What have you been towing with your Eco Diesel

[Racerxray1]

I towed my 20’ enclosed trailer from Oregon to So Cal. It was loaded with my UTV, tools and an extra set of tires. Lots of 6% grades to climb and managed 12.5 mpg. I was very pleased and impressed with my JTRD.

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[KW80]

Took the family for a 1,500 mile road trip around the Great Lakes. Was towing a Rockwood Roo 23SS with a dry weight of around 4,000 lbs, probably near 4,500 fully loaded. I have a Sport S EcoDiesel with Rubi sized tires (285/70 R17 BFG KO2) and used an Anderson weight distribution hitch, which worked great to level everything out and limit sway.

Obviously around the Midwest there aren't severe changes in elevation or prolonged steep grades but my Gladiator was more than up to the task. Even with serious head/cross winds at times, the truck and trailer tracked straight and felt safe / in control. Also, despite many 90+ degree days with high humidity the temps stayed within normal operating parameters; specifically I never saw the oil temp get above 242 and both the trans and coolant temps normally stayed in the 200 to 220 range.

Relative to fuel economy I was usually in the 16 to 18 mpg range and only dipped below when the winds were pushing back hard, my camper isn't aerodynamic by any stretch of the imagination. My hand calculated average fuel economy was just above 16 mpg and I only used about 2.5 gallons of DEF, I brought a spare bottle just in case but only put it in upon returning home to bring the tank back up to roughly where it was when we departed.

A word of advice, as some others have already mentioned, it is key to utilize the manual shifting feature. In auto mode I found the downshifting way too slow, often trying to lug up hills in eighth gear. With proactive manual shifting I tried to keep it in the 2,000 to 2,500 rpm range except when coasting downhill and that seemed to be an optimal zone for both power and efficiency.

Overall I am quite pleased with how my Gladiator performed. It is no full sized truck, you definitely feel the load behind you and need to adjust your acceleration and speed expectations accordingly; but it never derated or struggled in any way on our trip. Certainly from some of the other threads out there it is clear that the diesel can have temp issues when pushed with extreme temps, elevations, or both. However, in my experience, when not facing both of those extremes the diesel Gladiator tows very efficiently and comfortably.

Finally, just to be clear, I am not trying to counterpoint anyone else, just sharing my experience. I think it is reasonable pursue a solution (OEM or otherwise) to the derating issues other diesel owners are experiencing, and I would likely invest in said solution if it were well engineered and reasonably priced as I would also appreciate a higher safety margin for exploring in the Mountains/Desert.

 

[Jocww]

I also use the off road pages when I tow, I would have rather seen a boost gauge then the oil psi or be given the option to configure what gauges I see…

Those with a 7 in screen are we able to see all the guages as well?

 

[Josh00333]

No, the off road pages are on the 8.4” only.

 

[Granitelvr]

Now that the temps have cooled off I went for a max tow. I was hauling gravel from a pit and steadily increased the load per trip as the 45 mile one trip has some killer grades. Last tow I had 6 cubic yards of 3/4 gravel( somewhere between 2500-2800 a ton) and the trailer weighs 2800 empty. So…maybe around 18k…. Outside temps were between 30-55 degrees. Not even a budge on the gauges other than oil pressure.

 

[raypla]

To the post above, that is quite the load, how was braking, did you snap a pic?

21’ JTRD, 16.5’ 50hp Merc, 3 hrs N to Long Lake in the ADKs, dash said 18.5 MPGs, going 75 up/down the North way, when I returned home. Not the biggest boat but it used to “wag the tail” of my 2 door Jk on similar excursions. 4.0 XJ did good too but it would be lucky to get 10 mpg. Love this 3.0!

 

[Granitelvr]

I have trailer brakes on the trailer so that helps tremendously. That being said, I used manual mode to gear shift down grades to control the weight and using minimal braking. I didn’t get a pic from the towing that day. My signature has my rig and trailer. I’ll post another in the thread. I had the trailer completely full with quite a crown. My trailer holds 5cu. Yards. And the loader bucket my father-in-law used for loading was a 6 yard bucket…generously filled. I feel pretty confident with the drivetrain now and knowing what she can handle. The transmission is spec’ed for 750hp and 750lb torque. So, so I am not evening bothering it. The big issue with the ecodiesel in the gladiator is the cooling of the engine on hot days. I wouldn’t tow that much about 80 degrees. 10k-13k is max tow for my area in those conditions.

 

[A 2]

Towed this 3000lb sail to the desert and back. The diesel worked great. Plenty of power up the steepest grades near Palomar mountain. I posted our trip on in the trip journal with plenty of pics. 100% improvement over the 3.6l Sport we had. Plus the diesel is the heavier Rubi and sitting on 35s. I haven’t recalibrated the Speedo yet. Not sure it will make a difference when towing.

 

[Awhitebuff]

Just took it for a 20 mile test drive. Lot's of hills and windey roads. Handled perfectly. I estimate the weight to be around 2100lbs so nothing drastic. Next will be an enclosed trailer of the same size with stuff in it. Only mod is Timbrens in the rear.

 

[BEERviper]

So this happened yesterday, picked her up 27 miles from my house. Listed as 6,280 dry weight and I towed her unloaded as this weight is literally 220 lbs below MAX towing capacity (not taking into account the 2" lift and 37" tires!)

Highest speed limit was 65. Going up a long hill she held 65 with a good amount of pedal, watched EGT get to 1,300 degrees and let off just to be safe. Oil temp never exceeded 235 but ambient temp was only around 53F.

Going to tow her up near the lake we frequent over the summer which is maybe 7,000' elevation (coming from 5,000').

I was very hesitant before starting the trip but beyond happy on how well the diesel made this short trip!

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