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RE: towing with a Tesla
OK if a gallon is 34 kWh and a gas vehicle goes 10 mpg and the EV goes 30 to 50 miles on that same energy there must be a bit more math involved or some laws of physics are broken.
Electric motors are "around" twice as efficient as a gasoline engine
(I stated that above)
The math work and I have proved it several times on this very forum.
Oh BTW. Electric mileage drifts around much like mileage on gas diesel or coal or natural gas. How fast you go, how much weight you are towing, how tall the load is and about 20 other things make a big difference.
BTW, btw, the powers that be said they will not make a new battery for my plug in electric car, and they won't fix it even though it is under warranty. I will learn how much money I will receive this week.
Fun times for sure.
I get just under 4 miles per kwh in my Model Y which is over 130 miles on 34kwh. My son's Model 3 does about 10% better than that. I am going to say that based on my personal experience the math is off by a factor of roughly 3 for Teslas. Your unspecified brand may be quite different.
Pulling my 21' offshore fishing boat with the Y cuts my mileage roughly in half.
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Groover
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05/31/23 09:56am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F250 upgrades
I am going to through in a totally different consideration if you decide to add airbags.
You can choose between having both bags on the same air line or separate air lines. Separate air lines add stability for high center of gravity loads like some 5th wheels. They can also facilitate hitching up to a 5th wheel on uneven ground by twisting the truck to match the alignment of the camper. On the other hand, when riding empty or with a low CG load a single line allows for more articulation of the rear axle which gives a smoother ride helps avoid getting stuck on uneven ground.
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Groover
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05/30/23 06:11am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2023 Super Duty 6.7PSD HO Review
I believe every ford I owned wandered or drove. chevman
That was because of the Twin I-Beam suspension design. They were bad on tire wear too.
I had one F250 and 2 E350s with the Twin I Beam suspension. Drove all of them well over 100,000 miles. None ever wandered but I did need to get the toe-in adjusted on one of them due to tire wear. Otherwise they were maintenance free and had good tire life. Build dates were from 1991 to 2003. No diesels and no 4wd may have helped.
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Groover
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05/14/23 02:26pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Super Duty on order
My only real complaint with 7.3 is, in tow mode the minute you touch the brakes going down even a moderate slope, it downshifts too low for the speed I'm carrying, so Im going down slopes in 2nd gear screaming at 5000 rpm until I ease into the gas again. I find sometimes its easier to use manual and pick the gear I want. Towing about 8200 lbs with my 3.55 I get about 9-10 on rolling hills. 11 on flats at 65. Otherwise, I have few complaints about the truck. (except that gas cap lanyard.....argh!)
With my Ford I also do a lot of manual control of the gears. It seems to be too eager to down shift when the brakes are applied in tow haul mode and not eager enough to downshift when climbing hills. I would like to have the option of customizing some of the tow/haul settings, including different settings for different trailers. I don't see how that would be hard for Ford to do with everything already computerized.
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Groover
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05/10/23 06:18am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Valve stem extenders for inner wheels (DRW)
The valve stem extenders that came on my motorhome leaked and the inner tires went flat on me. I took the extenders off and put a TPMS system on. No more flat tires since doing that 6 years ago.
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Groover
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04/26/23 09:27pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Super Duty on order
Troyt: that’s the truck I want to replace mine with. DWR version. Keep us posted on the performance of the “Godzilla” and the options you got. Likes and dislikes.
My dodge still going strong but time is an enemy of us all!
So my truck is relatively bare bones, got the sport and XLT premium package but other than that nothing fancy. I'm liking heated seats so far, the Ford Pass system so I can start/lock/unlock with my phone, used the tailgate step the other day and thats pretty slick, power telescope and fold mirrors are nice primarily for the car wash and tight parking. I do wish I could've gotten adaptive cruise but by the time I ordered the model and the package to get that it would've been another $10K. Why can you have that feature in my wife's base package Subaru that cost less than $25K but not in my $70K truck? Picking up a Companion 5th wheel hitch for it tomorrow so I'm sure I'll like the Ford puck system.
