I bought a travel trailer (26' Salems) weights empty 5600 pounds and an 800 pound tounge weight). I didn't think I had anything to worry about. I picked it up, towed it home okay and this weekend we went on our first trip. I know I loaded it down some, but I wasn't worried. I hooked it up and even with the
Reese weight distribution hitch, it squatted the back end a little more than I really wanted it to. I decided to worry about it later (trip is only 40 mile), but when we hit the road it's like I hit a wall at 60 mph and I got about 6 miles to the gallon (burned a 1/4 tank of gas). When I tried to go over 60, it would shift down the 3rd and stay there.
Is this normal? I keep hearing how well they tow, but I figured flat ground and no wind I should be able to run 65.
That doesn't sound right, unless you were pushing against a strong headwind. I pull a TT which is a little heavier and am able to pull it faster than I should. Even so, I try to keep it at 60 or below for safety.
Do you have the big-tow package? Are you engaging tow mode? What gear are you towing in?
The only other thought that comes to mind is that maybe your trailer brakes are dragging. What happens if you hold the brake disengage lever on your brake controller for a while.
I have the big tow package, I'm in tow mode and manually put it in 4th gear. I thought the same thing with the brakes, but when I let off the gas, I don't feel any resistance when I coast.
I think I need to tweek my hitch a little, but I don't see how that would affect the towing so much.
I'll add, it has no problem going 65 in 3rd gear, but when it shifts to 4th, it slows to 60 and it shifts again to jump up to 65.
I'm towing 8200# and get a little over 9mpg on flat highway at 60mph. I keep it in 4th, but it will cruise in 5th when flat at 65mph no problem. Doesn't drop into 3rd like you're describing. Without the trailer, I'll normally get 17-18mpg average on highway.
Seems to me that your Armada is working harder than it should.
Other than brake dragging, I'd check that your wheel bearings are lubricated and that you don't have a bent axle. Also check tire air pressures.
Finally, if you have a local CAT scale, you can get weights for front, rear and trailer axle which will tell you if your WDH is set up right and you'll know actual weight.
Dirtbiker, Wow! I never get that kind of mileage. I average 12 with my wife's city driving and somewhere around 14 hwy (running at least 70, but usually 75-80).
There is no heat off the hubs, though I'll check them and probably repack them before our next trip. I'm not sure how to check the brake other than there is no heat radiating and there is no noise coming from them. They seem to be working quite well.
I didn't think of the axle, so I'll check on that.
I came home today and realized the the wd hitch was doing nothing. The airbags leveled the truck of corse, but the hitch was just sort of there. I haven't tested this yet...I'm hoping the hitch will help. Coming home I was content to go 60 and didn't notice anything...speeds up to 60 just fine and the computer read 7.2 mpg, but it was a short trip.
This keeps getting more frustrating. I download instructions for how to set up my Husky round bar WD hitch. Everything seems very straight forward. I follow the instructions to the letter, get it set up and try to hook up to the travel trailer.
Holy cow! The instructions say to attach the ball and hitch and then raise the trailer and tow vehicle until you can attach the bars. I end up raising the whole thing a lot more than seems safe just to get the first link of the chain attached. Is this right? And, am I the only one that's a little freaked out by this?
Really sounds like the height of your hitch ball and/or the angle of your hitch head is off. Or maybe you are set up right, but you are not raising the TV/Trailer high enough to attach the chains right. Once your WDH is set up right, you shouldn't have to rely on your air bags to level much at all. My trailer and TV are just about dead level -before- I start up the TV and the air bags kick in.
To attach the chains, yes, you do need to lift the trailer and TV quite a bit. As long as the wheels don't come off the ground or something, you're ok. Personally, I always make sure I have chocks on the wheels and all the hitch pins in and that I'm not in the way if something breaks.
Following the instructions, with a level TV and trailer, you want the hitch height adjusted so that it's in line with the tongue.
Next, there is a head adjustment chart in the instructions that shows how to adjust your hitch head angle so that the torsion bars are angled properly. If you have to jack up the bumper on your TV all the way to barely be able to hook up the first link, then your torsion bars are probably angled down too far.
No freak-out required. Thats the way I've always been taught to do it. One thing that did jump out at me though, is when you said "1st link". Do you mean the link at the end of the chain, or the link closest to the torsion bar.
If you have to raise it way up just to get the link at the end to hook, then something is definitely off. If you are trying to hook the link closest to the bar, that doesn't sound right either.
I had a dealer set mine up for me when I purchased the trailer, and he told me to use the fourth link from the bar. I do crank it a bit to lift the rear of the truck, but only enough to get the fourth link on without having to use a cheater bar.
I guess everything is normal then. When I said first chain, I meant the one farthest from the bar, which I can't get without raising the truck up a little. The manual recommends at least 5 chains in between the bar and the pivot arm; I have six, so I think that's fine. When it's all set up and with the truck off (no air bags inflated), the trailer sits perfectly level, the front tires are down 5/8" and the rear wheels are down 1.5". The thing that made me nervous was jacking the Aramada up so much. I certainly didn't lift the wheels off the ground, but I was getting to the end of the jack, and second guessing what I was doing.
On a different note, do y'all run premium or higher octane fuel when you tow? I've searched the forum and can't find anything on that subject.
