TheFatMan
Member
- First Name
- Tim
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 55
- Location
- Northern Wisconsin
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Willys Gladiator, 2014 Chevy Suburban
- Occupation
- Retired
- Thread starter
- #1
My wife and I just got back from a two week adventure with my 2021 Willys six speed manual towing an Airstream Bambi Sport a little over 4600 miles. The trip was from our home in far northern Wisconsin to Utah, Arizona and Colorado.
We started the trip with a first mishap in Utah where a trailer tire decided to blow out so we basically lost a day getting new shoes for the Airstream in Cedar City, Utah. Once that was sorted, we drove to the Cedar Breaks national monument and camped there above 10,000 feet for our first night in the outdoors. No cell, no wifi, nothing but dark skies and amazing views.
Next, it was on to Bryce, Kodachrome valley and Capitol Reef. We took a bunch of petroglyph photos near Capitol Reef and camped in a little town near Boulder called Escalante. I drove Hell’s Backbone in the truck. The views were stunning, but it’s not an ORV trail. More like a poorly maintained dirt/gravel road but was a very cool drive none the less. We ate ate the Hell’s Backbone grill that night. I only mention the restaurant because it was exceptional. If you are ever in the area, do try it.
Then, it was on to Mesa Verde via Page, AZ. We stopped to see the Glen Canyon Dam and horseshoe bend and spent a night in Page. Mesa Verde is one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited. Photos don’t do the place justice.
Next, we went to Durango for a couple of days and just acted like tourists. We rode the Durango to Silverton train. Also a very cool day and Silverton is like a town that time forgot.
I did ORV trails in and around Capitol Reef, Hell’s Backbone and Durango.
The good:
My little truck did just fine towing a 3500# Airstream up and down mountains. I wouldn’t win any hill climb races, but it did great. I watched engine oil temp climbing mountain passes and the highest it ever got was 236* climbing the Wolf Creek Pass (10,856’) in southern Colorado. As soon as I cleared the pass, it dropped back down to normal in short order.
Nebraska is flat! I could use cruise control in 5th gear to maintain roughly 70 mph through the whole state.
Colorado, Utah and Northern Arizona are not flat. I spent a lot of time shifting gears to keep it in an RPM range where it pulled ok.
The bad:
13.5 MPG over two weeks and 4600 miles. I don’t know what I expected, but my normal “around town” gas mileage is more like 21-22MPG. this engine pulls best at 3k rpm or so without seeming to wind out. The ratio between 4th and 5th isn’t close enough. Sometimes, 4th is more than enough torque for Highway hills but 5th is not enough.
All in all, the only casualties were a trailer tire, side window on the camper and a Gorilla glass windshield from the same dump truck that showered me with gravel near Monument Valley. You can see the broken camper window in one of the photos.
No, the gladiator with a six speed manual isn’t the ideal tow rig. Yes, it’s underpowered in the mountains (who wouldn’t want a power stroke diesel for climbing mountain passes?). But I can’t think of many other rigs that would allow me to pull the camper and then unhook and go off roading like I did. Short of a diesel pusher motor home towing the jeep, this was a great combination for a couple weeks on the trail.
We started the trip with a first mishap in Utah where a trailer tire decided to blow out so we basically lost a day getting new shoes for the Airstream in Cedar City, Utah. Once that was sorted, we drove to the Cedar Breaks national monument and camped there above 10,000 feet for our first night in the outdoors. No cell, no wifi, nothing but dark skies and amazing views.
Next, it was on to Bryce, Kodachrome valley and Capitol Reef. We took a bunch of petroglyph photos near Capitol Reef and camped in a little town near Boulder called Escalante. I drove Hell’s Backbone in the truck. The views were stunning, but it’s not an ORV trail. More like a poorly maintained dirt/gravel road but was a very cool drive none the less. We ate ate the Hell’s Backbone grill that night. I only mention the restaurant because it was exceptional. If you are ever in the area, do try it.
Then, it was on to Mesa Verde via Page, AZ. We stopped to see the Glen Canyon Dam and horseshoe bend and spent a night in Page. Mesa Verde is one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited. Photos don’t do the place justice.
Next, we went to Durango for a couple of days and just acted like tourists. We rode the Durango to Silverton train. Also a very cool day and Silverton is like a town that time forgot.
I did ORV trails in and around Capitol Reef, Hell’s Backbone and Durango.
The good:
My little truck did just fine towing a 3500# Airstream up and down mountains. I wouldn’t win any hill climb races, but it did great. I watched engine oil temp climbing mountain passes and the highest it ever got was 236* climbing the Wolf Creek Pass (10,856’) in southern Colorado. As soon as I cleared the pass, it dropped back down to normal in short order.
Nebraska is flat! I could use cruise control in 5th gear to maintain roughly 70 mph through the whole state.
Colorado, Utah and Northern Arizona are not flat. I spent a lot of time shifting gears to keep it in an RPM range where it pulled ok.
The bad:
13.5 MPG over two weeks and 4600 miles. I don’t know what I expected, but my normal “around town” gas mileage is more like 21-22MPG. this engine pulls best at 3k rpm or so without seeming to wind out. The ratio between 4th and 5th isn’t close enough. Sometimes, 4th is more than enough torque for Highway hills but 5th is not enough.
All in all, the only casualties were a trailer tire, side window on the camper and a Gorilla glass windshield from the same dump truck that showered me with gravel near Monument Valley. You can see the broken camper window in one of the photos.
No, the gladiator with a six speed manual isn’t the ideal tow rig. Yes, it’s underpowered in the mountains (who wouldn’t want a power stroke diesel for climbing mountain passes?). But I can’t think of many other rigs that would allow me to pull the camper and then unhook and go off roading like I did. Short of a diesel pusher motor home towing the jeep, this was a great combination for a couple weeks on the trail.
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