The 7.3 seems very nice, hope the mileage improves a bit as I only have 500 miles on it so far. Love the 10 speed tranny. That thing shifts so nice and smooth, you can hear it shift but barely feel it, even under load. It does shift a lot though! The technology for the screens is getting vastly underused by me. I find the look I want and go with it.
Once we get the 5th wheel I'll update how I feel it tows.
Ford seems to be having a hard time getting the parts for adaptive cruise control, amongst other items. My 2016 F150 Lariet has adaptive cruise but now you have to order King Ranch or above trim level to get it. Massage seats are totally gone from the option list.
Stuff not available on 2023 F150
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Groover
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04/25/23 08:14am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Twisted Receiver Square
The hitch may be part of the bumper. Installing a new bumper may be the required fix.
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Groover
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04/23/23 08:11pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: RAM EV
Interesting, 8 bolt axles/wheels and 2700 lbs. of payload. 14k tow capacity.
Also, the airbag suspension, I assume, probably has a "low-rider" mode which reduces drag to extend range on the freeway.
Pretty impressive. It'll be very interesting to see how far it can tow 14k though.
People seem to be obsessed with the impact of trailer weight on range. My experience has been that a flatbed heavily loaded with firewood or dirt has less impact on fuel economy than an empty box trailer. Hence, it is air drag that kills range. Yes, weight does hurt range some with ICE vehicles but that is mostly due to increased use of mechanical brakes turning momentum into waste heat. An EV designed for towing will turn most of that momentum into electricity and put it back into the battery for re-use.
Range studies need to focus more on air drag and towing speeds, not weight. The auto makers know this and their towing tests are conducting with trailers having large air dams on the trailer giving consistent air drag results. The major testers like TFL need to get trailers of this sort. Auto makers rate their vehicles for max frontal area in addition to weight. Most people on this site seem to be unaware of that rating.
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Groover
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04/10/23 07:13am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F-250 Brake Controller Install
The factory controller has the ability to access vehicle stability information and take steps to control an unstable trailer. That could be a life saver.
You need to be aware that the factor controller (at least in my 2016) model turns off the brakes below about 3mph, presumably to prevent burning up the brake actuators. There will be times that you don't want that to happen and you should keep a hand on the manual override. Example: coming down a steep gravel drive and trying to make a sharp turn onto a gravel road. I nearly got pushed off the side of a mountain once. It took me a while to figure out why. Any stop on a steep hill while towing heavy can be a challenge. In my case I am towing a trailer about twice as heavy as the truck.
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Groover
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03/17/23 11:52am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: part three of the broken frame saga.
Link to the article... https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/is-the-eagle-cap-1165-too-big-and-heavy-for-a-one-ton-dually/
Fwiw, my 2010 F450 has a 14,500 GVWR from the factory and licensed for 16000 lbs. The newer trucks are not rated higher, so this paragraph is off a bit. I'm under my GVWR, but mine is only 9 1/2 ft double slide. Relative to the larger ones, it's light. :D
Boatycall had a triple slide Eagle Cap on his 2011 F450, or did. I wonder how it's holding up. He was also towing behind it.
But as one Ford F450 owner discovered, a class 4 truck is no panacea when it comes to hauling a heavy camper. Immediately after the rally, this particular owner took his rig, consisting of a 2013 Ford F450 and a 2015 Eagle Cap 1165, to a local CAT Scale to get weighed. He was horrified to learn that his truck was overweight by whopping 2,400 pounds. With a GVWR of only 14,000 pounds and a payload rating of only 5,443 pounds, his truck was woefully overmatched by the 1165. The CAT Scale printout showed 5,160 pounds on the steer axle and 11,280 pounds on the drive axle for a total of 16,440 pounds. Before buying the truck, he was told his F450 could carry “anything” that he wanted and “not to worry.” Obviously, this wasn’t the case with the 1165. When it comes to payload, this illustrates how far today’s trucks have come from trucks that are 10 to 20 year older. Always research before you buy.
