Wesco galvavized trailer from chatlees

[FLboy3]

I just purchased a 2480 dlx with a 140 4 stroke suzuki from chatlees. I went with the galvanized tandam with surge brakes. The first thing I did was stop at the first Walmart and had the tires balanced and aired up. Was told some were pretty bad out of balance. Pulled the boat from Sanford NC to Charlotte NC to visit my son for a day, then to Just north of Tampa FL. Pulled It with a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, 4.0 6 cylinder. The boat pulled great. Could hardly tell it was back there except for the gas gage droping pretty fast. Got over 22 mpg going up to get it. 10 - 12 mpg Sanford to Charlotte through the hills, 15 - 17 when back on flatland 95 south to Tampa. Trailer set up is perfect. 5800 lb capacity, transom directly over rear cross brace, at least 5 ft between front of boat and back of truck, 4 bunks under boat. They installed a transom saver for me there before I left that worked great. It was the kind that attaches to the rear cross frame up to the motor, No cracking between rear deck and transom and if you've ever been down 95 south through SC and Georgia you know how rough that ride is. The cracking will probably happen first time out on the water.lol. No wear on tires after the long ride. Happy so far, hope it continues.

[Shakespeare]

I had Chatlees put a Wesco aluminum tandem trailer under my 218DLV and my gas milage experience is similar to yours. I've been pulling from Winston-Salem NC to Morehead City NC, about 250 miles, and it's killing me. For one thing, turning off the overdrive on the Tundra puts the RPM's at a weird place at interstate speeds, a little over 3K. I tried a little experiment on my last trip... instead of working the accelerator to keep up to speed and driving like a bat out of hell, I just settle in between 60 -65 mph, around 2K on the tach, and whenever I come to an uphill, I let the truck do whatever it has to (slow down) without the tranny popping into passing gear. I've noticed a significant improvement in gas milage, although I didn't record any numbers. I'll measure the gas milage next trip. I'm very pleased with the Wesco as it seems to be well thought out. The LED lighting really sets it off at night.

Congrats on your purchase!

Mike C.

[Lhardware]

I also had Chatlees put a Wesco aluminum tandem trailer under my 218DLV and my gas milage experience is similar to yours. I've been pulling from Wilkesboro NC to Wilmington and Frisco NC, about 250 miles and 400 miles respectively, and it's killing me also. I tow out of overdrive with an 04 V8 explorer and I get around 9 to 10 mpg. That's towing at speeds of 65 to 73 mph. That's a little fast but in Eastern NC the traffic is sparse and land is flat. The rig tows so well that it's hard to run slower.

[o2bfishn]

shakespeare,


I towed to MHC (then on to ocracoke) with my 2000 tacoma V6 auto, left the overdrive on and tried to stay out of passing gear, stayed at around 65 mph. Truck amd boat (238DLV) loaded down for a extended weekend, got around 13-14mpg a little better downeast out of the hills. Came home at 70-75mph and dropped to 10mpg. Towing around home I do better, not so much stuff loaded up.

Leave your truck in overdrive, learn to let the tranie downshiff out of OD when it needs too but not down to passing gear, you'll lose some speed but your mpg will be a lot better. Had to teach myself how to drive with boat in tow after first trip, or I would have needed a second job to pay for fuel. At least the suzuki sips the fuel.


o2bfishn

[Shakespeare]

shakespeare,
Leave your truck in overdrive, learn to let the tranie downshiff out of OD when it needs too but not down to passing gear, you'll lose some speed but your mpg will be a lot better. Had to teach myself how to drive with boat in tow after first trip, or I would have needed a second job to pay for fuel. At least the suzuki sips the fuel.

o2bfishn


;D Yep, that's exactly what I'm doing even though the manual says to turn off overdrive when towing. It's hard to pace oneself when the anticipation of getting to the destination is so great. Time to exercise a little patience. I think the core of the problem is that the bow is tilted up on the trailer enough to catch air, not to mention the boat windshield and t-top act like a parachute. This exacerbates the bad fuel economy at greater speeds. There's one section of road, east of Raleigh, that's 55 mph and everything hums like a sewing machine and that fuel gauge isn't visibly taking a dive. I got the ponies to go whatever speed I want... I just don't have the buck$. I was hoping you'd advise me to get one of those new 5.7L Tundras 011

[Familymanof5]

I have been trailering for years and I have learned to keep the cruise control off in the mountainous areas. Even when I have it on I will tend to speed up going down the hill with my foot to make it easier on th e next climb. The tranny's will like you better. So will your wallet the next time you get feul. We just got an 07 sequoia with the 4.7 v8. We (family of 5) will be heading to the keys on Turkey day. Will be very intersting how it handles it.

TOM

[o2bfishn]

shakespeare,


Go ahead and get yourself one of them over size, over priced tundras, you can have the spot in line behind me. Really I would love to get me one but I only run my tacoma 3-4000 miles a year, mostly pulling the boat. Drive a company truck all week long so the tacoma just sits. Its hard to justify a new truck your not going to use much.


o2bfishn

[Familymanof5]

If I were going to buy a new tundra right now I would have to go with the smaller V8. I drove the new 5.7 and wow what power. However, It is an all aluminum motor. And it is the first year for it. The conservative side of me says wait a year or 2 to make sure there are no bugs. But the other side loves the raw power. Not knocking anyone for buying it. I bought the first year 6.0 liter ford powerstroke and it bit me in the tail. Won't do that again.

Very happy with our 4.7

TOM

[sportskiff]

OK, since this thread been "hijacked" fer a spell, how many of you got a seprate tranny cooler put on, and how many of you have talked to a good tranny mech about just what happens to your tranny when pulling a load in OD???? I know what it'll do to a 700r4 chevy tranny, glaze clutch band and clutch plates. under 45 no od, boat load (unless downhill) no od. 700r4 is 1300 clams OR MORE to overhaul.
I don't know about the tundra tranny, so ya'll help me out.
thanks, Reggie

[Shakespeare]

On most vehicles, particularly trucks, if you get a towing package then you get a tranny cooler. Mine came with the '02 Tundra. I haven't personally spoken to a transmission specialist about the subject but my intuition says that if you overburden any piece of equipment beyond its specified operational limits, then you are going to shorten its life. The rule of thumb is if you tow long distances, tow in the mountains, or tow in hot temperatures, then you need a tranny cooler. I'm not sure if the term "long distances" had been defined, but I would suspect anything over 60 miles would apply, but I'm just guessing. If you plan on keeping your vehicle for an extended length of time, then it's cheap insurance, in my mind. I also run maintenance on my tranny every 60K miles. Why the questions? Are you "on the fence" about getting a cooler?

Mike C.

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Me too, i always trailer my boats with truck that had the extra cooler from the factory, and never had a problem.I went twice to Florida and a few times to MD,VA plus my local trips.

[o2bfishn]

The same here sportskiff, run an extra cooler on the tranny, heat kills on auto tranny faster than anything else.

I had the biggest cooler I could find installed at a Toyota dealership, (its hard to get in there to work), they also serviced the tranny, all for around 200 bucks. I believe it was money well spent.

o2bfishn

[sportskiff]

I have one on my truck, it is a bit bigger unit than called for, but I took the radiator out of the equasion and run cooler. Bought mine from Summit, Hey Slim, Do an experiment and let us know the differances!!!!!! (after all, ya got a bit of a jump on the rest of us...) Reggie