What did you do to your Tow Vehicle today?

[mike837go]

Changed the oil. Replaced the steering stabilizer. Checked the brakes.


Got the mechanical part of adding cruise control done.


Tuesday evening I'll get going on the electrical side (DWTS tonight).


Then the new modern radio...

[Force]

Had a local muffler shop swap my Flowmaster Super 44 with a quieter Magnaflow. The Flowmaster sounded great but the cab noise was just too much (never mind what it sounded like when I was yanking the camper...pretty sure you could hear me coming & going for a 1/2 mile in every direction lol)

[edatlanta]

Service Engine light came on right after the glow plug warming indicator would not go off as usual prior to engine start. I have been down this road before and knew it was a bad glow plug. The local dealer plugged it in and it showed 3 glow were bad, but a different 3 each scan. So he checked each plug individually and they were all ok, so.....Glow Plug Controller and now all is back to normal.

[ttavasc]

Gave it a good bath and cleaned out the inside. Then loaded the bed with the stuff that is going to our youngest daughter who is coming up from AZ to meet us in Utah. Had to remove the Bak-Flip as things are just a bit too tall to fit under it. Finally hitched the TT up and pulled it out front so all is ready for an early morning departure.

[wanderlust]

Vacuumed the carpet; it was a mess.

[ttavasc]

Gave it a good work-out the last two days - towed the TT almost 1200 miles - a good portion of it in some pretty strong head and side winds. Got stuck in a complete stand-still on the eastbound down-hill slope of Deadman Pass on I-84 in NE Oregon for about an hour due to a accident. It was an R-Pod style trailer being towed by a smaller SUV. Both were flipped over though still connected - all 6 wheels straight up and pointing back against traffic. The trailer was literally flattened and the SUV didn't fare much better. Hopefully no serious injuries.

[mike837go]

Finished trying to civilize Montblanc.

Cruise Control- Done
Modern Radio with CD - Done
Upgraded Seats - er... Slipcovers

Vacuumed the floors and all the nooks and crannies
Cleaned the glass and top of the dash.
Degreased (mostly) the steering wheel.

So, now my tow vehicle is somewhere between "Housebroken" and "Lipstick On A Pig".

Signature update in progress....

[Fastalker64]

TRADED IT! ;-))

Dealer offered too much money for my 2010 F150 Lariat, so we traded for new 'Red', a 2016 F150 Lariat, Crew Cab, 4WD, has 1771# payload (yes, the sticker in the door actually reads that...), and rated at 10,700# tow. Our maiden camping trip with new 'Red' was to Mackinaw, Michigan (around 1400mi round trip), and the difference between the 'ol 5.4L V8 and the new 3.5l EcoBoost twin turbo is significant. It is really easy to get up to speed on interstate on-ramps, and it's got smooth power on those interstate grades that made 'ol Red huff and puff a little.

Just installed the Firestone Ride-Rite air bags, because they made such a difference in ride and towing on the old truck. We were squatted a little going down the road on the first trip, even with the WD hitch adjusted, so now we'll be smooth and even again.

By the way, it gets about 9 or 10mpg towing, which is about the same as 'ol 'Red'. But the unloaded, not towing, mpg is a real world 23 highway, 17mpg city (both of those about 5mpg higher that 'ol 'Red'). I've already got over 3k miles on new 'Red', so these are pretty accurate numbers.

DW said, "we're keeping this one, right?". I think so ;-) It's my first brand new vehicle in 23 years, so I'm kinda likin' it.

[Camper_bob]

Took it to the grocery store last night, topped off the fuel, backed it up to the trailer in preparation for hookup tonight! Still gotta check/top off tire pressures.

[JFlightRisk]

Gave her a new set of Michelin Defender sneakers. Much quieter than the Wranglers, and no more "drift" to the right.

[robkelly]

Refueled ready to hit the road home tomorrow. It's been a great 10 days!

[etex211]

After doing virtually nothing to my 21 year old dually for the past 15 years, I've finally had to address a few things this summer....

The truck is a '96 Chevy crew cab dually with a vortec 454...

A/C: It's been leaking refrigerant for several years, and I've just been putting in a couple of cans before every trip. We finally got the kid out of college and got her married, so I felt free to finally spend some money on the truck. The main issue was the compressor. I bought a new Sanden compressor that is a direct bolt-on replacement for the junky GM HT6. The low pressure switch up on the receiver was also leaking. There was also an issue with some O-rings. My wife is the comptroller for a couple of car dealerships. We paid one of her mechanics cash to perform this work.

Intake: When he was performing the A/C work, he noticed that the intake gasket was leaking some engine coolant (the orange dexcool stuff) at the front of one of the heads. We paid him cash again to perform this work. I considered doing it myself, but this thing has an upper and lower intake, and it involved removing the fuel rails which gets into the injectors and their O-rings. I really didn't want any part of that.

