Your towing rigs and trailers

[Renze]

I know it sounds like very low HP but it's plenty for the car it is and moves in the traffic just fine.

A 90hp turbo diesel is as nimble in traffic as a 120hp gasser, unless you run the gasser above 4000rpm. I picked up my brother this morning, who stranded at the gas station with, what turned out to be a gear selector cable popped off. With 2 ton behind me i run with the flow of traffic while staying under 2000rpm. Torque is a luxury you get used to very quick.

 

[deezler]

Enough chatter about little european diesel sedans, lol. Let's get back on track.

Only my second haul with this trailer and tractor. I don't prefer to load in the dark, but when it's pitch black at 5:15 after a day at work, what are you gonna do. Tractor heading to dealer today to investigate a persistent check engine light; runs great but I can't chance some warranty coverage.

By the time I got to work today, the sunrise was looking good. I think I loaded the bare tractor just a bit heavy on the tongue. No problem for the truck though.

 

[duramaxsky]

I like to see clean GMT 800 trucks. I have a 2003 I bought new. I really like the truck. So much so that when I bought a new truck I kept it. The new truck is a 1500 so it's nice to still have a 2500HD for hauling stuff. Here's mine.
View attachment 724434

 

[duramaxsky]

Don't know why it loaded a link.

 

[deezler]

Very nice. Yeah I really like seeing other clean GMT800s on the road too. Becoming a classic, almost. At least in places like Michigan here, where salt destroys them. I try not to drive mine on salty roads, but had to today (ugh).

I bought my 2003 from the original owner, he bought it in New Mexico and kept it super clean. I zeibart rust-proofed it but the cab corners are still starting to get the cancer again.

 

[aczlan]

Enough chatter about little european diesel sedans, lol. Let's get back on track.

@Renze has a midsized to large wagon (depending on one's scale), not a little sedan and I suspect tows more often than 80% of the 0-10 year old pickups on the road here in the US. A Euro-spec 2007 Volvo V70 D5 is rated to tow 3900-4400#:
View attachment 724629

Aaron Z

 

[oliver1555]

@Renze has a midsized to large wagon (depending on one's scale), not a little sedan and I suspect tows more often than 80% of the 0-10 year old pickups on the road here in the US. A Euro-spec 2007 Volvo V70 D5 is rated to tow 3900-4400#:

Aaron Z

I’m not sure that tidbit really helps most of us. My trailer weighs 5500# empty and my 2000 Dodge CTD brings that to 13,000# for the empty combo. Add my 1555 Oliver and I am grossing 21,000#. My JD 4440 brings that to a little over 26,000#.

 

[Renze]

I’m not sure that tidbit really helps most of us. My trailer weighs 5500# empty and my 2000 Dodge CTD brings that to 13,000# for the empty combo. Add my 1555 Oliver and I am grossing 21,000#. My JD 4440 brings that to a little over 26,000#.

My combo weighs 13.000# too, occasionally... its illegal, though not unsafe.

When i want to haul 26.000# i take the tractor. Will order a set of final drive gears from a 2000 model, to get 35kmh, which makes the occasional 30 mile trip less boring.

 

[Renze]

Also, what modern day gas engine vehicle has to replace coils and spark plugs anywhere near enough to be a real maintenance concern? Most gas engines in the past couple of decades could go 60-120K miles on plugs and coil packs are not wear items but only replace if failed, and that is super rare (in my experience). The diesel maintenance costs listed by Redlands above are noticeably higher than any gas engine vehicle of similar type.

I only mentioned engine related maintenance that my mate has, because i have had none. I havent even replaced glow plugs in 200.000km... My 1999 S70 TDI was absolutely trouble free, engine wise... My new (to me) V70 D5 has big boots to fill...

Oh yes, my TDI needed a pump timingbelt every 60.000km, which consists of cutting the old one in half, sliding on the new one halfway, cutting the last half of the old one, and sliding the new one further on. That was all Diesel related maintenance i ever did on it..

Maybe its because i can still choose from plenty of rust free Diesels from a bygone era of lower emission standards, but here in Holland, the general consensus is that you save on fuel and maintenance with a diesel, if you break even on the higher road tax on diesels...

 

[Renze]

What are you towing while getting 50 mpg? What vehicle are you talking about? I would love to get that kind of mileage when hauling 3 horses or 10,000 lbs. Of hay.

No, not when towing... a round trip of 150km to pick up a 2 ton tractor, (going empty, returning loaded, 90-100kmh on the cruise control) gets me around 1 liter per 10km, which is roughly 23 to 24 miles per gallon.

Towing a horse trailer or load of hay, you get frontal surface getting wind drag, so no chance getting anywhere near that mileage...

Tow vehicle was my 1999 Volvo S70 2.5 TDI, unfortunately no longer with us because VW doesnt deliver the crankshaft sensor anymore for MY 99 and 00...