Howdy all, As promised, here is the report on my first trip towing my TT. See sig. for truck set-up; Trailer is a '93 Prowler 24M, empty weight:4200#. Had it loaded pretty light as it was just the missus and I and only a three day trip. So I figure about 4500#. After hooking up using the same drop ball set up from my old truck and hooking up the weight dist. bars truck and trailer were both nice and level, no sag at all. Over all in the stock trim I was impressed with how it towed. I can only compare it to my old truck because that's all I've ever towed with. It was a '90 F250 Scab reg box 2wd w/460 and 410 gears. I noticed a little more bounce on the bumps, but not at all unbearable. Going 60 MPH with OD off it purred like a kitten at 2300 RPM. I bumped it up to 70 and kicked the OD on just to try it and it seemed fine. If I was cruising a long flat distance I wouldn't be afraid to use it. I just didn't have those conditions on this trip. No big hills to climb but lot's of smaller ones and it handled them with no problems. Gas milage was right at 10 MPG. I get just under 17 average empty. Factory water temp. gauge never moved the whole trip but the temp was never over 70. I live SE of Tacoma, Wa. and drove to the coast. Round trip including running around was 285 miles. So I'm real happy with it so far, BUT...I will be adding trans. and water temp. gauges, Fan assisted trans cooler, dual elec. fans, and the micro tuner. The gauges are a must because I want to know what's going on. And with the other upgrades it should only get better. Oh, and I'll go to synthetic trans. fluid as well. I am running Mobile one 5w-30w in the eng. Thanks for this forum all, any comments or suggestioms from you towing gurus would be welcome. Till next time, Carl

 

Nice report, and you WILL need to get "real" gauges if you are going to be towing on a regular basis IMO. I've got some AutoMeter Electric ones for the Water and Trans and they are great for "peace of mind".

I'm going to Ocean City and Fort Canby a couple of times this summer. Can't wait!! (Yes, I have my reservations already too)

My water temps have not gone above 195* yet, but my tranny temps vary from just over 100* to over 180*, depending on the driving conditions and the outside temp.......

 

John, As you can see, your're real close to me. I'm in Puyallup all the time. maybe we'll run into each other some time. Been to Ft. canby a couple of times. Real nice area. I was wondering where you got your gauges and mounts. Did you use the pillar pod? Not sure if the 97's had the grab handle, if I use the pillar pod it has to come off right? No big deal, I'd rather have the gauges, but I was wondering. Thanks, Carl

 

I'm usually in the South Hill area, but try to avoid Meridian at all costs!!

Ordered mine from Summit Racing via the internet. I have the dual A-Piller pod for the mount and I do not have the grab handle (there is one on the pass side however).

Came to just over $100.00 for it all. It came with several adapters and the sending units, but no wiring at all.

I had to spend another $50-60 bucks for the hardware to tap into the lines, different color wires and some gray paint for the pod.

I tapped into the heater hose (the one that comes out of the engine) for the water and the output line from the tranny up front, where there is the rubber hose portion of the hard line. Just made it easier, and all I needed was some additional length of hose and some hose clamps.