This is just a rant about how much I hate towing into a head wind. Left Minneapolis area sat morning at 5:30 am heading for Bismarck, ND. We sold a race car to a guy from MT and we agreed to meet him in ND. It was very calm when we left, towing a 28' Halmark Edge race car trailer. With the dragster in it the combo would weight about 7200-7500 pounds. Heading west was a breeze and we were making great time with the cruise set about 78 mph and getting about 13.5 mpg. Stopped for fuel in West Fargo and could not believe the wind when I stepped out of the truck, you had to brace yourself just to stand while fueling up. Arrived in Bismarck about 11:00, not bad for 402 miles.
The exchange with the car buyer went smooth and we were back on are way heading east around 12:30, that is when all hell broke loose and we now had 402 miles of head wind to deal with and it was not going to pretty. The wind had to be over 30 and gusting to 45 and we were driving right into it. We had things to do so just slowing down and extending the trip did not sound fun. The only thing I could do was was get up to 70 mph set the cruise and then drop the shifter down to third to keep the trans from hunting like mad. So we drove for about 160 miles this way, the tach read 3000 rpm and the mpg meter said 7. We cruised right through jamestown with over half a tank so we kept going, big mistake as the truck started running out of fuel west of west fargo right as we started up the exit ramp where there was a fuel station. Hand calculatd the mpg's and we had only been getting about 6 mpg so we got a whopping 170 miles out of a tank of fuel. The next leg from west fargo to Alexandria, Mn was just as bad. I was wishing I 4:10 or 4:30 gear.
Spent over 400 dollars in fuel to go 800 miles, what a drag, I will not be traveling to ND anytime soon I know that. The truck got a work out and it really did perform well considering the sail we were towing behind us.
So how do the rest of you deal with really strong head winds, I hate em.
So how do the rest of you deal with really strong head winds...
Set the cruise control on 62 MPH, then stay in the seat. You'll get there only a few minutes behind the leadfoot who wouldn't stay in the seat.
Mine will safely drag that load at 80 MPH, even with that much headwind. But I can't afford the fuel at those speeds, so I cruse along at 62 MPH, which is 1,800 RPM.
Quote:
The only thing I could do was was get up to 70 mph set the cruise and then drop the shifter down to third to keep the trans from hunting like mad.
I've never driven a 6.0L with TorqShift trqnny, but isn't that what tow/haul mode is for? Third gear is 1.55 ratio - much too low a gear for cruising on the freeway.
__________________
My Sierra Blanca is a '99.5 PSD CrewCab hot-rod Towing Machine! BTS tranny; TurboRamAir intake and 4" stainless turbo-back exhaust; DP-Tuner tunes flashed into an Edge Evolution tuner; ISSPRO EV gauges and TTM; AIC. I special-ordered it new and plan to drive it until it quits.
Heading into the wind can be tough. I think quartering into the wind is worse but that may be just me. I usually luck into a good wind every time I cut through Ok and the panhandle of Texass. I try to time the trip so I get across the pan handle before noon, as the wind seems to pick up later in the day. Whenever I can, I tuck in behind an 18 wheeler. Not too close, but it helps a lot. As for fuel, I didn't really buy this rig expecting anything better than horrible, so I mash the pedal and drive with the boost gauge. I try to keep boost at 20PSI or less constantly, more for hills.
12injectors so far
1 FICM
8 glow plugs
1 glow plug control module
1 HPOP
2 EGR valves, plus(cleaned 6 times)
EGR cooler
buzz flash replaced with
heat flash(seems to work quite well)
2 Batteries
8 Tires
Rear brake pads,,,At 105,000 miles.
Enough Rotella to float a boat!
New flywheel/clutch assy(possibly not needed)
Death wobble-FIXED!!ihope
2006 F350 CC LWB Dually XLT Oxford white manual 4x4 6.0 PSD 6 speed. 4.10 LS front and rear,captains chairs, polished forged wheels, sunroof, tow mirrors, tow command brake controller, skid plates. Built May05. 4" turbo back w/modded OEM CAT,turboflow muffler, 100gal aux fuel tank, low profile black toolbox,5th wheel/gooseneck hitch, LineX(hate it), GlowShift fuel pressure gauge and fuel crossover tube. A real pig from a stop, but give me 10' and she'll lite'em up. 88K troublesome miles. Running fairly well for the last 20,000( Let us pray.....).
