New toy!

[Birdhunter1]

I finally got my hitch installed and will be towing a boat on Sat. morning. It's just a 16' bass boat that my previous two small Ranger's would handle so this truck shouldn't strain at all. next weekthgouth i have to tow the MF 135 and 6' bushhog about twenty miles to a friends farm ground to help mow some pastures and such.
I had to add gas on the 2nd, 15.2 mpg's. Not good but this first tank had a lot of idle time, short trips, slow putting around, etc. that I knew would make the mpg go down. I figure other than maxing out its towing capability this would be the hardest mpg driving I would be doing, similar to how I will follow backroads to no end in search of prime quail spots and down old dirt farm roads at slow speeds. This type of driving would bring my 23mpg Ranger down to about 18mpg's so I figure this new truck will get a few mpg's better than what I got in the first 300 miles.
I also gave tha pretty black truck a wash after it recieved it's hitch. My dad and I put it on at the dealership after hours and after we were done I pulled around to the cleanup shop and did my truck real quick. Boy it looked nice in that cleanup bay, then i opened up the stall door and it was raining, dern the luck. At least the bugs and fingerprints all over the truck were gone though.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I got out on the interstate this weekend and got some performance reuslts to tell. I traveled from Murphysboro, IL to Bennett Springs, MO, approx 270 miles (80 two lane 190 Interstate) and got 18-19 mpg's at 75 mph. My bud and I estimated at 60-70 mph I would get about 20 mpg, (our speed on teh two lane roads) and when we got on the interstate we bumped up to 75 and it dropped, overall it was 18-19 for the trip. At 95mph she's smooth as can be, only ran that speed for a short distance then went back to cruise at 75. I-44 from St. Louis to Lebanon, MO is very hilly and truck rarely kicked itself out of overdrive for steep grades. I had approx. 800 lbs in cargo, 1 passenger, and myself. Very comfortable for the 4-4 1/2 hour trip, except for my right knee which stiffens up after sitting for too long anyway. No raod/wind noise at all, gravel roads to some fishing/canoeing areas were a little bit of a rough ride but the in the trucks defense the road(s) were absolutley horrible. Cuaght a lot of fish, had a few Coors Lights and had a lot of fun. I did not look forward to coming to work tonight.

 

[Mark4510]

Birdhunter,
sounds like you are having a great time with your new truck! I never owned a new truck until I was 36 years old but still remember getting my first pick up. It was a great experience.

Be careful with a P/U over 70 mph and post some pictures when you can.

Mark