Lack of power

[jodann]

In response to the original question posed by Nell I stand by my observations of the possibility of installing a 'chip' to increase power of your 6.0. My '04 Yukon XL, 6.0, 3:73 rear, 1/2 ton (1500) was marginal in towing my 6,000+ lb 26' TT. I am more than familiar with the Rt. 17 (Wurtsboro hill) & Rt. 81 obstacles having lived in Orange county (NY) for a # of years.

OK, so I now have to use premium fuel, but I can crest these hills at 60 mph - I do not, & WILL NOT tow at speeds higher than 60. The trade off is more than made up for the additional cost (did I mention the increased gas mileage?) I've acheived. It's worth the cost. Jodann

[Nell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodann In response to the original question posed by Nell I stand by my observations of the possibility of installing a 'chip' to increase power of your 6.0. My '04 Yukon XL, 6.0, 3:73 rear, 1/2 ton (1500) was marginal in towing my 6,000+ lb 26' TT. I am more than familiar with the Rt. 17 (Wurtsboro hill) & Rt. 81 obstacles having lived in Orange county (NY) for a # of years. OK, so I now have to use premium fuel, but I can crest these hills at 60 mph - I do not, & WILL NOT tow at speeds higher than 60. The trade off is more than made up for the additional cost (did I mention the increased gas mileage?) I've acheived. It's worth the cost. Jodann

We are thinking of going this route-when we can-both of us are job hunting and out of work. Wurtsboro Hill is a witch to go up-no matter what your driving or towing. I know the elevations there run from 1300-1500ft about sea level. Even with a car you have to stomp on it to get it up a hill if you've never driven it before-us locals know it's coming and prepare. From what I could find online-it's at least a 10% grade if not better-based upon some of the information I read up on the future I-86.

Plugs are good on the truck, did that check, compression is there-check. Just got to give it more to go up that way-Hubby said he just didn't like getting the RPM to go up to 4000-it goes against everything he knows about engines.

Thanks for all the great responses-given us a LOT of good things to check out and plan for!

Nell

[jodann]

You bring back fond memories to me. I'm now a 68 year old G'pa but I can never forget those days driving my '68 VW Beetle w/the wife & 3 kids in the back seat & shifting into 2nd gear in an attempt to make it over Wurtsboro hill. I lived in Greenville (Exit 2 off of 84) w/a Port Jervis zip code. Nice!

[Beagle RC Air]

If you have checked fuel filter and the other obvious items it might be time to take a look at the catalytic converter. When they start to break up they will restrict the muffler and really queer the power. A vacuum gauge test will tell you pretty quick.

[SuperGewl]

Take your TT to a scale and have it weighed as if ready for camping, you may be suprised at the actual weight.
From what I can tell yo had a nice tow truck in the Dodge but you didn't have it setup correctly as far as for everyday and tow work. It was all about the tire pressures.
Now as far as this truck take it to a dealler and let them check it out. Yo might need to have the tranny serviced and the injectors serviced. Personally get a diesel and get 11-13 mpg towing

[Nell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGewl Take your TT to a scale and have it weighed as if ready for camping, you may be suprised at the actual weight. From what I can tell yo had a nice tow truck in the Dodge but you didn't have it setup correctly as far as for everyday and tow work. It was all about the tire pressures. Now as far as this truck take it to a dealler and let them check it out. Yo might need to have the tranny serviced and the injectors serviced. Personally get a diesel and get 11-13 mpg towing

We've weighed it before and we are just fine in those terms-hubby took it on the scales once where he used to work-he's got a weighmasters license. The Dodge was honestly the biggest mistake we've ever done when buying a vehicle. While the tow power was there-it rode the stiffest of any vehicle I've ever owned. I bounced repeatedly all over the road-I-684 was so bad you couldn't hold a conversation when driving down it because of the bouncing. I drove a school bus for a living and that truck gave me white knuckles to control it at times. We tried the tire pressure adjusting too-didn't do squat with it. Dodge only offered the truck for a bit-it was a flop-and I can see why on many levels.
I can't justify owning a diesel-we only tow now a few times a year. My truck is used to run kids and it's too pricey to do that. Now that hubby found a job-he's got to work 6 days a week-so camping is out until he gets seniority and gets vacation time next summer. We are thinking of possibly selling the camper and starting fresh again since two of the kids will be out and off to college with only 1 left at home. We found the problem really was the incline and how he approached it on Wurtsboro hill. Have to keep it to the floor-when towing and rev it up. Otherwise, no problems at all with anything on the truck. Just that darned area of NYS and it's steep hills.

[SuperGewl]

Well, personally I would not get rid of it. Just get your speed up some prior to getting to the hill, set the cruise control at 57mph and hit the Tow/Haul mode to drop it down one gear and let the truck and engine do it's thing. As long as the tranny is not hunting for gears you will be alright and I'll bet she will take it at about 48 mph when done. Make sure you've done all the normal maintainance on the truck prior to hitting the road this summer.
I say keep the Trailer if not for yourself so it for the kid. It's a great way to get the family together and then you won't have any excuse about gettting out and doing something this summer. Even if all you do is go somehwere and do nothing but realax and cook on the grill and read a good book.

[Nell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGewl Well, personally I would not get rid of it. Just get your speed up some prior to getting to the hill, set the cruise control at 57mph and hit the Tow/Haul mode to drop it down one gear and let the truck and engine do it's thing. As long as the tranny is not hunting for gears you will be alright and I'll bet she will take it at about 48 mph when done. Make sure you've done all the normal maintainance on the truck prior to hitting the road this summer. I say keep the Trailer if not for yourself so it for the kid. It's a great way to get the family together and then you won't have any excuse about gettting out and doing something this summer. Even if all you do is go somehwere and do nothing but realax and cook on the grill and read a good book.

Well...we are due for a upgrade. We've been camping together for 25 years-did the tent thing, two pop ups and this camper. We've had this one for 9 years. Thinking about getting a lighter model-still with bunks though-we've got nieces and nephews about the same age as our 12 year old. Our older kids who will be in college-if they feel the need to come along-let them tent it. They stay up later than we do.
Always take the truck in before we take off anywhere major-get all the fluids checked/changed, rotate the tires, etc. The tow haul mode has always been a huge help-although we had a 1991 Chevy G-20 Conversion Van-that sucker could haul just about anything we hooked up to it-it was a beast.
We'll have to see what we can do if anything this summer-low man on the totem poles always gets last dibs for time off. Next summer for sure, we'll be hitting the roads again. At least our youngest can use the camper for sleepovers this summer.

Nell