Well we took off with the 3160 RL for its maiden voyage.
It was real world, you know cold head wind blowing right at us 25/35 MPH.
. Just another day in the Pacific North West. Destination Squaw Rock on byway 410 heading toward Chinook Pass, just west of Natches WA. My old F350 pulled it pretty well for only a four speed tranny. The longer we towed (only a little over a couple of hours) the better the truck ran. As we gained elevation we lost some of the wind and the truck performed flawlessly.
Today was reality day, clean up load up and head for home as there is plenty of work to get done around the yard before returning to work tomorrow. Cold Saturday night as we had frost on the picnic tables in the early morning. Not much wind and just a slight loss of elevation. Truck drove great as it was running only around five or six pounds boost on the 55/60 MPH section of our return trip. Even when we hit the 70 MPH freeway we were only running around ten or eleven pounds boost except a few of the steeper hills twenty/twenty five pounds for short durations. EGT's were a bit higher heading to camp still in a good range and even better heading home. Truck ran quite effortlessly on our return trip.
My truck handled the towing chores quite well. I need to lower the air pressure in the air bags just a little so the rear end does not sit higher than the front. Truck and trailer stopped quite well for a large RV, as good as I could expect. I will have to weigh it and compare to our old fifth-wheel which was not exactly light. This 3160RL is way more aerodynamic than the old 290 SL Vanguard. Over all I am pretty happy with the setup as it is.
Some time I hope to personally meet somebody with a trailer like ours or close to it and a newer one ton SRW pickup and get a comparison ride.
Tom Marty
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