Cool man I am glad it did well for you. I might look into one of those new Reese SC set up's. I will tell you this the older style friction anti sway work but that have to be set tighter than most people think.

I don't think 8.5mpg is all that bad for you rig. I get slightly better than that but with a smaller load. You will only get a little better with a diesel. You can either pay at the dealer or at the pump.

 

All things considered, the MPG wasn't all that bad. The drive from SoCal to Prescott, AZ is a LOT of uphill. The most annoying part was having to stop every 150-200 miles to gas up. Stupid small tank.

I've had a diesel before, the mileage difference is quite a bit. With my '97 Ram 2500 I would get 20-22mpg freeway and the WORST I ever got towing was 17mpg. That 17 MPG is better than I get empty with the Titan. Yes, pay the dealer or pay at the pump. The diesel truck will hold up better and longer, plus I wouldn't be buying new. Probably an '06-'07 Ram 3500, we'll see.

glad to hear all went well on your trip
i hope to post a report like this one day
i only got about 9 to 9.5 mpg when pulling my ultra lite 30' trailer

That's not too bad. I'm hoping a little better on the drive back, but I doubt more than what you saw. At some point during this trip I'm going to get the whole thing weighed, but if I had to guess I'd say the trailer is about 7600-8000lb loaded with stuff. We'll see how close I am in a couple of days.

Can't wait to get out and see some NEW places. :cheers:

 

glad to hear all went well on your trip
i hope to post a report like this one day
i only got about 9 to 9.5 mpg when pulling my ultra lite 30' trailer

 

Well, the trip is over!

Total miles - 1,084
Towing MPG from CA to AZ - 8.5
Towing MPG from AZ to CA - 9.1 to 10.4
City/highway avg @ 5000ft - 15

This was all done with the BDGT set to regular tune and towing speeds of 55-60MPH the whole way with some decent winds for about 1/3 of the way each time, plus the long climb up to Prescott from Congress, AZ.

I can't say enough about how awesome this combo towed, my biggest complaint was having to stop for gas every 175 miles.

Also, for anyone that has an iPhone, I highly recommend the "Road Trip" app to track gas, maint, and expenses. Works like a charm, you can do reports and export all the data in CSV format via email.

 

I was talking to my Pop the other day about maybe getting a diesel later and he said it's really not worth it unless I were towing a few times a month. He pointed out that the cost of diesel has been a bit more than gas overall for quite awhile now and then there's the additional price tag on buying a diesel powered truck and maintaining it. He said "it's up to you but I can't see it paying for itself unless towing long distances for a bit more than just a few times a year unless your gas motor is struggling with the load for some reason".

 

Well, I've been a diesel owner previously and in terms of maintenance it's roughly the same. There's more oil, but oil changes are every ~7500 miles. There's the fuel filter, which is usually replaced every other oil change (15k miles), they have 2 batteries, some require the valves to be adjusted but that's typically only during break-in, after that it doesn't change much.

Yes, diesel is more expensive than gas but in terms of pure gas vs. diesel cost the diesel fuel would have to be about 25% more expensive than gas for it to cost as much as gas in terms of $/mile. Anything less than 25% is money in your pocket.

Yes, diesel trucks come with a price premium but a) They last a lot longer b) They have a higher resale value c) The Cummins is a pleasure to work on and super easy to replace parts. I'd like to see someone replace a water pump on the Titan in their driveway in 15 minutes.

We expect to travel close to 10,000 miles every year towing the TT, maybe more and maybe less, but just comparing fuel costs for 1 year.

10,000 miles @ 15mpg towing w/ diesel = 666 gallons = $2200
10,000 miles @ 9mpg towing w/ Titan = 1111 gallons = $3350

That's $1,150 saved in fuel costs alone during the first year. Buying a used (2006/2007) Ram now is roughly the same as or a hair more than what I paid for my Titan, so it's not like comparing a new '09 or '10 Ram @ $45k to a new Titan at $26k.

If we only did 1000-2000 miles a year I'd be happy with the Titan, but we're going to be doing 2500 miles next month alone, then this summer we'll be doing at least 3200 miles (CA -> AZ -> NM -> CO -> UT -> NV -> CA) in addition to wherever else we decide to go. At least another 1100 mile trip to AZ each year, at least am 800-1000 mile trip to the SF bay area each year, the possibilities are endless.

I can't imagine doing all that with the Titan. Well, I can, but not comfortably and not with fuel stops every 175 miles.

 

Yea, I'd have to agree... My few trips a year are up to the mountains and down to the Gulf. Since we're dead centered in the US, it takes me no longer than 26-hrs to get most anywhere that we go so it's no longer than a day's drive. If I were going that far more than 5-times a year then I might have to reconsider but my PTO time doesn't add up that fast and i might start to miss my job.

 

That's the other thing, I work remotely from home, so my "home" is anywhere that I have reliable internet. Hit the road around 3pm and drive for 6 hours and/or drive for part of the weekend. The real limitation is around our daughters' schooling, so we either do the long trips over the summer (They have 2 months off) or do homeschooling. Or, we simply homeschool for a year and travel around the US, see the sights, and then do our future travels over the summer. For our sanity and out kids' social development I don't want to do the homeschooling full-time, at least not yet (4 and 8).

I like the idea of taking one long trip to everywhere we'd like to go, then picking our favorite(s) to go back to, thus the idea of homeschooling for a year and then cutting it back to summer break plus the holidays for visiting family.

 

Glad the Titan worked out so well for you. I am planning on getting a TT here in the next few months as well. I may have to look into your setup when the time comes. I really don't want to just hook up and go with my family in the truck as well. Too many options for disaster if not done properly.

 

The forums over on rv.net are a great resource, as for brands you'll get opinions all over the place. Forest River and Keystone both have a lot of different "brands" under them, and are actually owned by larger conglomerates, some are the same and simply renamed based on region and others are built at different locations. Jayco also seems to make a trailer that most people seem to be happy with.

Forest River products were at the top of my list but we couldn't find the trailer that fit all our criteria. The "perfect" Forest River trailer was simply too heavy for the Titan. A couple of months later we came across the Keystone Hideout line, which was a great combination of "smart" building (Both for weight and long-term reliability) and affordable pricing.

I've read countless forum threads from people buying a new TT and spending the first few trips making a list of things that need to be fixed. I can happily say that after spending 1,100 miles and 9 days in our new TT that we have no list of defects. I couldn't be happier with our choice.

Definitely look at what warranties come with the TT if you're going to buy new. Most are 1-year bumper to hitch, Jayco is 2, others have the option of adding on a 2nd year for $100 or so, but there are also other warranties that come with them. All the appliances have their own warranties which are typically 2-3 years, the roof is typically a 12-year warranty. One of the things I found out while looking at our Keystone is the floor has a limited lifetime warranty. I didn't see this on any other brand and I'm told most use lower-quality tongue-and-groove plywood flooring that can squeak and split at the seams causing soft spots. True or false? I don't know, but I like that a company is willing to stand behind their product like that, especially when it comes to something as critical and integral as the floor.

 

Thanks you two for the suggestions! Dallas also has an RV convention every year at the convention center. I plan on checking that out as well. Get all the makes and models in one room and see what is out there.

 

Yahooligan I have the same exact hitch as yours, All I need is the torsion bars and the friction pads that mount to the tongue. I might have to look into this, after I replace my awning that after 5 years is delaminating.