Would you tow a 4K lbs Travel Trailer for aprrox. 8,000+ miles with your H2?

[ADOR]

We are planning on doing a road trip this summer. My 2005 H2 now have 49,000 miles. My Travel Trailer is aprrox. 4K lbs, with some water for emergency use. Adults (3) and kids (2). My H2 is lifted with Rancho kit, 38'" tires, re-geared 4.88. Planning on stopping at ehe following places:

START: Las Vegas, NV

1. YellowStone National Park, WY
2. Mt. Rushmore, SD
3. Niagara Falls, NY
4. New Jersey
5. Back to Las Vegas


I am not sure about elevation. I would like to avoid (if possible) hills, or at least steep hills. We went to Grand Canyon, AZ and Mt. Zion, UT several times. H2 was fine. Making the elevation towards Williams, AZ was not bad. Speed dropped to around 30MPH, engine temp went a bit higher than normal.


Given the places we are planning on visiting, would you tow with the H2? If so, what preparation do you recommend (oil change, brake fluid flush, AC maintenance). Or.... is it a BAD IDEA?



Thanks.

 

[Polar Bear]

No Problem! I will be doing something similar myself this summer but heading far north and with a 5000lbs trailer but no kids!

If you haven't already had your ECM flashed...it would be good to do it! You can hone in on the shift points and the TCC lock-up and unlock parameters.

I would recommend changing all you fluid over to synthetics in order to help reduce heat and friction and to better protect your drivetrain. I would also recommend a change over to Evans Waterless Coolant to help control the heat in the desert. If you haven't yet installed a larger transmission oil cooler it would be a wise investment. A full tune up, spark plugs and wires also. Flush your brake fluid and service your calipers as well.


Hope this helps,

Kev

 

[5gn-h3t]

I wouldn't hesitate to do it. Sounds like a great trip.

 

[twinmill28]

I've done it, granted not for that distance, but have logged a couple 2000 mile trips and quite a few shorter (under 1k) trips into Canada.
The biggest killer is heat generated going through the mountains is tremendous and you've seen your power diminish greatly on the big inclines. You just learn to take it slow and easy and enjoy the scenery, if you get anxious and pound the gas your trans and engine temp gauges will rise quickly while your gas gauge lowers alarmingly as well.
While Polar Bear has great recommendations on all the services, I didn't go to that expense to prep the truck, regular maintenance was sufficient. I didn't even change the plugs and wires until about 65K and that was right before this last 2000 mile run. As for synthetics, go for it if you've got the bucks to spend. My deuce has been a dedicated tow rig for the family trailer since we bought the deuce and it has served us well. Nothing like towing your trailer that far, wheeling the truck, then hitching up and hitting the highway for a smooth ride down the highway.
I don't recommend reflashing the computer or even coughing up the bucks for a programmer. I tried a Diablo when I first got the trailer and my drive to MOAB was pure hell with all the weird stuff the tuner brought on. Plus filling up with Super at every stop sucked as well. I went back to factory tune when I left MOAB that trip and discovered it's best just to leave all settings as it.
I haven't replaced any of my diff, t-case or trans fluids to this point and I'm at 76K miles now. I had my very trusted transmission/maintenance guy check all the fluids and change oil before I left for California. He said everything looked good and recommended changing everything out at around 100K miles. This is a guy who has business to gain by telling me I needed to change out everything as he knew I was leaving town for good----so I have to trust his word.
I do HIGHLY recommend upgrading tranny cooler ASAP. That's one that has evaded me and I believe it will greatly help in the mountain passes. My factory cooler has been sufficient but I'm convinced it directly contributes to raising the engine temp as things get hot.
I did a coolant flush and put in Water Wetter prior to my last trip--whatever is in that stuff works and helped to keep the temps in check for longer periods of time. As I climbed the longer hills gauges still showed higher temps but it took longer and cooled faster when I backed off.
There's no way you're going to avoid mountain passes on your trip and it's absolutely unavoidable for slight long hills that seem to take forever to crest. I drove I-10 from Florida into Tucson and you'd think that could be the longest flattest stretch of road available but there were lots of neverending inclines and a few mountain passes to get through.
My trailer has always weighed in at over 6000 pounds (more like 6500 to 7000 with all of the family) and the truck has done all of our road trips with no drama.
Enjoy your travels and remember to take it easy coming back down the mountains as brake fade is real and scary as hell after you heat everything up. I just replaced my brake pads this weekend for the first time ever for this truck at 75K, initially the pads still showed lots of material left and not needing replaced, but as we looked closer there was several small cracks on all of the surfaces from what we could only surmise as generated from lots of heat from towing.