We left our "home base" on thurs. a.m. thought the 40+ mph winds would subside out of town and we would be going "with the wind" up the hill. We pulled that 9K fiver up from 1000' elev to 6200' elev, in 98 miles in constant 30+ gusting to 45 HEAD winds. One spot was 6% grade up for 2 miles. Took us 20 gal of fuel.. I HATE hauling in the wind. I love the truck and on another note I now know that the intake/exhaust WILL NOT remain stock much longer.
__________________
1994 F-350 7.3 IDI Turbo, crew cab,LB, Dually,
ATS Turbo upgrades, 3" DP with 3" exhaust Magnaflow XL muffler
1997 Jayco fifth wheel 323RKS, Robins 16K dual axis hitch
Apillar pod with: Autometer C2 Series gauges: pyro,trans, boost
Hypermax Cowl induction
Flex-A-Lite 26K tranny cooler w/fan
K&N air filter (we'll see in a million miles)
Tekonsha "prodigy" brake control
Intake and exhaust (chip and turbo housing) really help with towing
power and milage... Still takes a lot of fuel.. To get any good milage
ya need to slow down a bit. I try to keep around 65 or less. 62 is good
milage, but EGT can be a problem when pulling a big load at that speed.
Chip wants to dump fuel to keep the speed... 67 works real well with
the cruse control set, good power, lower EGT, and better boost.. BUT a
bunch more fuel...
__________________
'00 F350 Supercrewzer Lariet, PSD, Auto, 3.73, CC, 4x4, SWB, SRW, F250, Tony Wildman 6-pos Chip, Custom intake, 4-inch turbo back exhaust, ATS housing, ITP overboost eliminator / Packages: Trailer Tow, Camper, Off-Road. Overhead monitor VCR/TV (VCR under rear seat w/ 6 CD changer) www.employees.org/~calridng (Offroad riding in California)
You have to love ND. I have haulled across there (Fargo to Bizmark, and on to Billngs) with a West wind running at 60+. Had the truck (gasser) shut down to 45 mashed to the floor.
Best thing to do in the wind is slow down.
__________________
1996 F-250 extended cab long box five speed. Home made Tymar, 203 Stat, 60 gal in bed fuel cell, 315/75's, no cat, no muffler, ebpv welded open 3" to 3" DP, Babies. 255K, still chugging, and still smoking when cold.
UPDATED 8/1/08 Replace so far. 1 LUK flywheel+clutch, 2 thermostats, 2 set of brakes, 1 set of calipers, 5 CPS, 3 sets of tires, 2 Transfer pumps, 1 Injector modual, 1 Computer, 2 Alt, 2 sets of batteries, 1 Water pump, 6 Belts, 1 PS hose, 2 Sets ball joints, 2 set u-joints, 2 carrier bearing, 2 Speed sensors, 1 oil pres sender, 1 temp sender, 4 sets of e-break cables, 1 front fuel tank, 2 rear fuel tanks, 2 set of glow plugs, 6 Glow plug relays, Oil galley o-rings, Turbo pedistal o-rings, EBPV o-rings, 3 sets of Injector O-rings, 1 Vac-pump, 1 new carpet.Total $$$ in repairs v/s miles driven = 3.0 cents per mile. Add fuel to that it jumps to 14.8 cents per mile over the life of the truck.
So how do the rest of you deal with really strong head winds, I hate em.
Very simple----if you live in Wy. never head westbound. If the wind ever quit here, everyone would fall down!
If you go to my Webshots below, I think about the last page shows a pic from the newspaper of tow trucks uprighting a Swift trailer that blew over in our Walmart parking lot a year+ ago. (I think he'll unhook with it facing East/West next time!)
Nobody answered my question yet: "I've never driven a 6.0L with TorqShift tranny, but isn't that what tow/haul mode is for?"
