Overdrive On / Cruise Control when towing on level ground?

[RVtrek]

I believe your enemy on towing this trailer is the height. If you have 8' inside height, im assuming the overall height of the trailer is 11' or more, combine that with an 8.5' foot wide trailer, and you have a giant wind sail. Even though you are under your gvw of your truck, with the wind area of that trailer, you really need a dually to be able to have a stable towing rig.                                       I am planning a aluminum cargo trailer build, but i will be pulling it with a midsize chevy colorado 2.8 4 cyl. diesel, which only has 180hp, but has 370 ft. lbs, of torque, so i know i will have to keep the trailer at about 16' or 18' length, 7' width, and 6'6" interior height to keep the wind drag down.                                                                                                                                    By the way, i enjoy reading your blog about the building out of your trailer. 

Hi Nomad Mike,

I couldn't agree more!  I just purchased a 2005 Ford F350 Dually.  If it can't handle the trailer, then it can't be handled.

Thanks for reading the blog.  Posts are going to be pretty slow for the next month or so because I've just spent all my liquid capital on the new(er) truck, so I need to work as much as I can to make money to continue with the build.

 

[MazdaGuy15]

I would definitely use cruise control and overdrive with your new truck. My truck is a 08 F150 v6 manual trans long bed 2 wheel drive that's only rated to pull 2300lbs. The most I have pulled with it was a 8000lb. Granted the motor didn't like it and the clutch was pissed but it did it. Most people would think that's unsafe to pull that much with a truck that isn't rated for it but I have the same brakes as a v8 truck, the same radiator as a v8 truck and the same tires as a v8 truck. From a safety perspective I'm just as safe as a more power full truck the only limiting factor is my small motor and if I take my time and take it easy on my tranny it works just fine. And yes I used overdrive every opportunity I can but I can easily change gears if I need more power to climb a big hill.

I don't want to pull that kind of weight with my truck every day but that's just because my motor is small. If I had a v8 I wouldn't think twice about it and would still use overdrive and cruise every chance I could

 

[Canine]

I usually run in OD on downslopes to let the motor cool down.I always use CC unless I'm pulling a steep hill and the speed drops below 40.