I guess everything is normal then. When I said first chain, I meant the one farthest from the bar, which I can't get without raising the truck up a little. The manual recommends at least 5 chains in between the bar and the pivot arm; I have six, so I think that's fine. When it's all set up and with the truck off (no air bags inflated), the trailer sits perfectly level, the front tires are down 5/8" and the rear wheels are down 1.5". The thing that made me nervous was jacking the Aramada up so much. I certainly didn't lift the wheels off the ground, but I was getting to the end of the jack, and second guessing what I was doing.
On a different note, do y'all run premium or higher octane fuel when you tow? I've searched the forum and can't find anything on that subject.
Are you referring to the tires on the tow vehicle? When properly set up, your WD hitch should cause the tow vehicle to squat equally in the front and the rear. Since your truck seems to be squatting more in the rear, I'd recommend that you experiment with more tension on the bars to transfer a bit more weight from the rear axle to the front axle.
I do not use premium fuel when I tow, or at any other time. From what I understand our truck, at least in stock tune, cannot adapt to the higher octane.
Sounds like you have the WDH close, but you're still a little heavier on the rear. Can you go up one more link and see if it's better? What was the original problem? Did you just need to move up a few links in the chain?
Looks like you were able to get 7.2mpg most recently, so that's an improvement, but I think you should get better unless your trailer has really poor aerodynamics. It was interesting that you said you only get 14mpg highway without the trailer. A few people on here also report 17-18mpg which is what I get (flat road, after resetting the computer, etc). One thought is that maybe you need to replace your air filter?
I use 87 octane which is what Nissan recommends. "Use unleaded regular gasoline with an octane rating of at least 87 AKI (Anti-Knock Index) number (Research octane number 91)."
I haven't tested it, but my thinking is that higher octane would not make a difference or it would reduce mileage and/or induce more wear to the vehicle as it would run hotter, etc. It's not like towing increases compression which would benefit from higher octane.
Thanks for all the replies and I'm trying to balance detail and brevity. I was a little nervous with how much I had to raise the trailer tongue and back end of TV just to get it to this point; I raised the coupler and vehicle a good 9-10" from the neutral position in order to get the WD hitch attached. The TV is actually very close to level....my measured fender height before adding the trailer was 365/8" (front), and 38" (rear). After getting the hitch setup, my measurements were 36" front, 36.5" rear. This was the best setup I had achieved, so I stopped (this was also at about 8:30 last night, the mosquitoes were coming out, and beer and pizza was calling my name).
Based on the setup chart, I could tilt the hitch head down a little more and still be within the range they gave, and/or take up one more link on the chain and still be within specs. This would give a little more distribution, but it means I would have to lift the trailer and vehicle higher still. That's what is so disconcerting to me. I'm imagining the strain on the trailer jack, coupler lock; not to mention the receiver on the vehicle. Without some sort of reassurance that this was indeed what everyone else is doing and it is an acceptable practice, I wasn't willing to go higher.
As far as taking it to a dealer...if a service tech at a dealership did exactly what I did yesterday, I would still be asking the same questions.
The reason I ask about the octane is that about 15 years ago I had a '94 Ford Ranger pickup and a Jayco popup. Whenever I towed the popup, I would experience engine knocking and higher octane fuel cured the problem. I can't explain why, and there will be someone that claims that the octane had nothing to do with it, but that was my experience.
Heretofore, I have used nothing but 87 in the Armada as well, but thought it was worth asking.
Mr. coastalbirds, following your thread, as far as hitch setup goes, you've got some pretty good advise from those that use your type of hitch. I can add nothing. Fuel mileage, I'd try reseting the trip computer if you haven't already. If you have, not to worry. As you've said, it was a short trip. 100 miles or so will give better info if you've reset and are starting from "0."
Let me take a stab at the octane question. Your former vehicle, when towing you would get "ping." This is predictable in some of the slightly older vehicles as they didn't have knock sensors to compensate for pre-ignition. If I understand it corectly, under load you are effectively increasing compression pressure because of the increase in air/fuel used to get the vehicle moving. In other words, more fuel/air used to get the vehicle moving loaded vs. unloaded. That increase in fuel volume bumps compression pressure up and in doing so can and may cause pre-ignition. Pre-ignition in a gasoline engine is almost the same as a diesel firing from compression. The higher compression ratio engines (10:1, 12:1) require the higher octane fuel because of this. The higher octane gas wont fire from compression as readily as a lower octane gas will. This is especially true in warmer climates.
With your Armada, if it is in stock tune. You will be fine on regular 87 octane.
Thanks for all the help and advice...we're half way trough our 3000 mile trip from the gulf coast of Texas to Colorado with no problems. I tweeked the hitch ever so slightly and the mada settles perfectly (so much better than a lot of trucks and TT that I've seen). We're averaging 8.7 mpg and it's towing better than I thought it would.
Would that be Galveston TX, that's where my wife is from, I have the Big tow 4x4 and empty its showing 10-14 mpg city and 16-18 mpg hi-way on my last 200 mile trip. I been looking at the Newer used TT..there nice.
Just got back from an 800 mile round trip from Syracuse to Maryland. Lots of hills in PA. Averaged around 8.5 mpg also. Typically see up to 9mpg for local trips with no hills.