I don't think you could hit 70mph in 3rd gear with the TorqueShift. The engine would redline before then. You could run 70 in 4th. Tow/haul locks the torque converter sooner and changes the shift points to a higher rpm. I think I'd put it in tow/haul, set the cruise for about 60-65 mph and let the computer handle what gear to use.
... The wind had to be over 30 and gusting to 45 and we were driving right into it. We had things to do so just slowing down and extending the trip did not sound fun. The only thing I could do was was get up to 70 mph set the cruise and then drop the shifter down to third to keep the trans from hunting like mad. ... the tach read 3000 rpm and the mpg meter said 7. ... Hand calculated the mpg's and we had only been getting about 6 mpg so we got a whopping 170 miles out of a tank of fuel. The next leg from west fargo to Alexandria, Mn was just as bad. I was wishing I 4:10 or 4:30 gear.
Spent over 400 dollars in fuel to go 800 miles, what a drag ...
Yup, drag is precisely what it is. At an airspeed of 110 mi/hr, (70 mi groundspeed plus 40 mi/hr headwind) the power dissipated by aerodynamic drag will be more than triple what it is at 70 mi/hr.
There are really only three options when you're facing a strong headwind:
Slow down
Burn a lot more fuel
Wait for more favorable winds
__________________
-
Douglas Campbell [drcampbell ot engineer dat kahm]
1986 Isuzu P'up, 177,673.8 miles. Hella headlights, (highly recommended) DOT C-2 back end. (also recommended) R-12 air conditioner converted to R-406a. 4.1:1 rear axle converted to 3.4:1.
9/22/2007, age 21: Still running well when reluctantly sent away for reincarnation, due to body & frame rust.
The Green Party's candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 9th district (www.gp.org)
I don't think you could hit 70mph in 3rd gear with the TorqueShift. The engine would redline before then. You could run 70 in 4th. Tow/haul locks the torque converter sooner and changes the shift points to a higher rpm. I think I'd put it in tow/haul, set the cruise for about 60-65 mph and let the computer handle what gear to use.
I thought the same thing, however when you set the cruise at 70-73 and then dropped the shifter into 3rd it only dropped one gear and sat right at 3000 rpms. Once the cruise was turned off and you slowed down it would downshift into third once your mph dropped below 65, then you had to put it back into overdrive, gain speed let it shift into overdrive before you could drop it into thrid again. Did that make any sense? It was like the computer would not let it go to third above 65 mph. At 3000 rpms the boost sat right at 20-22 psi.
I know I could have slowed down to 60 and just ran it in third but we were in a hurry. Lots of times in the my 2003 E450 motorhome towing the racecar trailer I would run at 50 in third gear when in a strong head wind.
Smokey, the tow haul button works great under normal conditions, I do wish that just for the day I had the six speed. However the times I wished I had it compared with 98% of the time I'm glad I don't.
The computer would not shift to third until your speed had slowed enough so the engine wouldn't overspeed. I think I would just leave it in D and use tow/haul. Let the computer decide which gear to use unless it really starts hunting between OD and 4th.
The computer would not shift to third until your speed had slowed enough so the engine wouldn't overspeed. I think I would just leave it in D and use tow/haul. Let the computer decide which gear to use unless it really starts hunting between OD and 4th.
It was constantly hunting, any incline at all would shift it out of OD, and I just didn't like the way it would lug down into the 1800 rpm range and 28-30 psi boost before it would downshift.
We ran into a crazy headwind right around Livingston MT back in March. Signs were blown down, missing, or wrapped around the poles. We were in a Dmax with a 28ft H+H race trailer. The only reason we slowed down was the coolant temp was hitting 235-238 and that got me really nervous. Boost was 25psi and EGTs were hovering around 1150. The truck didn't downshift at all, which was incredible. If we would have kept going, it would have just overheated and melted down, but there was tons of power.
We slowed it down to 60 from 72mph and things were a lot better. Fuel consumption was brutal though.
06 F350 lariat ,6.0 Auto, 4x4, CC, SB, Black, Moonroof, Pwr rear slider, Brake controller, 3.73LS, ESOF, Sec. group, Htd pwr TT's 
Linear Mode
