Thursday, December 29, 2011

My Towing Kit

The last time I wrote about modifications that John had done to my design or operation they were for power, overheating prevention and fuel economy; this entry will focus on the mods that were required for towing their new 5th wheel trailer.

First and foremost is the 5th wheel hitch which is mounted in my box.  This hitch actually consists of three major componients: frame adaptors, bed rails and 5th wheel hitch assembly.  The frame adaptors are heavy pieces of steel that bolt against the frame under the box to provide direct mounting points for the bed rails without the need to drill into the frame.  The bed rails must be bolted to something solid (the frame) versus the floor of the box which is just thin stamped sheet metal.  Eight bolts hold the bed rails through the box floor to the frame adaptors.  The hitch assembly is then held in place by four large clevis pins to the bed rails.

Once the 5th wheel hitch was installed John added a Bed Saver.  This safety device is bolted directly to the rear of the 5th wheel hitch and is designed to catch the trailers' kingpin if it were ever to disconnect from the hitch.  Now you might ask how can such a large heavy duty hitch and pin fail or disconnect?  Well the most common way is the kingpin is not captured properly by the jaws or bar of the hitch.  So when the driver begins to pull the trailer forward without completing a "pull test" the trailer simply slides backwards landing on the pickup box rails.  When this happens the rails are crushed as well as the front of the trailer; amounting to thousands of dollars in damage.  There are great discussions regarding the need of a Bed Saver such as; you are either happy with the extra security or you think it's a waste of money if you follow proper hitching procedures.  John wanted the extra security and safety but he also follows all the procedures to properly hitch the 5th wheel trail.

Next required item was an electrical hookup for the trailer in the box.  The trailer connection that was installed from the factory as part of my trailer towing package is located in the rear bumper and is not ideal for 5th wheel trailer connections.  After some research John found that there is a factory 5th wheel harness that is plugged in between the truck harness in the bumper and the outlet.  John was able to find this harness on Craigslist from someone who purchased it and no longer needed it saving a lot of money.  Once plugged in and routed up inside to the left side of the box, John wired it into a connection called the ProPlug.  The advantages in using this type of plug versus a standard 7-way plug are the connection is flat and does not require drilling a large hole in the box for mounting (essentiualy it is a surface mount connection).  Second the Pro Plug uses LEDs (located under ProPlug cover) to confirm proper wiring and connection or helps in troubleshooting.

The last required item for towing the 5th wheel trailer was repairing my existing towing mirrors.  My left mirror worked fine with the exception it would not extend out for wider loads.  The right side mirror was completely dead; no power adjustment, heat, turn signal repeater or powr extention.  After several attempts to get the power extention to work on my left side mirror John decided that it was best to just replace both mirrors with late model GM towing mirrors which are larger and have the same features as stock.

John was able to find an OEM version of the current tow mirrors (2006-2010) from a online parts store (http://www.am-autoparts.com/) that sold them in pairs for a discount.  Installation was straight forward as in removing the inner door panels, disconnecting the electrical harness for window/mirror controls and removing the three nuts that hold the mirror on.  Then reversing the process for the new mirrors.  Now I have larger mirrors combinded with a convex (wide angle) mirror to really aid my John or Rana while towing or backing the 5th wheel.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Great Smoky Mountains

As promised I had John download/upload all the photos he took while we were in Tennessee and here are the highlights.

This waterfall area is called "The Sinks" on the Little River.  This river runs along the Northwest edge of the park and is paralleled by a twisty two lane road that takes you to the Sugarland Visitors Center.
The water as you can see is running quite fast and is a favorite for kayakers but The Sinks are not to be messed with.  Locals tell me that several people are injured or killed each year.

As the river runs along the edge of the road you are amazed of how clear, turquoise and shallow it is.  Because there is so must ground cover and it is well anchored it does not wash into the river and cloud it.  There are areas along the road where you can pull over and put your waders on and fly fish for Brown Trout (which is the native fish in these waters) with Rainbow Trout being introduced.


