Jump to content

Towing a toyhauler in mountains and 85.5 octane

mikeyk101
 Share

Recommended Posts

16LT4 Enthusiast

16LT4

Posted
Posted

Those Western Mountains are a whole 'nuther game compared to Eastern hills.  That said, I've noticed a difference even cresting the lowly Catskills in my 442, only 2250ft above sea level.  It wasn't the fuel, it was the air.  The higher elevation is why less octane is needed than at sea level. 

 

Denver for example, a little higher than Gillette, has air that is 82% as dense as at sea level, humidity being equal.  This is where forced induction engines shine, because the intake charge is kept at roughly the same air density by the hair dryer.  Because the engine is an air pump, the NA engine is only making ~82% of its power as at sea level, all else being equal.  Water boils about a degree lower for every 500 ft of elevation increase.  The thinner air at elevation has less ability to absorb heat via the radiator; all of these leads to lower available power to climb the grade, along with more heat and less ability to remove it.

 

A decade ago, I towed a 4000 lb U-haul trailer 450 miles with my 110 hp '84 GMC S15 with manual transmission.  Even mild grades that an unladen vehicle would never notice had me dropping into 3rd and putting the hazards on at 40 mph in a 65 mph.  I've always operated on the principal that a trailer combo should be the slowest vehicle on the road; going slower than traffic, no matter how dense, means one will always have a clear lane ahead of them, important when considering increased stopping distances.  Slow down, keep it in 3rd or 4th and watch your RPM and fluid temps, not the speedometer.  Do 35 mph going up the grade and turn on your hazards if you need to; I've never understood "needing" to keep up with traffic at the expense of abusing the machinery.  I'm sure you'd rather make it home, uneventfully, than blow a coolant hose, head gasket, spin a bearing, wipe the marginal torque converter, etc.  😉

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 3
mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
  • Author
Posted

All good info and I will have to remember this the next time I am back out west again. Might not be for some time though.

 

As far as the tires, they are actually 275/60R20 so that may have come into play as well but I have the speedo corrected by the Rough Country speedo corrector. I believe the speed limit was 65mph but both times especially the second time back through, I was traveling less and no traffic to keep up with. Trans fluid had been changed the first time around 50,000 miles but that will be done again once I get back home. 

mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I got home safe and sound on Thur afternoon. There was a serious layer of bugs all over the front end, the mirrors, and the front of the toyhauler. I peeked inside the grill and the condenser was pretty caked with bugs as well. I mixed up my go to bug cleaner ( half Hydrogen peroxide and half water) and went to town. I was able to get everything cleaned off pretty well. Then I pulled off the grill to be able to get to the condenser. I used a full can of AC Coil cleaner to spray all over the face of the condenser. I let it sit for several minutes until most of the foam dissipated and then rinsed it real well. It looked much cleaner now. Luckily the fins were still in pretty good shape and only a very tiny percentage needed straightening. Although it will be a while like I mentioned earlier in this thread before I will be back in the mountains, it was still a good idea to do a good cleaning again anyway...

  • Like 1
Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, mikeyk101 said:

I got home safe and sound on Thur afternoon. There was a serious layer of bugs all over the front end, the mirrors, and the front of the toyhauler. I peeked inside the grill and the condenser was pretty caked with bugs as well. I mixed up my go to bug cleaner ( half Hydrogen peroxide and half water) and went to town. I was able to get everything cleaned off pretty well. Then I pulled off the grill to be able to get to the condenser. I used a full can of AC Coil cleaner to spray all over the face of the condenser. I let it sit for several minutes until most of the foam dissipated and then rinsed it real well. It looked much cleaner now. Luckily the fins were still in pretty good shape and only a very tiny percentage needed straightening. Although it will be a while like I mentioned earlier in this thread before I will be back in the mountains, it was still a good idea to do a good cleaning again anyway...

 

Tell me about this product please. Name...where to buy...etc...

mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
  • Author
Posted
10 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

Tell me about this product please. Name...where to buy...etc...

Here is the stuff I used. 

 

AC-Safe    Air Conditioner Foaming Coil Cleaner
https://www.homedepot.com/p/AC-Safe-Air-Conditioner-Foaming-Coil-Cleaner-AC-921/206740351
SKU# 206740351

 

Taking the grill off made it much easier to get access to the condenser. I also "LIGHTLY" used a soft bristle brush across the face of condenser after liberally spraying the cleaner on it to help. The stuff is supposed to be self rinsing but does say you can hose it off afterwards which is what I did. One can was just enough to do the entire face. 

