First Sunline-Powered Camping trip

OhhWell · 04-05-2011, 08:23 AM

Well, I already introduced myself but I wan't to write a quick blurb since we just took our first camping trip with a TT recently and figured this would be the forum. We went to sanibel and posted at length about it under Southeastern in campground reviews.

Being a newbie, I would like to share a few minor discoveries.

1. 72" in length may seem long enough untill you put a pillow into the equation.
2. Noise that is not noticable during the day is excrutiating at night. Especially that Damned fan in the power converter. (12v went on battery at night)
3. It is amazing how many people don't look until the last moment when merging on to the interstate.
4. You don't need to pack as many clothes camping with a TT as you do with a tent.

In all seriousness though, I have to thank you all for the info I got from this site. I was completely clueless when we bought our trailer and if I hadn't been pushed to do research by many posts on this site, I may have actually tried to pull this thing with just a ball hitch!

Even though my wife was ready toi kill me if I said "Honey, there's something else we need to get to pull the trailer", thanks to John's hitch guide, it sat perfectly level loaded and the TV only had a tiny lift on the front suspension. I had no problems keeping it under controll even when big rigs flew by me on I75. I could just feel a slight pull to the left.

Speaking of the TV though... We had some trouble with the Tranny fluid breaking down after a while on the road in the heat. We are running with oversized tires though and the Fluid has probably never been changed for all I know. We picked up 4 more factory wheels and will have a set of factory sized tires to put on when towing. I'm also going to replace the filter and as much of the tranny fluid as I can with synthetic. Hopefully that will make the difference untill we can afford to upgrade the TV.

Steve Collins · 04-05-2011, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhhWell

Speaking of the TV though... We had some trouble with the Tranny fluid breaking down after a while on the road in the heat. We are running with oversized tires though and the Fluid has probably never been changed for all I know. We picked up 4 more factory wheels and will have a set of factory sized tires to put on when towing. I'm also going to replace the filter and as much of the tranny fluid as I can with synthetic. Hopefully that will make the difference untill we can afford to upgrade the TV.

Before you swap out the fluid and filter, pickup an aftermarket tranny cooler, biggest one you fit in your TV. They are easy to install, priced well under $150, and worth their weight in gold for trailering.

OhhWell · 04-05-2011, 09:37 AM

Steve, you know what, there is already a factory auxilliarly cooler in front of the radiator. I was actually hoping that there wouldn't be. Do you imagine I would be able to put another somewhere?

It's a 99 burb 1500. There is obviously alot of room in the engine compartment but the area in front of the radiator is a little sparse for mounting points.

Steve Collins · 04-05-2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhhWell

Steve, you know what, there is already a factory auxilliarly cooler in front of the radiator. I was actually hoping that there wouldn't be. Do you imagine I would be able to put another somewhere?

It's a 99 burb 1500. There is obviously alot of room in the engine compartment but the area in front of the radiator is a little sparse for mounting points.

Best I can offer is to take some measurements and get the specs on some coolers and see if it can work.

Might be good to look at an aftermarket oil cooler, too, now that I think about it a bit.

Jim-Bev-2363 · 04-05-2011, 11:03 AM

I wouldn't go to alot of trouble until you put the factory sized tires on and then tow. The transmission strain might return to allowable tolerances so your existing tranny cooler is enough. Don't forget to readjust the hitch with the new tires.

jim

OhhWell · 04-05-2011, 03:37 PM

The difference between the correct size tires and the larger ones we have on it now was very noticeable when we first changed. There was alot of torque lost but it didn't really bother us as we were not towing anything big.

I'm thinking that going back to the correct size will take a huge load off of the transmission. Also, the vehicle has high miles and I doubt the transmission fluid was changed regularly if ever. The tires and good fluid will mopst likely solve the problem.

With that being said however, if I am going to drain the system anyhow, it might not be that bad of an idea to add a second aux cooler to the system. I found a simple one from Derale for cheap at etrailer. For about another 50-75 bucks or so and a couple hours of time I could really put it over the edge.

Jim-Bev-2363 · 04-05-2011, 03:59 PM

Sounds like a plan.

EMD_Driver · 04-05-2011, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhhWell

Steve, you know what, there is already a factory auxilliarly cooler in front of the radiator. I was actually hoping that there wouldn't be. Do you imagine I would be able to put another somewhere?

It's a 99 burb 1500. There is obviously alot of room in the engine compartment but the area in front of the radiator is a little sparse for mounting points.

If you do decide to go with an aftermarket cooler, make sure you get a stacked-plate cooler. My 1999 F350 diesel doesn't use a cooler inside the radiator, or an auxiliary cooler. It had a 12"x12" stacked plate cooler in it, when I bought it. I replaced it with a Tru-cool MAX stacked plate cooler:

The gross combined weight of my truck and trailer is 18,000lbs. This cooler is rated for 40,000lbs. This is one case, where bigger is better. Transmissions need lots of cooling, when towing. Keeping the tranny temp below 200* will extend it's life greatly.

henryj · 04-05-2011, 07:41 PM

When changing tranny fluid, always pay the extra money for a full flush. Otherwise up to 1/3 or so of the fluid remains to contaminate the new. Towing in the heat and stop and go traffic of FL with oversize tires, or climbing mountain passes with progressive downshifting places a huge strain on the transmission. We do a lot of cross country travel and I've been changing the fluid every two years. It's pretty cheap compared to the alternatives.

Henry