Final note--my gas bill was at $1000 for this last 2000 mile trip from Florida to California on the 37's and no other mods (gas at average $3 gallon at the time). You're going to have to write a huge check to cover your $4000 gas bill for this trip. It all comes out in the wash when you calculate how much you save on hotels and stopping for food every meal when you've got the trailer. And it's soooo much more convienient with the trailer---stop to eat whenever, whereever and same with sleeping.

 

[twinmill28]

Finally, it sounds like you've got the idea for how much water to carry in the trailer, you only need enough for toilet flushing and hand washing until your next campsite each night. Don't skimp on this, but filling up the tank even halfway is probably too much--it's just more unnecessary weight. The more time you spend on the road the better feel you get for it---just make sure your destinations have potable water to to fill the tank or carry a funnel and 5 gallon water jugs to manually fill from the campground pump handles on the primitive side of life.

 

[06 H3]

I would say your fine but I would recommend the trans cooler for sure and get a trans temp gauge...Or stock H2s have them? Keep an eye the temps, if they start to rise take it out of drive and manually shift the gears to prevent it from changing gears constantly and causing more heat.

 

[ADOR]

Any posting here in the forum regarding transmission cooler for H2? I searched and did not find one. I would like to have more information on this please.

 

[skeptic]

Just push the trailer button and call it a day. :giggle:


I don't know, I don't tow (yet). I just know pushing the tow button helps avoid gear searching on long uphill climbs. Seems like the biggest concern would be 5 people living in a trailer for a week or two.

 

[twinmill28]

Skeptic is more on the money than he realizes--the trailer tow button does help keep the trans shifts in check; I rarely need to go down to 3 from O---you really can't run the cruise much when towing because it always seems you're climbing a mild incline which brings on heavy RPM's and a stout shift if you leave in OD with cruise. Controlling the gas pedal the old fashioned way makes me feel alot better about how the engine is running and I control the RPM's (mostly).

Oh yeah Skeptic, we had 6 people in our trailer for two weeks, then skinnied down to 5 people for two months as we settled back into Florida. You just learn to stay out of each others way, stay out of the trailer, or stay in bed or on the couch or dining bench!

 

[skeptic]

Oh yeah Skeptic, we had 6 people in our trailer for two weeks, then skinnied down to 5 people for two months as we settled back into Florida.

pass.

 

[ADOR]

After looking at the map and considering we only have two weeks, we have decided to make some revisions to the places we will be visiting. Looks like we will just be heading to
Yellowstone National Park, WY. And just stop at other at national parks along the way. Anyway, hooked up the trailer this morning and took it to a CAT Scale and had them weigh the H2+Trailer combo, with almost all of what we are planning on taking with us. Just missing one person as part of the total passenger.

Steer Axle - 3,920 lbs
Drive Axle - 4,300 lbs
Trailer Axle - 4,300 lbs
Gross Weight- 12,520 lbs

Looks like I am within the allowed Max weight on each axle, and GCVWR. I will be buying a ScanGauge II. Hopefully, I will be able to program it to read the Trans. Temp. Will also buy a trailer tongue weighing scale to get the actual tongue weight.

 

[twinmill28]

Yeah, that trailer tongue weight scale is the ticket, been wanting to buy one for awhile now. While not necessary, is sure helps you feel better about having the trailer balanced out.

If you figure your truck weighs in at 6600 pounds, that puts your trailer and loaded vehicle weights at 5920, which is less than the rated 6600 pounds the deuce is rated for towing. I've towed over 7000 pounds driving to Utah from Florida, the truck will handle it, but I needed to be aware I was playing with reduced braking and that's a huge safety concern.

Enjoy a great trip!

 

[ADOR]

Thanks twinmill. When I took the H2 (NO trailer attached) to the same CAT Scale few months back, with full tank of gas, and just me (minus the 2 passengers I have today), the weight is as follow:

Steer Axle - 3,780 lbs
Drive Axle - 3,580 lbs
Gross Weight 7,360 bs

According to my H2 sticker/manual, the following are the limits:

GVWR- 8,600 lbs
GCWR - 13,500
GAWR (FR) - 4,000 lbs
GAWR (RR) - 5,000 lbs

So, weight wise, I think we will be OK. Also have Prodigy brake controller and Blue Ox WDH. I just hope transmission and engine temp stay within acceptable numbers.

 

[Scarsman]

You don't need a tongue weight scale. You can do it with an ordinary bathroom scale. I've done this and it works great.