First Impressions Part Two - Diesel Forum

barrelhorses · 12-15-2008, 09:41 PM

Finally put the truck to the test of towing my LQ horse trailer. My trailer had been sitting on a dealer's lot for a while having some warranty stuff done and also trying to sell it. Anyhow, no one is spending money right now so I decided to bring it home.

The truck was not the dog that I feared it would be. Granted, I didn't have any great big hills to climb and the trailer was totally unloaded. But I had envisioned that the truck would not do too well towing the big pig trailer. The trip was about 20 miles and consisted of about 15 minutes sorting through a couple miles of stop and go town traffic followed by about 6 or so miles of highway and then 12 or so miles of backroads. I reset the lie-o-meter when I left the dealer's lot. By the time I got home, the MPG was at 7.4. Honestly I am pretty pleased with that. I believe that even loaded for bear, I could get 8 MPG easy enough on a towing trip.

I know I'm gonna catch crap for this, but I do believe the truck actually performed better than my 05 PSD on the backroads portion of my trip. That may be due to the difference in rear ends, though -- 3.73 vs. 4.10. I do believe, though, that the PSD was better on the highway. The gasser is certainly a different animal than the diesel. I can definitely say that I like the T/H function on this truck better than my 05 eventhough engine braking seems to be less helpful. Also, the IBC is much improved (my 05 was an early one and wouldn't activate below certain MPH).

I do sorta wish that I had gotten 4.30 rear end but that is a moot point now. I'm still hoping to sell the trailer, but if I don't sell it, I am quite certain my truck will handle the few trips that we actually take it on.

Pappy19 · 12-15-2008, 10:16 PM

Is your truck, a 2008 V-10, still vertually brand new? If so, you will need at least 15-20k before you will notice a big difference in poop. If you think it runs good now, just wait a while and you'll be singing the virtues of your V-10 along with the rest of us gassers. No worries, just gas and go. Oh yeah, I forgot about the $14.95 oil/filter changes every 4-5k.

barrelhorses · 12-16-2008, 06:45 AM

I think I'm at about 27XX miles.

If I wind up keeping and using the LQ, I will be installing Timbrens. While the truck handled the load good enough for occassional usage, I think the timbrens will make it even better. I put them on my 05 and they made a world of difference with the LQ trailer. I actually should have taken the timbrens off my 05 when I traded, but I forgot to say anything to the dealer when I made the deal so I didn't do it. That would have saved me a couple hundred $$$.

jlesniak · 12-21-2008, 08:36 PM

How heavy is the LQ trailer? I too have a 6.0h now whats wrong? Thinking seriously about a v-10. I pull a 5er rv about 10,000 lbs. Love the diesel pull but this stock, regularly maintained truck is been nothing but headaches lately.

barrelhorses · 12-23-2008, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlesniak

How heavy is the LQ trailer? I too have a 6.0h now whats wrong? Thinking seriously about a v-10. I pull a 5er rv about 10,000 lbs. Love the diesel pull but this stock, regularly maintained truck is been nothing but headaches lately.

I honestly don't know what it weighs. The GVWR is 18K. The trailer has upgraded axles and tires to get it up to that number. According to the dealer, the trailer weighed around 9600 empty IIRC. So I figure it really weighs somewhere around 11K with water and clothes and other supplies. I'm down to only two horses now, so add 2600 for my two fat horses and I'm getting close to 14K. But these are all just guestimates. If I wind up keeping it, I really need to take the time to get it weighed. I really hope the trailer finds a new address though so it won't be an issue.