Sedillo Hill Run
Posted 09-17-2017 at 04:26 PM by vanion2
Today I made time to adjust the WDH hitch for the F150. I hooked up the TT without the arms attacked and took it to a nearby gas station that was as level as I could find living in the foot hills of ABQ's east mountains. Unhitched I measured the front and rear fender flares of the F150 (37" and 38" respectively) and then leveled the tongue of the TT. Happy days the WDH ball was just the right height even though it had been set for the 4Runner I had just traded in. Sometimes you just get lucky like that. I hooked everything back up and attached the WDH arms. For the 4Runner I needed 6 chain links. For the F150 I used 7 links and measured the fender flares again. 37" on the front and 37.5" on the back. Close enough for me. I guess I should adjust the tilt of the WDH a little further mack to get the back end to drop a little more but I'm calling that good since the TT is pretty much unloaded at this point and I expect if I add 36 gallons of water, some solar panels, and 2 AGM batteries that I can easily make the extra .5"
drop on the rear. I will have to measure the front again once that is done to make sure everything still looks good but if not I can just add more tension to the arms to compensate.
All that being done I decided I wanted to take the rig and TT on the road to see what the real world is like. So if you are not familiar with Albuquerque (ABQ) you have I-40 and I-25 that intersect almost right in the middle of town down in the valley. To the east are the Sandia Mountains otherwise just called the East mountains here in ABQ. If you are taking I-40 east bound you have to go through the mountains on a constant incline. Parts of the grade get steeper the further east you go until you pass the Zuzax exit where the incline becomes quite aggressive as you climb Sedillo Hill. They even went so far as to build a 3rd lane for trucks. This was the run I decided to try the F150 out on pulling the approximately 4500# TT. I put the F150 into Tow/Haul mode, adjusted the built in Ford brake controller to 5 (which was enough to make the trailer a neutral braking force), and headed for I-40. The ride is solid but I think I will be adding some SumoSprings to help what I call the WDH boogey. That odd feeling you get when you go over a bump and you feel the weight transfer from the rear to the front due to the leverage action. I usually do air bags for this as they almost eliminate the feeling but the problem with air bags is over time they start leaking. I am sure YMMV on this but I decided on a more maintenance free approach for my 4th TV. I was initially going to get the Timbren system but after spending some time on a very informative F150 forum (F150forum.com if you are interested) I promptly changed my mind. Easy to install, progressive spring action, developed for military and border patrol applications, and has 3 different choices of spring strength...well, you get the picture. I think I will start with the light duty springs rated to 1500# since anything more would be a waste considering that would exceed my payload anyway. Ride report on those when I get them installed later on.
Back on point though, I got onto I-40 and was enjoying the tow/haul mode features. Ford designed the system to shift at higher rpms and perform engine braking action when you let off the gas. My biggest concern here was transmission temperatures. The speed was 65 mph on I-40 at this point. I capped my speed to 70 mph (yes, my TT tires are rated to 75 mph) and only for passing struggling rigs. Mostly my speed was around 65 mph. I didn't go lower than 60 because I wanted to know if the F150 could do it, at what rpms, and I wanted to push the transmission a little to see what the temps would be using the built in gauge on the dash. A couple of speeding 18 wheelers passed me by and nothing. No wake push, no sway, nothing. When I was using the 4Runner even 3/4 to one ton trucks could be felt passing. The longer/wider wheel base made all the difference in the world and I was never so happy to be passed in my life. After 20 minutes of working up the increasing grade to the top of Sedillo Hill I put my fears of transmission temps to rest. The needle never moved from the mid point the whole climb. Heck, I had seen it go higher when just doing DD around town but the transmission was perfectly happy to be cruising down the highway pulling 4500# of TT. I didn't get a lot of gear hunting from the 6 speed transmission, the engine coolant was good the whole climb. In fact, the only gauge needle doing any moving was the gas gauge. No surprise there though.
The return trip home was pretty easy to maintain the speed limit with the engine brake doing its thing regardless of the down grade. On and off I found myself driving with only one hand on the wheel, something I would never do with my old motor home. The drive home was relaxing and I can't wait to take it out next month for some fall foliage scenery in the Rio Grande Gorge.