 There are over 800 miles of maintained trails within the park which are well marked as well as having detailed maps available.  The park encompasses 800 square miles of land in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Our drive through the park was just a small taste of what is offered.  We toured one of the campgrounds (Elkmont) within the park and found that it is quite nice and can accommodate most large rigs; but it will be a tight fit.  The drive into the park with a large fifth wheel or motorhome could be tricky but I'm told it is done all the time.

We exited the park and headed Northeast to the small tourist town of Gatlinburg which is nestled between two hills/mountains along US-321.  Because Gatlinburg growth is restricted by these mountains, land is at a premium so everything is packed tightly together.  This actually makes is easy to walk around, site see, shop and find restaurants.  But parking is also at a premium so best if you find a lot (all are pay lots) park and have a look around Gatlinburg on foot. 

Lunch was the first order of business for everyone and it was decided that fish/seafood was the ticket.  Bubba Gump's Seafood Shack is right on main street (US-321) and overlooked a busy intersection for great people watching.  I was told the food was excellent but a little high in price, service was excellent as well with their server quizzing everyone about trivia from the movie Forrest Gump.

Once lunch was out of the way they all headed over to the Ole Smoky Mountain Moonshine Holler; a gathering of stores, restaurants and a distillery for making moonshine.  In the courtyard area of this Holler is a small stage where Bluegrass bands setup, play and sell their CD's.  Makes for wonderful background music while touring the shops and distillery.  John was amazed that in this building was an actual moonshine(Shine) distillery producing legal moonshine!  In fact the distillery has several people there running "the still"  to answer questions as well as a museum on the history of shine.  Because John knows a lot about NASCAR he knew that NASCAR's roots can be traced back to the moonshine runners in the 30's, 40's & 50's.  The museum had several examples of these early moonshine cars to look at up close.

The museum tour ended as most do, in the gift shop but since this is a distillery most of the gift items were of the Shine variety.  There is a sample bar where one can partake in the comsumion of Shine.  John was quite apprehensive at first since he doesn't drink much spirits but was very surprised at how smooth and easy drinking it was.  The Shine they sell there comes in four flavors; apple, peach, fruit punch and white lightening if white lightening can be called a flavor.  John tried the white lightening as well as the fruit punch and Rana tried the apple; all were very good.  John bought a large jar of fruit punch Shine and Rana bought some fruit jelly made with Shine.


Sour Mash

With their belly's full of Bubba Gump's and shopping bags full of Shine it was off to Pigeon Forge.  Located Northwest of Gatlinburg, it's an easier drive with four lane winding road all the way there.  As you pull into Pigeon Forge (from the South) you notice it looks very much like Branson, MO.  It has some of the same attractions (Titanic & Wonderworks) as well as similar ones.  Rana made the comment that she has never seen so many pancake houses so close together (nine in total); Branson dosen't have that.  Since Pigeon Forge has lots more room to build on it is much larger than Gatlinburg, so driving or taking a tolley is required to go from one attraction to another.  As there really wasn't anything special we wanted to see in Pigeon Forge other than the city itself we turned and headed home.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

I'm Back

Well I would say it's good to be back but I left the cool temps of Tennessee to the cold single digits of Minnesota.  I just finished a nearly 3000 mile trip with John, Rana and their fur kids to Southern Alabama, Northern Alabama and the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.  John is still compiling the actual numbers for fuel, miles driven and such but is very pleased with my performance the entire trip!  I was a little concerned towing in the mountains but John didn't push me too hard going uphill in order to save fuel and coasting downhill was not like the "runaway freight train" I imagined it would be.

The 60 gallon aux fuel tank John installed this past summer worked quite well; maybe too well.  Because my passengers can only ride for two to three hours at a time John decided that installing the aux tank pump switch in my cab was not necessary.  So he mounted it in the tool box section of the aux tank.  The idea was that as the driver or passengers were taking a break at a rest stop the switch would be turned on to refuel my main tank.  Problem is the pump does take some time (roughly 30 minutes) to fill my main tank from empty.  If either John or Rana forget about the fuel transfer or take too long to get back; well you get a diesel spill.  (Thanks to Wisconsin DOT for your help!)

