds lighter gives me 12.5 at 55 - 60 and 11.5 at 65 - 70. It will pull a 6% in high gear if I can get a start on it over 60mph, 7% needs 5th, 9% needs 4th. Very strong puller. You've got to have something like a leaking turbo fitting wrong, Brian. Go holler at them (I mean be nice to them). Print this thread out and take it to your dealer. We are all telling you the truck is a hauling demon, dead stock.
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From: Minneapolis, MN
Originally posted by Mike_Boutet
Brian, yours is a 4x4 and going 6-8 mph faster than Casey, will eat up a little more fuel.Do you have a cap on your truck?
Brian, yours is a 4x4 and going 6-8 mph faster than Casey, will eat up a little more fuel.Do you have a cap on your truck?
I'm really more concerned about the power issues with my truck right now than the MPG issues. I have to take my truck in so they can replace the clearance lights the dealer ordered, so I'll have them look at the power issues.
Brian Elfert
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From: Windsor, Ontario
Brian,
I feel I have plenty of power considering the weight. Although I am dumping a lot of the junk out of the trailer, it is to insure that I am within the capabilities of the truck as I don't want any warrantee issues. When it is empty, this thing is a rocket considering the truck is over 4 tons empty. It almost sounds like there is a problem with your truck. Worth looking into either loss of turbo pressure due to a leak or a restriction in the airbox. How many miles on your truck? Do you have a boost gauge on your truck? My max boost is just under 25 psi just as a reference.
Also even though heavy, this trailer is fairly aerodynamic with a rounded front, corners and sides.
Casey
I feel I have plenty of power considering the weight. Although I am dumping a lot of the junk out of the trailer, it is to insure that I am within the capabilities of the truck as I don't want any warrantee issues. When it is empty, this thing is a rocket considering the truck is over 4 tons empty. It almost sounds like there is a problem with your truck. Worth looking into either loss of turbo pressure due to a leak or a restriction in the airbox. How many miles on your truck? Do you have a boost gauge on your truck? My max boost is just under 25 psi just as a reference.
Also even though heavy, this trailer is fairly aerodynamic with a rounded front, corners and sides.
Casey