First real tow with the Astro

[thevalleyboy]

Well decided to test the vans towing ability out this weekend - tomorrow I am heading out to my folks place with the tent trailer in tow. Calgary to Invermere so a couple of pretty serious mountain passes in my way, I'll report how she does with tranny temps etc. I'll also take a few photos of the van and trailer for posterity. I don't imagine I will have any issues..... maybe just a little issue at first to adjust the trailer brakes...

Happy Easter everyone and have a good holiday with your families...

Cheers!

[dunedog]

Have a safe journey......

[LaGrasta]

Happy Easter, be safe and report back...

[chemist]

A tent trailer? You won't even realize it's back there. Seriously. Safe journey, and try to remember it is back there when cutting corners and such, because with something that light it's easy to forget. I almost do with my boat in tow.

Some things I've towed or pulled with mine:
Towed
* a 50 ft boom lift (4800 lb with 350 lb on the tongue) - 30 miles, uphills, down hills, highway speeds, etc
* a cord (4ft x 4ft x 8ft) of cut and split firewood (50% season) in this trailer with plywood sides that I put on it: http://www.snowbeartrailers.ca/page/Mod ... ty_Trailer - 10 miles, all uphill, much of it steep
* my boat
Pulled
* a stump--yes it worked
* a Dodge Caravan uphill out of a snow/ice packed driveway
* a Jeep Cherokee out of a snow drift--don't know how he got that stuck...
* standing trees that needed direction while being felled
* 3.5 x 3 foot oak logs (3.5' thick by 3' long) short distances and across ditch--cleaning up a tree I paid someone to drop, but they dropped it in the wrong direction, into a wooded portion of my neighbor's yard

Also towed and pulled other minor things. All of this was done with the van stock, weaker 3.43 gears in the rear end and front diff, and no aftermarket tranny cooler. So don't worry and try not to forget it's back there.

[thevalleyboy]

As far as not knowing it was back there.... ha - it was there - this tent trailer has a 3500 lbs max capacity - tongue weight 280 lbs....

But I didn't have any issues with it - the tranny ran at about 120-140 degrees (used to run about 160-170 without the cooler) - outside it was about 10 C, so I imagine that is why it ran fairly cool - will run hotter in the summer I am sure (anyone know what optimal tranny temps are?). I got about 15L/100KM for mileage - so I basically got just better then city mileage towing it. Now it wasn't fully loaded because this was only a test run out to my folks and did a little bit of work to it, but I figure similar mileage in future.

All this considered I am very happy with the entire adventure the van was a trooper and the tent trailer towed as expected.

Cheers!

[Spike99]

.... the tranny ran at about 120-140 degrees (used to run about 160-170 without the cooler) - outside it was about 10 C, so I imagine that is why it ran fairly cool - will run hotter in the summer I am sure (anyone know what optimal tranny temps are?). I got about 15L/100KM for mileage - so I basically got just better then city mileage towing it. ...

A good graph I printed and often reflect back on is: http://www.tciauto.com/Products/TechInf ... ctancy.asp

Well worth memorizing and printing a backup copy (for vehicle's glove box).

Hope this helps...

.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I generally don't want to see much over 200 degrees F in the tranny. 160 - 180 is optimal. If running full synthetic you can go to 250 for a short time as long as you cool it down first chance you get.

[LaGrasta]

Just the report I thought I'd get. Glad to hear it went well.

Thanks for the tranny temps too, I'm always curious. Report back after a trip when the weather warms.

[thevalleyboy]

All right so here are some photo's of the tent trailer - I've been slacking... I admit it

Hooked up behind the van
Set up with view of the slide dinette
Head on (from hitch)