Towing experience with new ecodiesel
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I tow a Lance 1575 which is around 3500 lbs. Just towed it 450 miles to Nashville. 14.6 mpg at 70 mph. Used manual mode on transmission and it was in 8 almost the entire way. Couple of steep long grades where I dropped it to 7 to keep the speed up. Didn't really know it was back there...
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Just returned from the Florida Keys...about 350 miles round trip.
Towing our 28' TT...most likely about 6-6400 lbs.
Bridges and overpasses steepest climb for us.
LOTS of wind both ways...averaged 15.1 MPG 45-60 MPH.
If you have never been to the keys...you will travel only 45-55 half the trip.
Towing our 28' TT...most likely about 6-6400 lbs.
Bridges and overpasses steepest climb for us.
LOTS of wind both ways...averaged 15.1 MPG 45-60 MPH.
If you have never been to the keys...you will travel only 45-55 half the trip.
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I'm towing a 25' that weighs about 6500lbs loaded. I spent a little time at the scale to get the torsion bars on my hitch set up just right. It takes a lot of spring to get enough weight to the front so the rear isn't overloaded. With three people in the vehicle I am right at the GAWR front and rear. There are no problems with power. I do find the temp gauge climbs quite quickly on hills and am anxious to see how it performs on long mountain passes. Stability is OK but not great. Semi's running along side on the freeway really suck it around a lot - much more than the pickup I used to use. Mileage is about 13 mpg for me but my trailer has a lot if frontal area.
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I towed my 3,000lbs sailboat and trailer round trip from Houston to St. Petersburg, FL. Gas mileage was 19 miles/per gallon of diesel.
John C
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I took a nice vacation up to North Georgia. Used a brand new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit EcoDiesel 4x4 towing my open trailer with with 3 motorcycles. Drove from from Tampa, FL to North Georgia about 700 miles total in 11 hours. The trailer was loaded at about 3500-4000 lbs. Mostly flat up to Atlanta but last bit was pretty hilly. Averaged 75 MPH and 18 MPG driving up. About the same driving back. I've got to tell you that it was the easiest drive imaginable, even in rush hour Atlanta traffic. The Jeep was always easy to drive and never had a want for more power or brakes. With the air suspension and self leveling stuff, I really didn't notice the trailer much at all.
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Just back from a 500 mile round trip to a National Forest campground northwest of Grand Marais, Minnesota. We towed our 21 foot travel trailer and carried a canoe on the roof rack of the car. We were likely 4500+ lbs all-in. Absolutely flawless, a dream to drive, and we got 16.3 mpg even fighting some nasty winds along Lake Supeior.
I own a 2014 Overland 4x4 with a diesel engine. I am planning to tow my 23 ft travel trailer from Minnesota to Colorado. When I bought the Jeep Cherokee I was focused on the metrics of max GTW, max tongue weight, etc. After I got the Jeep I read in the manual about a frontal area maximum of 55 square feet. My reading tells me about several people towing travel trailers similar to mine that likely exceed this 55 square foot maximum. My loaded trailer weight around 5500 lbs. I have all the load balancing and trailer sway equipment, but that 55 sq foot maximum is bothering me. The main part of my trailer is 64 sq feet facing forward plus the air conditioner on top. Should I worry about anything?
Also, when towing do people use the sport mode, take it off the eco setting, shift using the paddles? What best practices can any of you recommend including speed, RPM's etc.
Also, when towing do people use the sport mode, take it off the eco setting, shift using the paddles? What best practices can any of you recommend including speed, RPM's etc.
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Kirby, we towed a 21 foot travel trailer from Wisconsin to Colorado last May with the 2014 GC diesel limited. I haven't measured the front, but it is a square front with only a slight slope-- a Rockwood 2109s if you want to look it up. I can't believe a 23 foot TT would be different enough to affect towing, and the Jeep towed great-- easy, smooth and flawless. We got just over 16 mpg for a 4000 mile round trip. We experienced higher engine temps towing up the steep inclines to high passes, which is reported on extensively in other threads, but as so many have reported, the engine did not in fact overheat. I left it in eco mode the whole time, but based on other reports, it seems that turning off Eco may be better when towing, and one contributor to these threads-- Parry-- had good experience using Sport mode going up mountain passes.
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I'm just in the midst of a trip through the Canadian Rockies. My frontal area is probably much like yours and my weight on this trip is much closer to 7000lbs - we packed heavy. I tow in sport mode mostly because it leaves the ride height in Aero mode and it isn't changing all the time. I use the paddle shifters to manually shift when I'm climbing the passes. If I leave it in drive I find that it likes to heat up a lot more. I need to run in 3rd or 4th on the long passes between about 2700 & 3500 rpm or I am convinced I will overheat. I definitely can't run at the speed limit up these passes. Power isn't the problem - cooling is. Managed properly it handles it well.
Towed a 24 foot travel trailer, Harmony 26FBS, weight under tow about 5,400-5,500. Used load distribution bars, towed nicely. Generally stayed below 65 on a trip to South Jersey from Massachusetts, and return, total miles about 700 under tow. Got 14.5mpg on the way there, 13.5 on the way back. I drove a bit faster on the way home, being more comfortable with it, plus on the leg down there was a lot of traffic on I-95 in CT that kept our speed down, well below 55 for a lot of the time.
I think if I tried for 70 mph, I might be able to get 13mpg. If I was happy with 55-60 mph, she might just out 15 mpg. She has power to spare. Up really long grades the coolant temp would rise, the needle going to nearly 3/4 of the way to full hot, but would fall right back down once we were back on a flat section or downhill. Normally it sits below the halfway mark. Outside temps were not very high - about 80 degrees. AC was on, never had to turn if off.
Oil temp stayed at 235 or below, trans temp peaked at 197, usually stayed at 195. Tire pressures 37 or 38 all around. Trailer pressures 62 psi, all four.
There are no good towing mirrors that I can find for this car. The universals barely let you see down the side of the trailer, and vibrate/blur the whole time while driving over 20 mph.
This was a first time tow for me with a travel trailer. I bought the Mopar trailer brake thinking it would be the best choice. That thing is crap - it is a progressive time based model, has no inertial sensor, and models with similar (in)capabilities can be had for $30, rather than the $105 I shelled out to the dealer. Once I figured out it was not what I wanted, I bought the Prodigy P2, mounted it via velcro on the top left of the dash - where I can see it properly - and it worked very well. Wires can mostly tuck behind the trim panel.
Anybody want a Mopar elec brake controller, just let me know!
- Grandee
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