I finally have the right combination of TV to go with the new TT, and the F150 does great as a DD. I just put $50 into the tank to fill it averaging just over 14 mpg for mostly city driving. I expect 8-10 mpg when towing the TT but with a 36 gallon gas tank I expect a 200 mile per 3/4 tank range minimum so getting to a gas station won't be as stressful as it was with the 4Runner. Don't know how much the 4WD will get used (except once a month to keep it exercised) but when buying used sometimes that's the way it goes. At least I won't have to worry about the winter time snows I guess.
drop on the rear. I will have to measure the front again once that is done to make sure everything still looks good but if not I can just add more tension to the arms to compensate.
All that being done I decided I wanted to take the rig and TT on the road to see what the real world is like. So if you are not familiar with Albuquerque (ABQ) you have I-40 and I-25 that intersect almost right in the middle of town down in the valley. To the east are the Sandia Mountains otherwise just called the East mountains here in ABQ. If you are taking I-40 east bound you have to go through the mountains on a constant incline. Parts of the grade get steeper the further east you go until you pass the Zuzax exit where the incline becomes quite aggressive as you climb Sedillo Hill. They even went so far as to build a 3rd lane for trucks. This was the run I decided to try the F150 out on pulling the approximately 4500# TT. I put the F150 into Tow/Haul mode, adjusted the built in Ford brake controller to 5 (which was enough to make the trailer a neutral braking force), and headed for I-40. The ride is solid but I think I will be adding some SumoSprings to help what I call the WDH boogey. That odd feeling you get when you go over a bump and you feel the weight transfer from the rear to the front due to the leverage action. I usually do air bags for this as they almost eliminate the feeling but the problem with air bags is over time they start leaking. I am sure YMMV on this but I decided on a more maintenance free approach for my 4th TV. I was initially going to get the Timbren system but after spending some time on a very informative F150 forum (F150forum.com if you are interested) I promptly changed my mind. Easy to install, progressive spring action, developed for military and border patrol applications, and has 3 different choices of spring strength...well, you get the picture. I think I will start with the light duty springs rated to 1500# since anything more would be a waste considering that would exceed my payload anyway. Ride report on those when I get them installed later on.
Back on point though, I got onto I-40 and was enjoying the tow/haul mode features. Ford designed the system to shift at higher rpms and perform engine braking action when you let off the gas. My biggest concern here was transmission temperatures. The speed was 65 mph on I-40 at this point. I capped my speed to 70 mph (yes, my TT tires are rated to 75 mph) and only for passing struggling rigs. Mostly my speed was around 65 mph. I didn't go lower than 60 because I wanted to know if the F150 could do it, at what rpms, and I wanted to push the transmission a little to see what the temps would be using the built in gauge on the dash. A couple of speeding 18 wheelers passed me by and nothing. No wake push, no sway, nothing. When I was using the 4Runner even 3/4 to one ton trucks could be felt passing. The longer/wider wheel base made all the difference in the world and I was never so happy to be passed in my life. After 20 minutes of working up the increasing grade to the top of Sedillo Hill I put my fears of transmission temps to rest. The needle never moved from the mid point the whole climb. Heck, I had seen it go higher when just doing DD around town but the transmission was perfectly happy to be cruising down the highway pulling 4500# of TT. I didn't get a lot of gear hunting from the 6 speed transmission, the engine coolant was good the whole climb. In fact, the only gauge needle doing any moving was the gas gauge. No surprise there though.
The return trip home was pretty easy to maintain the speed limit with the engine brake doing its thing regardless of the down grade. On and off I found myself driving with only one hand on the wheel, something I would never do with my old motor home. The drive home was relaxing and I can't wait to take it out next month for some fall foliage scenery in the Rio Grande Gorge.
I finally have the right combination of TV to go with the new TT, and the F150 does great as a DD. I just put $50 into the tank to fill it averaging just over 14 mpg for mostly city driving. I expect 8-10 mpg when towing the TT but with a 36 gallon gas tank I expect a 200 mile per 3/4 tank range minimum so getting to a gas station won't be as stressful as it was with the 4Runner. Don't know how much the 4WD will get used (except once a month to keep it exercised) but when buying used sometimes that's the way it goes. At least I won't have to worry about the winter time snows I guess.
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