Should be a fun tow soon

[ASD Dad]

My in-laws are moving South to be closer to us and the grandkids.  OK, just the grandkids and we happen to be here!  We usually visit them and my parents for Thanksgiving up in Ohio.  Normally we take my wife's Sienna as it gets way better mpg and we dont need all the extra room, it is easier to park, etc.  Well they want me to take my NV up there to tow their camper back to SC.  

 

Camper is a brand new Trail Manor, the biggest model they make.  It is only 22ft closed I think.  It also only weighs around 4000 lbs and sits low so should be an easy go of things vs. my toy hauler.  The fun part will be towing it through the VA and WV mountains up and down Rte 77!  There are some steep and long grades.  Passed many a camper being towed going up barely going 50mph with their flashers on.  Coming back down you can smell brakes cooking on semi's and tow vehicles.  

 

I've towed our camper through the NC and TN mountains and it wasnt much of an issue but those are pretty short and tame compared to VA and WV.  They tow it through there all the time with a brand new Silverado 1500 with no issues, they just take it really slow and steady when needed.  My father in law needs his truck to haul a big landscape trailer full of stuff so I am bringing the camper.  

 

My biggest worry is his camper cost about twice as much as ours!  That and I hope we dont get some freak snow/ice storm in the mountains...  

[ASD Dad]

Well my fun tow was quite boring.  Towed their nice, brand new Trail Manor back through the mountains of VA and WV and the NV never broke a sweat.  Camper weighs in around 4000 lbs so I didnt even us a WD hitch.  Hooked it up to a standard tow shank, lowered my headlights a bit since I would be driving well into the night and took off South.  

 

Mileage on the flats was 10 mpg at 65 mph.  In the mountains it was 8-9 mpg at the same speeds.  I could easily use cruise on the flats and even some rolling hills if I shifted manually.  I had to use 3rd gear quite a bit on the long climbs and left it in 4th for the way back down to save the brakes.  Mileage was about the same as hauling my giant brick of a camper vs. their low slung TM.  Doesnt seem to matter what you are hauling, once you add a load the mileage drops period.  Zero drama though and it never felt like it was having issues.  Zero sway even in the higher crosswinds too which was nice.  

 

One added bonus.  Found out the NV does better than I thought it would in slushy snow.  Not sure how the stock Firestone highway tires would be (pretty sure a lot worse) but my all terrain tires had zero issues.  We had some snow up in OH and it drove in the slush nicer than my old 2WD Tundra did with Michelin M/S 2's on it.  The Tundra had traction but it was much squirrelier. 

[andy_george]

Nice tow report, thanks! Glad things went well for you.

 

We've always had that general rule of thumb about towing.... Anything light-duty (all pickups and vans, gas or diesel) the mileage is cut in half, or a bit better if lucky, when towing. Doesn't seem to matter how big the box is or what it weighs.

 

Now our medium duty stuff ( Frightliner, International) is different.... Loaded or unloaded, towing or not towing, the mileage always sucks and doesn't change much!:)