V2 Alternatives

[Turbobruce]

Originally Posted by chloeourdog

Today we headed from Bryce Canyon to Zion National Park. On the road to Zion (95-98 OAT, moderate incline) I had another bout with the temperature gauge going to 3/4 and lots of fan. I did not have EFILive hooked up, but I now recognize my fan kicks in at about 230 ECT and the gauge does its wild swing at above 230 degrees. I was driving a bit slower today (45-55 mph).

Again temps recovered quickly - noticed out here my tranny runs much warmer than back east also (200 to 225). I recently changed the spin-on so I know it is not clogged and I run Allison Transynd (buy it buy the 5 gallon pail - not cheap I have already hit 250 degrees TFT going down I70 descending the Rockies ...

Towing in the East coast with a mid-profile camper like mine I have been fine (hence my reports of contained temps, no fan) but now that I am in the Southwest with larger climbs and higher temps combined, I am not sufficiently equipped to tow anything larger than what I have and I am probably marginal at best (and will take TX's advice and not travel through Needles until I upgrade my cooling system to handle the increased OAT).




Now that the rest of my family has seen this part of the US (Southwest), they want to make many return trips ....

The west is no joke when it comes to climbs and extreme heat. I really think this is why this subject has been such a heated(no pun intended) debate. East coast guys don't have a clue about the terrain out west along with the heat until they deal with it first hand.


Everytime I go on vacation I have to deal with the heat and the crazy climbs. Be glad your not going on the I15 dealing with Baker Grade or Cajon Pass. Baker grade climbs for over 20 miles in 115 degree heat.

[TxChristopher]

There is some truly beautiful country out west, thats for sure. Its no wonder RV's are so popular there.

Several of us have been talking in private and wondered what the look on your face would be when you saw that first big sudden move the gauge makes. Once that move happens, its generally all over with no recovery unless the conditions are removed. . . .. .. at that point you find out the engine fan hits "3rd gear" then "4th gear" then "overdrive" as Darin likes to explain it, which you were likely unfamiliar with before now. Power goes south and speed drops and at that point you are mired in the suction of the problem which gets worse and worse with no way out. It is a sinking feeling to wonder which grade might take you out and put you and your family on the side of the road on a very hot day.

A few others were monitoring your reports of your trip and they accurately predicted where it would be that you would see what we have all been talking about. Now you know why we have been telling you for years that the east side of the country is NOTHING compared to the west. Out west the mountains are monsters and the heat is bigtime.

Here is the current and forecasted conditions for Needles, obviously you do not want anything to do with these kind of conditions right now, if you think mid to upper 90's is giving you problems:



For comparisons sake here is quote from someone else who has travelled the area we are talking about and bought his V2 back in July 2006 specifically to tackle Needles with his large trailer combo, trailer was in the 14,500 lb range all by itself:

Interesting indeed

Hey guys. I returned from my week long trip to Park Moabi Regional Park, on the Colorado River AZ. just this past Sunday. The last few days were spent cleaning out my trailer, and returning it to the stealer for a warranty issue. One of my two AC units(forward bedroom) went out on me the first night. But with day time temps in the 110*+, and night time temps in the high 90's, who needed a second unit to cool down a 36' trailer

Okay, enough whining, here's what I got...We departed Riverside, CA. Sunday, 8-6, @1100hr, armed with my newly installed Rad v2/Fan, and pulling approx. 14500k worth of fifth wheel. I was actually was hoping for some record OAT's, but when we pulled away, it was an unseasonal 69*
We then headed north on the 15, with speeds averaging 55-65mph, OAT's still in the low 70's. About an hour and a half into the trip, we stopped in Fontana, for fuel, and to wait on the rest of our caravan.

An hour later, back on the road. OAT's were in the low 90's, as we approached our first challenge...The El Cajon Pass! Getting up to the summit was a bear. Mostly in 3rd, some 2nd gear, averaging 45-50mph But now the good news, the ECT needle never left the 209*/206* mark. As a matter of fact, to get way a head of myself, it NEVER budged from the mark, period!

My caravan buddy, in an identical TV(no RAD), towing pretty much the same weight, was experiencing ECT's in the 220*'s. This was confirmed, as we were in constant cel. communication all the way up to the summit. Now in all honesty, my tranny temp. went up a bit, but not much, and my factory fan kicked on briefly, once or twice.

The rest of the trip was pretty much flat, with some rolling hills. By the time we reached Needles @ 1600hr. the OAT was 112*.

I won't bother you with the boring details, but the week that followed was filled with wake boarding, fishing, PWC riding, and massive consumption of alcoholic beverages

We left Park Moabi for the return trip home on Sunday, 8-13 @1300hr. Much too late for my taste, but I had some issues with my air bags. OAT was 102*. Nothing to report, until we reached the Needles grade. I don't know exactly the % of the grade, but believe you me, it's steep and long. The OAT as we started the climb was 106*. Averaging 45-50mph in some sections in 2nd and 3rd gear, the tranny temp. climbed some, but the ECT stood fast at the 209/206* mark. I did however, get a lot more factory fan action climbing this grade, but they were brief in nature.
The rest of the trip home was rather uneventful.

Well, that's all I got. I have no screen shots of temp gauges, and most of the info was taken from memory. I don't even have anything to compare this to, as this was my very first trip pulling this trailer. As an aside, it was very difficult, if not impossible to keep my EGT below 1300* on many on the steep grades, with the mods I currently have.

Comments or questions?


Oh, did I mention, the ECT never left 209*
__________________
'04.5 Silverado LLY 2500HD D/A CC LB 4x4, Firestone air bags, BFG AT-KO's 285/75/16/E on 16x8 Predators
AFE Stage II CAI, Magnaflow 4" turboBack exhaust with 5" chrome tip, dual gauge pillar pod, hyper tech programer set to stage III, Rad V2 Mod w/fan option.
'06 34' Ragen 5th wheel toy hauler

[truckee274]

Hey Tx where is that video you shot that won your court case??

[Rttoys]

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/L...suit_92219.htm

[gregs04.5]

Can someone pm me contact info TXC? want one of his CAI kits.

[steve smith]

[quote=Rttoys;3377068]http://videos.streetfire.net/video/L...suit_92219.htm

[/quote

This website is not available,is there another site for the vidio?

[Rttoys]

Originally Posted by steve smith

This website is not available,is there another site for the vidio?

Something must be up with streetfire. The link worked when I posted it, now it doesn't and where I got the link isn't working either.

[4JRJ]

I just watched the video with no problems.

[RayK]

The back of that U-Haul truck facing the direction of travel must put up huge wind resistance numbers. Calculated out, that probably makes the effective gross weight higher.

I would have loved to see this with the front of the U-Haul truck facing the direction of travel.

I think the Dodge had a more aerodynamic setup and less weight to tow.

At least the Duramax didn't blow up.

[blctalon]

Interesting video. I wonder what the dodge would do if they switched rigs. Would it overheat if you held the gas pedal to the floor for 15 minutes straight, blow up, or would it go any faster?

Maybe if you had the exact same rig, then you could see who can keep up with who. He proved his point that the truck overheated but crying about not keeping up with someone pulling a different load is just senseless.