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| lessons learned towing http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=69831 |
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| Author: | naturist [ Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | lessons learned towing |
I have now put 150,000 miles on my 2005 CRD, and towed a couple different trailers in a couple different configurations. These are my experiences, YMMV. I have a travel trailer that weighs 3680 lbs empty and pushes 5,000 lbs fully loaded. It is 21 feet long, 3 feet shorter than Jeep says is the maximum length, and with 64 square feet of frontal surface area, which Jeep says is also the maximum. Before I had the GDE ecotune, I towed that trailer some empty, as well as full, and in fact made a 9,000 mile excursion in it from Virginia to the UP of Michigan, to Seattle, to Los Angeles, and back east to Virginia. It was mostly fully loaded the whole trip. I also had occasion to tow it empty a few hundred miles when it was new, and I am certain that most of the drag and fuel consumption is due to the frontal surface area, not the weight. I know this because I got typically 13-14 mpg regardless of whether it was empty or fully loaded. I also had occasion to tow a VW Jetta on a dolly about 400 miles, which weighs about the same as the trailer empty, but has much less frontal surface area, and I got 18 mpg towing that. Last year I put the GDE ecotune on it, and got 15-16 mpg towing the TT from Virginia to Denver, to Las Vegas, circled the Grand Canyon back to Vegas, then back east to Virginia, a total of around 6,000 miles. These adventures have convinced me of several things: (1) the stock fan clutch is junk, wears out in a few thousand miles, engages way too late, and should be replaced by the Hayden 2905 heavy duty clutch, that engages 20 degrees cooler; (2) the GDE ecotune is great; (3) the CRD easily tows 5,000 lbs; (4) the 8' x 8' wall that is my trailer is the biggest thing I ever want to tow -- weight is almost irrelevant, it is wind resistance that gets ya; (5) the CRD has a tendency to run hot when climbing a hill while towing anything that big in hot weather, and when it starts warming up, you want lower gears to get the revs up. Oh, yeah, I towed it into a 30 mph headwind before the ecotune and it struggled to go 60 in 5th, would slow down to 55, downshift into 4th, speed up to 60, shift back into 5th, and keep cycling that way. After the ecotune, I got the same behavior -- but it took a 50-60 mph headwind to do that. For what it's worth, that day I got 9 mpg. Who says wind resistance is meaningless? While the stock fan with a good fan clutch moves a lot of air at 60 mph and 1800 rpm in 5th gear, it moves a ton more air in 3rd gear at 3500 rpm, and will cool down under those conditions much better than in 5th. Ditto for 45 mpg at 2000 rpm in 3rd gear vs 45 at 3700 rpm in 2nd gear. And you definitely want to keep the engine cool: I suffered several cases of overheating before I learned that, and before I replaced the crap OEM fan clutch. And I paid for the lessons, about $3500 for a cracked head replacement. This last weekend, again hot weather, I took the trailer through the mountains, including a couple 6% and one 8% climb. Making use of the new fan clutch and as needed getting the revs up, I had no overheating problems. My advice to fellow CRD owners is this: your little tractor is a capable machine, and can handle anything within the official limits. Just make sure you install the Hayden fan clutch. And in hot weather, you might need to help it stay cool by using lower gears to get the cooling air moving. I've read the folks insisting that you can leave it in 5th while towing. That's fine, unless things get hot, then you better go to lower gears and up the rpms, whatever it takes to keep things from overheating. |
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| Author: | mikey1273 [ Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: lessons learned towing |
I tow an 1800 pound pop up that I got last fall. I been going camping up in the Poconos so there are some hills to climb. I still have the stock fan clutch and ECO tune. I been getting 25 MPG on that trip. I let it in overdrive which has worked well for me. what has been a problem is heavy traffic where jerks jam their brakes ahead of me causing me to do the same and last time I cooked my rear pads pretty good. My camper has no brakes being under 2000# so the jeep does all the work. I have learned to keep more distance than normal in traffic like that. only bad thing is folks cut in on you then. |
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| Author: | imclumzy [ Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: lessons learned towing |
Naturist, would you mind elaborating on where you got the Hayden fan clutch and what is involved with installing it? |
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| Author: | cerich [ Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: lessons learned towing |
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WL ... 02_s00_i00 here's one place to get the fan, i have prime so choose amazon, rock auto has it slightly lower but the shipping made it more when I bought. |
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| Author: | imclumzy [ Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:17 am ] |
| Post subject: | lessons learned towing |
And what's involved with installing it? |
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| Author: | naturist [ Fri Aug 03, 2012 12:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: lessons learned towing |
I had a mechanic install it, so I have no first-hand experience with that. But I know that it unscrews from the shaft, then the fan itself is held on by 4 or 5 bolts from the back. The complication is that you have to remove the fan housing along with the fan & clutch. I got mine as I recall from moparpartsonline.com, I think. Search here, and you can find several posts about that clutch, and how to install it, as well as sources. |
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| Author: | papaindigo [ Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: lessons learned towing |
Fan and fan shroud removal are covered in Sir Sam's timing belt post and http://www.beesvillebeefarm.com/jeep.html . The fan/fan clutch assembly unscrews counterclockwise using a 36mm wrench but it's on there really tight so you need something to "encourage" it to come loose and something to hold the fan base (the allen wrench trick on the beesville post works well as does a metal bar with 2 pins to engage in the fan base). I strongly recommend a sheet of cardboard or a towel be placed between the fan and the radiator during removal to prevent radiator damage. Also: 1. the 2 nuts that hold the fan shroud bolts in place are only partially "caged" use hot glue or zip ties to make sure they will never fall out; 2. CRITICAL do not lose the 2 fan shroud bolts as their length is CRITICAL. Using bolts that are tool long will, it's happened but not to me, puncture the radiator. 3. there are a couple of fan shroud modes (Aussie and modified aussie) that make access much easier so consider doing this at the same time. I did the Aussie but substituted zip ties for the screws and straps. Alternatively you can cut the shroud just below the 2 retaining nuts and throw the bottom 1/2 away. 4. the Hayden fan clutch is the important part of the replacement and the stock metal fan can be reused although some folks go further and get the 11 blade nylon OEM gasser fan |
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