I haven't checked lately but the last time I did the F450 pickup was optimized for trailer pulling, not hauling. The F350 pickup was actually rated to carry more than the F450 pickup.
This just goes to show that you shouldn't take the dealer at his word. Make sure that you find the critical information in writing from the factory.
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Groover
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03/17/23 10:40am |
Truck Campers
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Is this the biggest/heaviest TC on the market?
Rugged flat bed TC
"The 2023 Rugged Mountain Denali 3S is a hard side, triple-slide, dry bath truck camper made for long bed trucks. The interior floor length of the 2023 Rugged Mountain Denali 3S is 12’7”, the interior height is 6’8”, and the center of gravity is 64” from the front wall.
The Denali 3S has an 80-gallon fresh tank, a 77-gallon grey tank, a 35-gallon black tank, and a 6-gallon water heater. It can accommodate up to ten Group 27 batteries and has two 20-pound propane tanks.
Rugged Mountain is reporting the base weight of the Denali 3S at 5,538 pounds. The cost of the 2023 Rugged Mountain Denali 3S is $74,900."
Base price is $74,900. You can option it up to $125,000. 5500 series truck recommended as dry weight is 5,538lbs. Why not go for the F600?
It is a beautiful rig but it is a monster! I used to think that my old 12'6" bed length TC with no slides was large and heavy at 3,500lbs
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Groover
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03/12/23 11:44am |
Truck Campers
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RE: The Ford Explorer Men only Edition
I dropped my subscription to Consumer Reports when they down rated my ford cause it didn't have that wonderful safety feature, padded visors. IIRC they were a $5 option
bumpy
remember when dashboards were hard metal, no padding?
There were dozens of different shift patterns and locations for automatic transmissions, Chrysler push button on the left of the dash, column, some with park at the top or far left, some with park at the bottom, drive and reverse in different locations
GM with the 4 position key, one was unlocked and you could start the car w/o a key in the ignition.
and the wonderful Gov't mandated spedo with a max speed display of 85mph in the 1980's
suicide rear doors, really nice to get into the back seat. has shown a revivial in a few cars.
I remember picking up a Consumer Reports in a book store long ago (but not 70 years, I am not that old) and read the review on the Crown Vic which was that the car was awful. Next I looked up the Grand Marquis and discovered that it had a great rating! I haven't given them much thought since that happened.
My dad had on of the those GM cars that didn't require a key, it was a 1963 Belair. He not only left it in the unlock position but also left the key in the trunk lock, ready to use. Never had a problem from either one, except for friends taking the key out of the trunk lock and bringing it to him. The original keyless car. For people that had grown up in small towns with horses and wagons vehicle security did not seem to be very important.
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Groover
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03/09/23 11:42am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Some worry about payload……
Was that an overload or is it just falling apart?
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Groover
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03/04/23 08:41am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: RAM 3500 with HO 6.7L Cummins SRW
Just discovered that the new RAM we ordered has been built and is waiting to ship. The 2015 RAM 2500 with the regular 6.7L Cummins that we have now will get around 20-21 miles per gallon when running empty on a trip. Does anyone have experience with the HO on fuel mileage? Both trucks have the 3.73 rear end.
Thanks
Pretty sure your 2015 SRW has the 3.42 rear end ,unless you put 3.73's in it . As far as mileage no idea , but would stand to reason having 3.73 in the new one ,probably slightly less mileage would be my guess .
The High Output also has a lower compression ratio which is also likely to contribute to poorer fuel economy when empty. On the other hand, I would guess that neither the gear ratio nor the lower compression ratio will have much affect on the truck's towing mileage.
That is less than a 10% gear ratio change so it shouldn't have a big effect. You don't generally see a large drop on diesel fuel economy until you start getting out of their torque range. The drop in torque is largely due to less efficient combustion.
