Yesterday I took a lawn glider from Byron, Ga. to Tallahassee, Fl., 175
miles, 100 down I-75 and 75 over 2 & 4 lane roads. I towed a neighbors home
made motorcycle trailer - very heavy duty and heavy. This was probably the
second hardest tow I've done, but it was the first tow with an auto I've
done in several years.
I have a '99, V-6, 3.55 rear, auto
On the way down, I left OD off and set the cruise on 52, I estimate about 13
mpg going down. Ran through a couple bad thunderstorms (or so I thought).
My trip back was a puzzling experience, however. I filled up the tank just
before leaving Tallahassee, trailer is empty and it was 6:30 PM, with an
overcast. Heading into Thomasville, Ga. it just turned black, lightning
flashing all around me and at one point I was being hit by hail. Although
it was small rocks, they sounded like baseballs hitting the truck - I
haven't inspected for damage yet, I am sort of afraid to...during this storm
and for the next 25 miles or so I am only doing about 40 mph with OD off.
The balance of the run to Tifton on the 4 lane is fairly uneventful, ran
60-65 and only turned off OD on the steeper hills.
When I got on I-75 though I was in for serious puzzlement. My plan was to
take it to 70, set the cruise and head for home. It was all I could do to
get it up to 70! I did not set the cruise, I couldn't maintain 70. The
truck would just loose power, drop down to 60 where it dropped out of OD,
speed back up to 70 where I would have to take my foot off the gas to get it
back into OD. It didn't take but a few time of this when I decided to hell
with it. At 60 it would stay in OD until I came to a hill so I just left it
at 60. A few miles later I look down and notice I am doing 70, and barely
slowing on the hills! A short while later and it begins to loose power and
I'm back to 60, a few miles later I'm back to 70. It did this the whole
trip back. When I could do 70 I barely noticed the trailer, when I was
doing 60 I couldn't even speed up going downhill without it shifting out of
OD! I am not sure what my mileage was coming back, I will fill it up later
today and get a handle on that.
Give me some ideas of what's going on! I've not had any problems out of the
truck before now. This is a V-6, auto. It turned over 7,000 miles on the
trip back. Last week I had a FloMaster 3 chamber put on, that's been my
only "performance" mod to date. Help!
Thanks, Cal Hyer
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