Junk Truck?????????

[michael hurd]

Where you able to go 60-65 with all that weight? That is WAY more weight than I'm pullin but not much drag.

I didn't want to drive faster than the speed limit and attract attention, other than getting a bit of a run for a hill. Speed limit is 90 kms/hr in Onterrible. ( 55 )

The fastest I ran it up to was around 103 ( 64 ) so yes, it should do that.

Again, there could be many reasons why yours may be gutless: larger than stock tires, under-inflated tires, axles on trailer bent / out of alignment, high gears, problem with the muffler ( could be partially collapsed internally ), etc.

Before tossing the baby out with the bathwater: verify the gear ratio, pull the cover. If you bought it used, you can't assume it's still correct, as someone before you may have changed it out.

Do a compression test: check to make sure that the compression is good across the board. If good, then I would consider new plugs at the same time, and if the wires and cap are suspect, put new ones in.

Check the fuel pressure.

 

[BoxerPitMix]

Hmm something really doesn't sound right to me, either. I'd double check the fan as well. That will rob quite a bit from you. It was stuck running on my old truck and killed it. That's when I removed it and put E-fans on it and it made a huge difference.
After that, I'd start by finding out what gears your truck had... Then if that isn't your issue, start checking other things - fuel pressure, compression, etc.
As for people that don't know - Travel Stars are not pop-ups, but regular camper roughly 8' Tall by 8' Wide with expandable popouts on the front and rear for beds (I've always thought they were really cool!). It's not very aerodynamic. BUT, I think you should be able to tow it a lot easier than what you're going through! I've towed long distances like that having to creep up hills - it makes for a MISERABLE trip!

I HATE when people can't/don't read an entire post and spout out useless garbage. I WAS GOING DOWN HILL MOST OF THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I expect a V8 truck to easily maintain 65mph towing a trailer rated for a 6cyl. I KEPT THE TRUCK IN D ON THE WAY UP WITHOUT THE TRAILER!!!!!!!! Please read the entire post before answering. I'm not trying to be rude just looking for USEFUL information

There's a lot to read in your first post, I actually had to read your post 2-3 times to get all the facts. Keep in mind many of us are on our phones etc. and it's easy to skip over information. You also didn't list the trailer length, nor did you say anything about taking your truck out of "D" when pulling. I'm pretty familiar with about all types of RV's. If I remember correctly Travel Stars can come in anywhere from roughly 19' to 27'.
We're all glad to try helping you - but we are also human that tend to make mistakes. We're not obligated or getting paid to post a single thing on here, so if you think that the time we take to post on here to help you out is "useless garbage" then maybe you shouldn't ask for help. Like you said, I'm not trying to be rude - but attitude like that won't get you far here or any other forum for that matter. The best thing you can do if someone posts something you don't care for is ignore it.

 

[Birchyboy]

A couple things as said before. Get a good tune up including a new fuel filter. Also, even though your camper only weighs about 4k before putting your stuff in it, it still has a large frontal area that acts like a wind brake. You're just beating yourself up and killing your gas mileage by trying to go over 60.

I bought a 24' travel trailer to tow with my '99 Yukon and hauled it on a 6k mile trip this past summer. It did pretty good all things considered, but it's never going to win a race. I live in Denver and took it on a trip into the mountains late this summer. I was able to maintain 45 pretty well, but trying to go any faster was fruitless and just not worth working it that hard.

 

[98_k1500]

I had the fan clutch lock up on my 98. It was fine down low but over about 3000 rpm, it had no power. Sounded like a jet engine.

 

[michael hurd]

In the original post, there is no mention of the tire size, nor the elevation you are trying to pull it at. Elevation can make a huge difference in the amount of power an engine will put out.

 

[Birchyboy]

I had the fan clutch lock up on my 98. It was fine down low but over about 3000 rpm, it had no power. Sounded like a jet engine.

+1. I did the math a while ago. IIRC, it was a 16% hit at my altitude, 5280.

 

[BoxerPitMix]

In the original post, there is no mention of the tire size, nor the elevation you are trying to pull it at. Elevation can make a huge difference in the amount of power an engine will put out.

Ah that's true, I didn't even think about that!! I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made when I used to drive up to Colorado... Especially back when I had a diesel!

 

[ChrisAU]

I HATE when people can't/don't read an entire post and spout out useless garbage. I WAS GOING DOWN HILL MOST OF THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I expect a V8 truck to easily maintain 65mph towing a trailer rated for a 6cyl. I KEPT THE TRUCK IN D ON THE WAY UP WITHOUT THE TRAILER!!!!!!!! Please read the entire post before answering. I'm not trying to be rude just looking for USEFUL information

Sounds to me like you need a 1912-1987 or 1999-2015 model truck.

 

[19trax95]

I just thought of something else. Could the brakes on the trailer possibly be stuck partially on? I know me and my father pulled a smaller u haul trailer with his 05 2500hd and the brakes were stuck partially on (surge brakes). The truck was working 10 times as hard as it should have been. We found the brake issue after we finished the almost 150mile drive when the rims were starting to lose their paint from the heat.

 

[sewlow]

I just thought of something else. Could the brakes on the trailer possibly be stuck partially on? I know me and my father pulled a smaller u haul trailer with his 05 2500hd and the brakes were stuck partially on (surge brakes). The truck was working 10 times as hard as it should have been. We found the brake issue after we finished the almost 150mile drive when the rims were starting to lose their paint from the heat.

Just what I was gonna suggest. If you have a in-cab electronic brake control, it may be incorrectly sending a signal to the brakes. That may explain the dif in the towing power & mileage between your 2 vehicles.