Towing and fuel economy

#21

Agree with Jon, if a pickup fits, go with a diesel. The Duramax/Allison combo is awesome. We went with the 2500 Suburban because my wife would not drive a pickup as a daily driver, but she loves the Suburban. The Suburban is a great tow vehicle, tows up to 10K easily, tows at 75 mph with no problem, steady with plenty of torque. It would be better with a Duramax, which I hope GM gets around to doing in the next few years.
Ws

#22

Ed Davidson wrote:

[quote]Agree with Jon, if a pickup fits, go with a diesel. The Duramax/Allison combo is awesome. We went with the 2500 Suburban because my wife would not drive a pickup as a daily driver, but she loves the Suburban. The Suburban is a great tow vehicle, tows up to 10K easily, tows at 75 mph with no problem, steady with plenty of torque. It would be better with a Duramax, which I hope GM gets around to doing in the next few years.
Ws[/quote]

OK Ed, but I have a Suburban, it is a 1999, but it is also a 2500. Did Chevy improve the mileage that much on the 2500 Suburbans from 1999 to 2006? Mine pulls 10K and runs 75 with the trailer, but I get 6.6 miles per gallon and you get more, am I reading that correctly?

OK, went back and re-read it. you have a 2007 with 6 litre motor and a 3.73 rear and you get 10 mpg pulling a 32 ft with 2 cars, is that right?

#23

Jon McAvoy wrote:

Thats true for any fuel.

My posted 12mpg is always going 75+mph (who goes 65???) to summit or VIR, usually keeping up w/ Vic who tows faster than he drives the E30. We ran in the left lane on I95 much of the way home from VIR. No prob keeping up w/ traffic. Im totally w/ you though, due to drag Im sure the mpg would jump up if I did the speed limit - though it would require driving on the shoulder on most interstates.

The biggest advantage of a diesel pickup… Big tanks. Being able to go from MD to VIR w/o stopping is great. If I had to go farther, Id look into getting an addl transfer tank. Though, its a mental shocker putting that much $$$ in all at once. You quickly realize that the $75-100 limits they impose on your card @ the pump will require 2 transactions per fillup.

SMD

#24

Stephen Dubovsky wrote:

I WANNA GO FAST BABY!! When I tow, I piss excellence.

-Vicky Bobby

#25

Victor Hall wrote:

[quote]Stephen Dubovsky wrote:

I WANNA GO FAST BABY!! When I tow, I piss excellence.

-Vicky Bobby[/quote]

Second place is first loser Vicky B.

#26

Jeff - that is correct. The 4.1 is needed to tow 10k+ but with our light aluminum trailer (2k lbs) we can get by with the 3.73. We did see 200 deg trans temps pulling through the mountains of WV on the way to Mid-ohio, but we took a less hilly ride home through PA and DC.
Ed

#27

Jeff Hall wrote:

Doggone, I’d love to get 11 to 14. I’m wondering if it’s the 4.10 or the trailer size?[/quote]

Jeff, I tow with a ‘05 2500HD 6L gas, 4L80E trans & 4.10 rear end. Towing a borrowed enclosed 28’ w/ the e30 in it, I’ve got 11mpg. What was interesting is on the way to the cage builder (w/o car in the trailer) I only averaged 9.13mpg. Towing with my open trailer I get in the mid 13’s. Mileage otherwise has been high of 15.6 (wife driving) and low in the 8s (friend borrowed the truck.)

I think you’ll find newer engine management systems do a lot for fuel economy - especially when you’re on the road and don’t have you’re foot in it. That said you can buy a lot of gas for the depreciation on a new truck.

Gareth

#28

Suprised to see no Dodges in here. I’ll probably be pimpin’ a 05-07 2500 Cummins next year. My buddy Kyle gets 14-16 loaded in his. Open 16’ trailer towing a 3rd gen Camaro.

I have a 01 1500 Dodge ‘Off Road’ (4:11 gears, 2500 axles, Rancho shocks), 360 gas, auto. I get about 11 with a 1700 lb open trailer, E30, tools, parts, etc. Not too shabby considering it has 165K and in need of serious tune up.

I had a Power Stroke Excursion which was just awesome for towing. With a 2 horse loaded trailer it would not even downshift up hills at highway speed. 12-14mpg with the horse trailer. I never got a chance to tow a car hauler with it.

#29

I have a 1998 Ram 3500 12v. Going from Stone Mountain to RRR the tank was full when I left. About 4/5 of the way their I still had between 1/4 and 1/2 tank of fuel, but decided to go on a stop to fill up so I would not have to on the way home. It took 17 gallons and gave 12.2 MPG. My average speed was between 70 and 75. Yesterday I filled up to get ready to go to BM this weekend and it took 28 gallons and gave 11.8 MPG. I may have driven a little faster on the way home and maybe it was more uphill too.

 This is pulling a 22 foot inclosed trailer that is somewhere between 7000 and 8000 lb with the car and all the other stuff in the trailer and some stuff in the bed.

Jack Allen

#30

Just curious…is it a crazy idea to tow a racecar with a tow-bar instead of a trailer?

#31

Shaun Pamplin wrote:

Coincidentally, here is a conversation that just showed up on the Club Racing list today: (I presume an e30 trans is similar to an e36’s)

[quote]
Hi Shane—my understanding is that the upper mainshaft of the trans is
lubricated by the splashing oil thrown from the moving countershaft below
it. When the trans is in neutral and being towed, the mainshaft turns with
the output flange and the countershaft does not move and therefore does not
throw any lube onto the upper shaft parts.
Consequently, when flat towing the mainshaft needle bearings does not get
any fresh lube and eventually get hot, dry, and seize. How long is ok? Only
the shadow knows

Good luck, Terry
"'Kay, Love Ya, Bye!"
-Homer

Terry & Debbie Sayther
1606 Fortview Rd.
Austin, TX
www.TerrySaytherAuto.com -Go See It!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shane Kleinpeter"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [CR] Towing a n e36

> The owners manual says to overfill the differential if
> you are going to tow by dolly/flat tow.
>
>
>
>> > From: "Jonas Sigle"
>> To: club-racing-list@bimmers.com
>> Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:04:42 -0400
>> Subject: [CR] towing an e36
>>
>> does anyone know if it is bad and if so how bad to
>> tow an e36 by a two wheel
>> dolly? obviously the rear wheels should be on the
>> dolly not the front,
>> right?
>> thanks
>> jonas
>> oh yeah,
>> a track vehicle - a couple hundred miles
>[/quote]