Tune up stuff: While replacing the intake gasket, he noticed the cap and rotor were in horrible condition. They were factory original, so they were 21 years old and had run 159,000 miles. He told me that I would probably want to also replace the wires, since he saw evidence of some misfiring on the ends of the wires. I replaced the 15 year old spark plugs and 21 year old plug wires this morning. The plugs had about 60k miles on them when I pulled them out, and they really didn't look all that bad. Those 21 year old wires were junk. I tossed on a new fuel filter while I was at it.

In all, we've spent about a thousand bucks on this truck this summer, which is probably about one payment on a fancy new dually. This truck should be good to go now for several more years.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Towed our camper for another weekend trip.

[DrtEmaxChvy]

Originally Posted by etex211

After doing virtually nothing to my 21 year old dually for the past 15 years, I've finally had to address a few things this summer....



The truck is a '96 Chevy crew cab dually with a vortec 454...



A/C: It's been leaking refrigerant for several years, and I've just been putting in a couple of cans before every trip. We finally got the kid out of college and got her married, so I felt free to finally spend some money on the truck. The main issue was the compressor. I bought a new Sanden compressor that is a direct bolt-on replacement for the junky GM HT6. The low pressure switch up on the receiver was also leaking. There was also an issue with some O-rings. My wife is the comptroller for a couple of car dealerships. We paid one of her mechanics cash to perform this work.



Intake: When he was performing the A/C work, he noticed that the intake gasket was leaking some engine coolant (the orange dexcool stuff) at the front of one of the heads. We paid him cash again to perform this work. I considered doing it myself, but this thing has an upper and lower intake, and it involved removing the fuel rails which gets into the injectors and their O-rings. I really didn't want any part of that.



Tune up stuff: While replacing the intake gasket, he noticed the cap and rotor were in horrible condition. They were factory original, so they were 21 years old and had run 159,000 miles. He told me that I would probably want to also replace the wires, since he saw evidence of some misfiring on the ends of the wires. I replaced the 15 year old spark plugs and 21 year old plug wires this morning. The plugs had about 60k miles on them when I pulled them out, and they really didn't look all that bad. Those 21 year old wires were junk. I tossed on a new fuel filter while I was at it.



In all, we've spent about a thousand bucks on this truck this summer, which is probably about one payment on a fancy new dually. This truck should be good to go now for several more years.

Love stories like this


-Til' Valhalla...Dysfunctional Veteran

[ttavasc]

Gave it a day off after getting back from a 2400 mile south west trip yesterday. It worked a little harder than usual as the weather wasn't that great either direction this trip. We had strong head winds on the way down and even stronger head winds and swirling gusts on the way home as we were trailing a pretty powerful storm that saw two EF1 tornadoes in Utah the day before. We eventually pulled into a rest area in central Idaho and got off the road for a few hours until the winds died down a bit.

[FishAr]

I traded the Silverado 1500 tow vehicle in for a 2500HD Z71 LTZ 4x4 crew cab standard bed.
No more white knuckling.

So had to take the camper shell off the 1500, they're both 2015 so it will fit if I ever get it painted.
Also had to remove my mudflaps and install them on new truck, they also fit.

And had to buy triangles and fire extinguisher and then go through safety lane and get an inspection since I bought Illinois D class license plates.

[DrtEmaxChvy]

Originally Posted by FishAr

I traded the Silverado 1500 tow vehicle in for a 2500HD Z71 LTZ 4x4 crew cab standard bed.
No more white knuckling.

So had to take the camper shell off the 1500, they're both 2015 so it will fit if I ever get it painted.
Also had to remove my mudflaps and install them on new truck, they also fit.

And had to buy triangles and fire extinguisher and then go through safety lane and get an inspection since I bought Illinois D class license plates.

Excellent choice

But I'm biased



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[eldermike]

I had my 75 gallon transfer flow tank installed yesterday and then went to the station and filled it up.

[FishAr]

Originally Posted by eldermike

I had my 75 gallon transfer flow tank installed yesterday and then went to the station and filled it up.

I drool over those since I hate stopping to get fuel and getting in and out. I was thinking more like 40 gallons though.

Just don't know if I want to give up the bed space.

I would still stop at rest areas every 2-3 hours for wife and dog, but at least I wouldn't have to be wrestling my way through the truck stops so often.

[eldermike]

Originally Posted by FishAr

I drool over those since I hate stopping to get fuel and getting in and out. I was thinking more like 40 gallons though.

Just don't know if I want to give up the bed space.

I would still stop at rest areas every 2-3 hours for wife and dog, but at least I wouldn't have to be wrestling my way through the truck stops so often.

I thought about the 50 gallon tank but then noticed that the 75 was only a few inches wider so I went with it. My truck was a long bed so it's now a short bed.

I wish we could make it 2 hours without a stop