Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

klash · 10-26-2012, 08:41 AM

We have a 2011 GMC 3500, crew cab, short box, single rear wheels. A totally awesome tow machine and it is rated to tow 17,900 lbs. We tow a 2007 Montana 2995RL, that is about
13,500 lbs road ready.
We NEVER tow over 55 mph, try driving over that speed in California and you will get a ticket, as it is the law. Besides life is so much more enjoyable when the view going by your windows is at a bit slower pace. We use hand calculation for fuel consumption, and with the Canadian
gallon which is slightly bigger than the US gallon. We routinely get 13 to 15 mpg on relatively flat towing, but had 17.5 last year going south near Sacramento and I think we had some tail winds. Continuous towing in the mountains will see performance drop to 10 and 11 mpg.
Our duramax has the built in exhaust brake and we use it with the tow/haul mode
button in, and going down 7% grade for 7 miles, I set the cruise control at 50 mph and never
used the brakes once coming down the mountain. Some rigs were passing us with a strange
look on their faces, I think they thought our trailer wasn't plugged in as the brake lights
would not have been showing.
The duramax/allison combination is absolutely the best combination out there on the road for towing. That is why a lot of companies are using them in big rigs, buses and motor homes.
This is a touchy subject, but I feel a lot of Ford and Dodge owners praise their
trucks to the heavens, but deep down, they would probably give their left arm to have
the Allison tranny with their engines. This is our second Duramax, our first was a 2003
2500 which we gave to our son, and he is using it for his tow machine. We bought a Park
model in Yuma last winter, so no more going back and forth with Max and Monty in the winter, but we will do summer camping at home here in British Columbia in the summer.

10-26-2012, 08:41 AM	#14
klash Seasoned Camper Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sidney Posts: 91 M.O.C. #9399	We have a 2011 GMC 3500, crew cab, short box, single rear wheels. A totally awesome tow machine and it is rated to tow 17,900 lbs. We tow a 2007 Montana 2995RL, that is about 13,500 lbs road ready. We NEVER tow over 55 mph, try driving over that speed in California and you will get a ticket, as it is the law. Besides life is so much more enjoyable when the view going by your windows is at a bit slower pace. We use hand calculation for fuel consumption, and with the Canadian gallon which is slightly bigger than the US gallon. We routinely get 13 to 15 mpg on relatively flat towing, but had 17.5 last year going south near Sacramento and I think we had some tail winds. Continuous towing in the mountains will see performance drop to 10 and 11 mpg. Our duramax has the built in exhaust brake and we use it with the tow/haul mode button in, and going down 7% grade for 7 miles, I set the cruise control at 50 mph and never used the brakes once coming down the mountain. Some rigs were passing us with a strange look on their faces, I think they thought our trailer wasn't plugged in as the brake lights would not have been showing. The duramax/allison combination is absolutely the best combination out there on the road for towing. That is why a lot of companies are using them in big rigs, buses and motor homes. This is a touchy subject, but I feel a lot of Ford and Dodge owners praise their trucks to the heavens, but deep down, they would probably give their left arm to have the Allison tranny with their engines. This is our second Duramax, our first was a 2003 2500 which we gave to our son, and he is using it for his tow machine. We bought a Park model in Yuma last winter, so no more going back and forth with Max and Monty in the winter, but we will do summer camping at home here in British Columbia in the summer.