Hey all! I am going to be towing a trailer cross country in about a month and was wondering if any of you that tow with your rigs have any D2 advice/tips? Also, how much mpg hit do you take hauling a load? It will probably be around 1300 pounds max. I can already tell hills are going to be fun. Coolant system is all basically brand new (new resevoir, inline mod, rad is new from PO, new heater hoses, other hoses in good condition), I've done all the diff oil, tcase oil, new trans fluid and an oil change. I'm not a stranger to towing I am just curious if there are any disco gotchas I need to watch out for, or just general stories.

Thanks!

 

The hills/passes through the rockies are going to be brutal. If taking 70 through Kansas a head wind could be crippling lol. If your signature is still accurate and it's stock you will fair alright but if lifted or larger tires it's going to be a very slow going.

 

Oh I know all about that I70 stretch lol. It will be Portland to Wichita. I'm more worried about that stretch of 80 across Wyoming . The tires aren't stock size (265/75R16 on stock wheels) so that might be fun.

 

Nothing special, just make sure you have an ultra gauge to monitor the temperature is going up the mountain passes. If you go up the mountain during the winter time it might be more temperature friendly.

 

1300# isn't bad at all. Just take your time and you'll have no problems. I've had nearly 8000# behind my '03 on a couple of occasions a few years ago.

 

last time i pulled a trailer, probably around 2000 lbs, with my 4.6 Discovery i got about 9 miles to the gallon. this was highway driving, Chicago to St. Louis.

with the smaller engine and winds you'll likely see on the plains, i'm guessing you might see less than that.

 

You’ll be dropping to 3rd a lot but should be fine. I towed 1000 pounds recently and while I could tell the engine was working harder and the RPMs were higher going uphill. I did my best to keep my speed to where my RPMs were more like 2500. It’d drop to 3rd and I’d be at 2700-3500 occasionally. Temps were 190-194 in 80 degree weather. Without a trailer in the same conditions it was usually 185 degrees. Like extinct said, get an ultragauge to monitor temps and get the in-line thermostat if you don’t have it and that will help a good bit.

 

I do have a scangauge and the inline done. 9mpg - I was worrying about that lol. Thanks all! That will help to gauge the gas budget

 

Idk bout 80 but I drove 70 in my GTO about 6 hours almost every weekend for a year when I lived up there. Even my GTO would get pushed around by the never ending wind. Can only imagine what it'd be like in a disco lol.

 

Growing up in Kansas my dad loved VW vans. We had a 1982 Vanagon we'd drive to Colorado every summer. You got real used to not fighting the wind, but also making sure people didn't hang out in the left lane right beside you lol. Also with that 2L aircooled it was max 25mph up Monarch pass.