 

I have been also looking for some kind of cleaning wand with a 90⁰ angled sprayer but haven't been really successful. Since bugs and such hit the face and get stuck, I would eventually like to try using a sprayer in between condenser and radiator and try to push the stuff back out the way it got there and really clean out those fins. Removing the top plastic cover and then removing the grill is actually a pretty quick process. I did try to also remove the plastic covering that sits directly on the condenser but wasn't able to detach the tabs that are on either side about a 1/3rd of the way down. That would give access in-between condenser and radiator I believe. At least for now, most of the bugs and such have been taken care off. 

  • Thanks 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Atlas
      Gas Prices

      By Atlas · Posted

      87 down as low as $5.14 here... winning!
    • Atlas
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By Atlas · Posted

      Progress... sort of.   Intake is disassembled, spider is out, fuel lines removed. Used a torch on the stripped screw with the lower intake off, much easier when I've got the intake sitting on my workbench, I made it talk. Walked right out with a pair of vice grips once it was nice and toasty hot.   New parts are piling up on my service cart waiting to be installed. Distributor, temperature sensor, new gaskets, fuel line kit, themostat, water neck.   My new pickle is I don't want to spend $600 on a replacement spider. I'm not sure IT is bad. I'm probably splitting hairs. Or it's $300 to send mine away and another 3 weeks of the truck just sitting. I have half a mind to assemble everything with the old spider to see if I can get away with just replacing the fuel pressure regulator to be safe. The obvious issue was the gushing high pressure fuel line which will be replaced. Getting to the spider really isn't that hard, and now I know what I'm doing , swapping it would be a breeze should it absolutely need one. Stupid, or smart?   The part that gives me pause is replacing the distributor. Well, it's already out. And I didn't mark it, whoopsie! Engine was at TDC when I removed it, I know that, so upon correct reinstall the metal tip on the rotor should point to the TDC mark on the distributor because that's where it was pointing on the old distributor. Worst case I'm a tooth off and have to re-stab it.   But then, what? I assume the truck will start. It doesn't appear the timing can be set. Here's the problem: These distributors can't be rotated but a degree or two, by design. What I read is Cam ****** needs to be -2 to +2 degrees, ideally at 0 (and checked/set above 1000 rpm). There should be enough wiggle to get that properly set, but checking the reported value is another potential issue. My Actron 9185 scanner says it supports enhanced GM PIDs and Cam ****** is one of them but it's unclear that I'll be able to correctly see it over OBD 1.5. I can see why people end up junking these things with life left in them. They're an absolute nightmare with tweener-year diagnostics/electronics and unobtanium parts.   Fingers crossed it starts and idles nicely. There can be hope, right? I'ma buy a lottery ticket the same day just in case.   Next steps..DO IT. I have not installed an intake before so I've been reading and watching a lot. Some say NO RTV except on china walls, some say DO RTV on water ports but not fuel/air intake. 1/4 or 3/8 bead on China walls? I think my strategy will be, obviously, RTV china walls with overlap on the gasket corners. Chapstick-style RTV the water ports. Leave intake ports dry. The only set of intake gaskets I could find locally are Edelbrock performance gaskets (uh...for an asthmatic 190hp V6? LOL) so we'll see how they do.   #NoToolLeftBehind. It took an hour, but my recovery mission for my deep 10mm socket was successful. It had rolled down the bellhousing and wedged itself between what I think are the fuel lines? I couldn't see it at all, but with a junk antenna I had laying around, I blindly went poking/sweeping for it, heard it clink, raised the truck, and caught a sliver glimpse of chrome with a flashlight way up there in Narnia. I had pushed it farther along the lines holding it captive, but within access of severely improvised tools, poking and cursing at it to finally knock it free to where I could get a fingertip on it to bring it home.    Not much to see.      
    • RyanbabZ71
      Gas Prices

      By RyanbabZ71 · Posted

      Thats crazy considering im right next door (Indiana)
    • Black02Silverado
      New Retail & Commercial Promo

      By Black02Silverado · Posted

      For a limited time, retail and commercial accounts receive an AMSOIL Vinyl Tool Tray with their order of $500 or more when they use code TRAY726 at checkout. The promotion runs through July 21, 2026.   Order at https://syntheticadvantage.com   Want to use AMSOIL in your business or sell at your store, apply here.  https://www.amsoil.com/business-opportunities/?zo=521390  
    • KARNUT
      2027 GMC Sierra: Official Discussion

      By KARNUT · Posted

      It wouldn’t have happened if the government hadn’t mandated outrageous fuel mileage standards. It does very little for the consumer. It adds cost. Back during Covid there was a chip shortage. They gave a rebate for your truck if it didn’t have the chip to turn on cylinder deactivation. It was 50$ because at best you may see 1/2 a mile increase per gallon. Splitting hairs each fuel mileage trick wasn’t mandated. The government doesn’t do the engineering work and say use this until it’s already in use and they like it. The fuel mileage was mandated. And those add ons the results. There’s a mandate and they are the results.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...