[VAL] Towing

["Barbara Barr" <Barbara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 I'm a newbie at Airstreams.   Only pulled my '84 Excella  31' on one out of
state trip.   I got the sway bars and friction bar when I bought the trailer,
got the big hitch adjusted so the truck and trailer are level.    I would be
very interested to know about pulling with the truck in over drive or not?   I
pull with a '97 Chevy Suburban half ton with trans cooler.    I went through
the Arbuckle mountains in Okla and I'm of the opinion I would not be too
interested in trying to pull through a "real" mountain range in Colorado or
somewhere with this truck.     There was a lot of shifting down and loss of
power I thought.    In looking back I do think I should not be in overdrive
while going through mountains.    The Excella tows like a dream.   She is
5,300 pounds empty so I figure with all my "necessary" stuff, ha ha,  and  a
half tank of fresh water for emergencies it's probably around 6,000 pounds.
The Suburban gets 16 mpg on everyday driving but I was a bit surprised that it
dropped to around 9 mpg pulling the Excella, I was hoping for a little better
than that.    Beats the 6.3 mpg I was getting on my old Winnebago tho and a
lot more room.    I love my Airstream.
Still on the "learning curve".
Barb
VAL
WBCCI #1838
Wichita, Ks