250-Mile Tow Statistics- Temps, etc.

[four winns 214]

Occasionally there are posts inquiring whether the trailer hub temperatures the poster is experiencing are normal. I just towed my Four Winns 214 deckboat on a tandem axle trailer 257 miles from its storage at our farm in western Kentucky to Louisville, Ky. The terrain is gently rolling and the route was over four-lane limited access for 220 miles of the trip.

I measured hub temps three times with an infrared thermometer, at miles 12, 129, and 257. Here are the results in degrees F displayed at wheel position looking at the trailer from above. The aft two hubs have disc brakes. The ambient temperature was 77-80 degrees F.

Mile 12

94 94

107 104

Mile 129

102 104

113 112

Mile 257

98 100

157 145

The last 12 miles of the trip was on a suburban four-lane with stops at seven lights so that really heated up the brakes.

The tow vehicle was a 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500 equipped with a 5.3L gas engine, six-speed Allison transmission with a 3.42 rear end and a factory tow package. The boat and trailer weigh 5950 pounds and truck had an additional 400 pounds in cab and bed.

Transmission fluid temperature ranged from high 150s to low 160s. On the last 12 miles with all the starts and stops, transmission fluid temp spiked to 191. Miles per gallon was 13.1. I drove 60 mph.

I know these things rarely format correctly, but I did the best I could.

 

[roscoe]

Good info, thanks for posting.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Nice to know what I can expect from my Silverado when towing. Interestingly enough, your tow vehicle delivered higher gas mileage than my older Chevy S10 4.3 V6 towing a lighter load. --4000 pounds.

 

[four winns 214]

Nice to know what I can expect from my Silverado when towing. Interestingly enough, your tow vehicle delivered higher gas mileage than my older Chevy S10 4.3 V6 towing a lighter load. --4000 pounds.

When I switched from from a 4.3 V-6 2WD S-10 to a 4.8 V-8 2WD Silverado in 2007 (my first Silverado), I was surprised that my MPG stayed the same and sometimes went up. My current Silverado is 4WD, but gets just about the same MPG, something I attribute to the Allison 6-speed and 3.42 rear end. A big factor in MPG is driver technique and speed. Easy starts and lower cruise speeds help, especially when towing. My towing mileage most times is in the mid-12s. The mileage was higher this trip most likely because I was lighter than usual.

 

[bruceb58]

The tow vehicle was a 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500 equipped with a 5.3L gas engine, six-speed Allison transmission with a 3.42 rear end and a factory tow package.

How did you get a 1/2T Chevy PU with an Allison transmission?

 

[four winns 214]

Sorry. Misread manual. Make that 6-speed Hydramatic. In any case, I'm happy with it and the truck so far.

 

[Frank Acampora]

My Silverado is also a 2011 or 2012--I forget. It has 4WD and the 5.3 engine which is a beauty of an engine and either the Allison or Hydramatic 6 speed. The engine automatically switches from 8 to 4 cylinders depending upon load. Previous owner installed stainless cat back dual exhaust with a stainless low restriction muffler. It is VERY easy to know when I am getting into the gas too much--noisy as hell. Unloaded I average around 16.5 MPG in general use but in long over the road trips it will deliver around 19. Interestingly enough, at around 100 MPH the computer get excited and says "You are going fast enough" It is not a go-fast truck, rater a load carrier. I don't normally go that fast but it was an open road and I had to try it just to see what it would do.

It tows my smaller boats (15 foot, 1200 pounds) like there aren't there. I have yet to tow my 21 footer.

 

[bruceb58]

Sorry. Misread manual. Make that 6-speed Hydramatic. In any case, I'm happy with it and the truck so far.

I would buy a new truck if it was possible to get the Allison!

As far as the 5.3's ability to switch from 4 to 8 cylinders, that is the first thing I would disable if I had that engine. I have a 1999 with the 5.3 and I can get close to 18-19 and I don't have that mode. I have the 3.73 rear axle too. Just too many stories of those engines having issues because of running in that 4 cylinder mode.
http://www.amazon.com/Range-Technolo...ct_top?ie=UTF8

 

[HT32BSX115]

Sorry. Misread manual. Make that 6-speed Hydramatic. In any case, I'm happy with it and the truck so far.

I think your trans is the 6L80E automatic.

 

[Silvertip]

Fuel economy is not just about driving technique and speed. The example of a 2wd 4.3 S10 vs the full size V8 is really not a fair comparison because the S10 more than likely did not have a rear axle ratio conducive to towing whereas the Silverado did. I've owned both vehicles (actually several of them) one of which was an S10 crew cab 4WD that I ordered specifically for towing. It had 3:73 gears and pulled like a mule. I once made a road trip with a buddy towing nearly identical boats only he was towing with a Honda Ridgeline. My S10 trounced the Honda severely on that trip and he complained that the Honda was forever downshifting and had a hard time keeping up with me on the freeway. The Honda certainly had enough power but was not geared for towing. I also towed my pontoon with the S10 and was never in anyones way. The point of all this is that it takes a lot of HP to make up for a poor choice of axle ratio when towing. HP burns fuel. Deeper gears means less throttle which means less fuel unless you go over the hump so to speak where those higher rpms begin to hurt economy. An engine that is lugging all the time is going to burn more fuel.

 

[four winns 214]

Good info and of course you're right. My post was unclear. The fuel economy numbers I was referring to was sans trailer as a daily driver. I never towed a boat with the S-10. I traded it for the first Silverado.

 

[naturelover]

The 4.3l GM is a good motor and has good power and torque, but likes the gas. My 2wd S-10 drinks it, and I'm probably getting 24 or so mpg unloaded highway.

Towing A 2k lb popup, I'm down near 14mpg.

The duramax dually is getting 16.6mpg unloaded, and I'd expect the same towing the popup.

 

[thumpar]

I had the 4.3l in my Safari van. It is a great engine but with the AWD it liked the fuel. I now have a Yukon with the 5.3l and it gets pretty much the same mileage when in 2wd mode as the Safari did. My Yukon doesn't have the 4 cylinder mode and have heard from many people that do have it and tow they have disabled it.

 

[Frank Acampora]

My S10 was the extended cab 2WD version. When I first bought it the 4.3 would deliver about 21 MPG highway unloaded. However, the transmission went away after about 80,000 miles and the repair shop installed a higher stall speed torque converter--you could feel it pulling away from lights. The engine would rev up until the truck got going. Mileage dropped to 18 MPG highway unloaded.

 

[NYBo]

My '07 Ram 5.7L with tow package and 3.92 differentials gets about the same fuel economy as my '99 Dakota 3.9L with 3.92 differentials did. Both 4WD. Tow mode in the Ram deactivates MDS, Dodge's term for cylinder deactivation. I haven't towed with the Ram and did very little with the Dakota, so I won't be able to compare those figures.