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Groover
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02/24/23 12:46pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Do we have a pickup glut already?
^^ I second this and add I always buy used over paying the inflated prices for brand new.
I mostly buy new because the used trucks that I have found generally either cost as much as a new one or have been totally ragged out. I suspect that most people trading for a new vehicle focus on how much the dealer is giving them for the used one are oblivious to the fact that they are paying way too much for the new vehicle. Then they honestly believe that their used truck is actually worth what the dealer was offering.
Some years ago I special ordered a loaded F250 and about 5 years later I saw someone advertising essentially the same truck, including year model, and he was asking more than I had paid for mine new.
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Groover
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02/23/23 01:36pm |
Tow Vehicles
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Do we have a pickup glut already?
GM shuts down Indiana plant for 2 weeks
"Feb 23 (Reuters) - General Motors said on Thursday it will halt production at its Fort Wayne Assembly truck plant in Indiana for two weeks from March 27 as inventory starts to outweigh demand with the easing of supply-chain snags.
Shares of the U.S. automaker fell 3% in early trade, while rival Ford Motor Co was about 1% lower.
After two years of U.S. automakers scrambling to keep pace with demand amid a parts shortage, GM's decision to cut production of its highly-profitable pickup trucks signals a shift in the status quo.
"GM probably is trying to maintain pricing power with this move but it's also contradictory to what they've been saying for a while recently that demand remains very strong," Morningstar analyst David Whiston said."
I would guess that more than one manufacturer is affected. Ford sent me a $2000 coupon for a new F series truck a couple of weeks ago. I just checked incentives for the F150 and they are offering 0% financing for 3 years plus $1000 Bonus cash through the end of February.
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Groover
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02/23/23 09:33am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 25% better mpg from current diesels? Too good to be true?
As StirCrazy said "There is more than the cost to measure value. Being able to increase range by 25% is worth something."
Not having to stop as often or worrying about giving out of fuel is nice. In virtually every discussion here about electric vehicles range is a key item. While it is less of an issue with diesels it is still an item.
If you are satisfied with your current range then you could carry 20% less fuel and increase your payload by 70lbs in a Superduty with the 48 gallon tank, or a 120lbs in my class A. Less time at the pump when you stop would be nice as well. Or don't use the extra weight capacity and have better performance.
A similar savings in DEF was reported. That is also worth time, weight and money. It is really amazing to me how some people blow off savings. It is almost like they are proud of how much they spend.
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Groover
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02/10/23 09:04am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 25% better mpg from current diesels? Too good to be true?
With diesel being about 25 percent higher in cost than regular gas where is the net savings?
Just saying/asking... :hThe price of gas has nothing to do with it. They aren't comparing gas and diesel.
Yeah, people almost always try comparing gas and diesel by the cost per gallon but what you're actually buying is energy content. Diesel has about 13% more energy content than gasoline, and when ethanol is added to gasoline it lowers the energy content even more. All this according to our faithful and honest Government Agency, the EPA.
Diesel already gets 10-15 percent more miles per gallon than due to that extra energy content, higher compression and lack of a throttle plate. Another 25 percent on top of that would be huge. So the questions are whether this works as stated in the real world and whether any diesel engine will be politically acceptable in 5 to 10 years.
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Groover
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02/06/23 12:35pm |
Tow Vehicles
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25% better mpg from current diesels? Too good to be true?
Engine Builder magazine is reporting on a new piston design by Speed of Air® (SoA) Engine Technologies that claims to improve the fuel economy of the three leading pickup diesels by 25%. It obviously would be an expensive retrofit but might not cost much if offered by the OEMs.
Article
I love to see new tech like this but so much of it never gets to mass production that I have learned to be skeptical.
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Groover
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02/06/23 07:23am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2024 GMC and 2023 Super Duty
Dealer markups seem to have gone away around here. With the vehicles I see starting to pile up on the dealer's lots I expect to see some serious discounts soon.
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Groover
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01/29/23 12:31pm |
Tow Vehicles
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