97ttpuller
Newbie
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2014
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 2
I'm a newbee to this forum and towing travel trailers. Here is what I have: 2014 Travel Star Expandable Trailer JUST weighed on certified scale at 3915lbs. I got a 1997 Chevy Silverado 4X4 5.7L 136,231 miles about a month ago to pull that trailer.
I drove the truck around for about a month before I got the trailer. It seemed to be running GREAT but has excessive fan noise like the fan clutch is locked up. Empty on flat land the truck has plenty of power and runs very good. Our first trip to the mountains without the trailer the truck did OK but seemed to work allot harder than my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee up the grades. I heard the fan roar constantly and the Truck downshifted WAY more to hold 75mph than the Jeep.
Gas mileage wasn't bad I got 14.9mpg running 75-80mph up lots of grades, most grades where long and gradual but 2 are 4-5%. The truck ran good other that the fan roar and constant downshifting. My truck DOES NOT HAVE TOW/HAUL, so I just kept it in "D".
Now comes the part that made me puke!!!!!! We picked up the trailer and WTF????? The trailer turned that truck into a gutless gas guzzling POS!!!!!!!!!! I drove the Truck Trailer combo home from the mountains a 225 mile trip it used 35.7 gallons of gas. The truck did HORRIBLE!!!! Most of the trip is down hill and the truck ABSOLUTELY STRUGGLED just to keep 65mph. The gas mileage dropped to 6.3mpg, I had no power even the Semi's where blowing me away on the grades we did have. On the grades I had to put the flashers on and floor the truck just to get 45-50mph. I was shocked a V8 was so completely gutless.
Did I get screwed on the truck????? I was absolutely disgusted with how poorly the truck preformed with that light of a trailer. That model trailer is advertized as being light enough to be pulled by a mid sized truck or SUV. Most of the vehicles listed as comparable for that trailer had V6's. Just for s and grins I tried pulling that trailer a short distance with my Jeep. The tongue weight did terribly squat the rear end of the Jeep, but it did not seem to work my Jeep any harder that that truck. My Jeep has a straight 6 4.0L engine and it did not seem to work any harder to pull the trailer up a few grades around home.
My question is this: Is that 5.7 Chevy 350 just a gutless stone engine, or is something wrong with my truck. I checked the Cats with my scan tool and They check out good, voltage jumps Rich, Lean, .845-.110 constantly on the upstream O2 sensors on both banks. The down stream O2 Sensors hold nice and steady at around .460 V. I did this test yesterday at full temp at 2000rpm and Idle.
Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
I drove the truck around for about a month before I got the trailer. It seemed to be running GREAT but has excessive fan noise like the fan clutch is locked up. Empty on flat land the truck has plenty of power and runs very good. Our first trip to the mountains without the trailer the truck did OK but seemed to work allot harder than my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee up the grades. I heard the fan roar constantly and the Truck downshifted WAY more to hold 75mph than the Jeep.
Gas mileage wasn't bad I got 14.9mpg running 75-80mph up lots of grades, most grades where long and gradual but 2 are 4-5%. The truck ran good other that the fan roar and constant downshifting. My truck DOES NOT HAVE TOW/HAUL, so I just kept it in "D".
Now comes the part that made me puke!!!!!! We picked up the trailer and WTF????? The trailer turned that truck into a gutless gas guzzling POS!!!!!!!!!! I drove the Truck Trailer combo home from the mountains a 225 mile trip it used 35.7 gallons of gas. The truck did HORRIBLE!!!! Most of the trip is down hill and the truck ABSOLUTELY STRUGGLED just to keep 65mph. The gas mileage dropped to 6.3mpg, I had no power even the Semi's where blowing me away on the grades we did have. On the grades I had to put the flashers on and floor the truck just to get 45-50mph. I was shocked a V8 was so completely gutless.
Did I get screwed on the truck????? I was absolutely disgusted with how poorly the truck preformed with that light of a trailer. That model trailer is advertized as being light enough to be pulled by a mid sized truck or SUV. Most of the vehicles listed as comparable for that trailer had V6's. Just for s and grins I tried pulling that trailer a short distance with my Jeep. The tongue weight did terribly squat the rear end of the Jeep, but it did not seem to work my Jeep any harder that that truck. My Jeep has a straight 6 4.0L engine and it did not seem to work any harder to pull the trailer up a few grades around home.
My question is this: Is that 5.7 Chevy 350 just a gutless stone engine, or is something wrong with my truck. I checked the Cats with my scan tool and They check out good, voltage jumps Rich, Lean, .845-.110 constantly on the upstream O2 sensors on both banks. The down stream O2 Sensors hold nice and steady at around .460 V. I did this test yesterday at full temp at 2000rpm and Idle.
Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
