Tuesday, June 06, 2017

The Beast did good

Day one of our trip East for a visit with daughter Phyllis.  Also the first full day of hauling the TC (truck camper) loaded and ready to camp.  We did haul it home from the dealership on the other truck but that wasn't fully loaded and ready to camp.  We did use it for those two days on the way home but just to sleep basically.

Our GWF is still with us as the day has been just beautiful even if it was a bit breezy.  We are setup now in a US Forest Service campground in the Hoosier National Forest of southern Indiana.  The campsite is nice and shady.

I am real happy with the way The Beast handles the load.  When pulling the trailers I was never comfortable with speeds above 60 to 65 mph but now with the single unit it has been very easy to cruise along at the speed limit and now here in camp I'm really not all that worn out.  The first test for the new truck was the Mineola Hills area along I-70. At that location there are fairly steep downhill and uphill pulls.  Eastbound it is a 5% grade downhill toward the Loutre River and then a 6% grade uphill toward Danville.  The Beast held speed without braking on the down slope and pulled the uphill slope holding constant speed to the top without down shifting to a lower gear.

Another plus for The Beast is that at truck fuel stops the filler tube will take the high pressure of the truck pumps.  Our last few trucks would allow the bigger fill nozzles to fit in the tube but I always had to hold the trigger and only allow a slow flow of fuel.

Tomorrow will find us in West Virginia.

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