One more before I go, the MorRyde pinbox that John installed on the camper is great!  The shaking and jerking motion that is caused by the bad roads is almost gone.  I'm not getting chucked around and my passengers are not having internal organs damaged.

I'll have John post the pictures he took on this trip for you to enjoy.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Power & Control

The first thing that John scheduled to have replaced on me was my rear tires.  There was just barely enough tread to get us home from Texas but the tires were unsafe for continuous use let alone road trips or towing a 5th wheel camper.  Once the tires were replaced John wanted to increase my engine output while still conserving fuel.

After lots of research (John reads a lot websites to learn stuff) he decided on a engine control system from Banks Engineering.  http://www.bankspower.com/  Choosing the Banks Economind and IQ monitor I have increased engine power, control and monitoring all at my drivers fingertips.

Banks Economind Module
Banks IQ touchscreen
Banks Ram Air Box - K&N Filter
He installed it fairly quickly with few tools and John is just blown away with the features and detail this system provides.  Details such as my coolant temp; which he was concerned about because my LLY engine is noted for over-heating problems.  John noted that my coolant temp was always at the upper limit according to the temp gauge on the dashboard.  Once he had the Banks IQ system plugged in he noticed that the dash temp gauge was almost 40 degrees in error (too high)!
In addition to the Banks IQ system John installed a Banks Cold Air Intake and a Super Scoop in order to move the air intake from inside my engine bay to outside the engine bay and lower.  This allows for cooler, denser air to enter my turbocharger thus keeping engine temps lower.  The IQ system reports an 80 degree difference between engine bay air temp and outside air temp which again helps prevent over-heating problems.

The last modification John wanted to complete on my engine to make sure I'm running at top power yet not creeping towards over-heating was changing out my turbo mouthpiece.  This is a acknowledged design error on the part of GM when they switched from the LB7 to the LLY engine.  This mouthpiece is too small and restrictive thus another possible cause for over-heating.  So he ordered a larger cleaner flowing mouthpiece fro AFE and installed at the same time as the Banks CAI.  He also removed the plastic resinator and the rerouted the pcv system so that oil vapor is not routed into the turbo.Thus keeping the vanes and inner workings clean and oil free.

Stock Turbo Mouthpiece

Side by Side Comparison

















So far according to the notes John has made during each of these changes there has been a small gain in MPG (1-2 at most) but my engine is definently running cooler and there is no sign of over-heating or the thermal run away.
The cooling fan does still run when needed but not as often and for shorter durations.  My large Texas bumper may be causing lower airflow issues so a chin deflector or air dam may need to be fabricated but that is another days project.
 

Mouthpiece Installed (Resinator removed)


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Introductions

Well this is my first Blog entry since the idea came to me.  At the time I thought it was a good idea and so many other people who travel have blogs detailing all the places they have gone.  I wanted to do this as well be but from the a different perspective; that of the tow vehicle.

So without any fanfare let's put this blog into 5th gear and see where it takes us.

This is a photo taken by Rana (one of my owners) of me the day after arriving from Texas where John (my other owner) found me on EBay.  The drive North was uneventful and really didn't seem much different from Texas except cooler in the evenings.  But I was in for a surprise as my first Minnesota winter took hold.
I have never been so cold in my life!  John did keep my engine warm using my block heater on the nights he was going to drive me to his work the next morning.  Otherwise it would be days of just sitting while the snow drifted around me.

 
Now you may realize that this posting is dated 11/6/11 and the photos are going from Fall to Winter of 2010, I assure you that is not my intent.  What really is happening is John has been fitting me with all the accessories that will be required to tow and travel with a 5th wheel trailer.  John has been more focused on that aspect of me and not helping me set up this blog; so I am a number of months behind.

I'll close out this entry and then enter more in the coming days detailing these accessories and my first road trips with John & Rana.