Will the wind slow us down

[AnolaBob]

We have a 07 GMC 6.6 litre Duramax. As indicated we are looking at a 2010 29RLS. Do you think the winds across the prairies will slow us down? The trailer is 6900lbs dry.

[SAD]

Slow you down as-in your speed? Or slow you down as-in your comfort level?

In either case, the answer is "it depends".

I live in Oklahoma. Rarely have I felt uneasy towing. A time or two, I have (voluntarily) slowed down because of it.

Never has it physically slowed me down... But then again, your desired speed may be higher than mine.

Fuel economy.... Now that's a different story.... As high as 13 mpg... As low as 7 mpg.... "it depends".

[Festus2]

Slow you down? Battling a head wind takes its toll on fuel and; depending upon its direction and speed, could affect the stability of your TT. A tail wind on the other hand, may work to your advantage. You should adjust your driving to the road and weather conditions - whatever they may be. What's the hurry?

[f6bits]

Having a good sway control hitch will certainly help reduce your stress in a crosswind, but having to lean the steering wheel into the wind certainly gets tedious.

[christopherglenn]

My 07 classic would drop less then 5 mph with wind gusts (towing my old TT), usually held set speed on the cruise. The higher the headwinds, the faster the fuel guage moves. A good headwind could cost you 3-4 mpg's.

[JRTJH]

Driving 60 MPH into a 35 MPH headwind is "aerodynamically" similar to driving 95 MPH with no wind. Fuel mileage will suffer dramatically in either situation. We recently (on the way home now) towed through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee and back through some of these on the way north to Michigan.

In Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska we had head on winds quartering from the south as we drove west. These winds were 35+ MPH gusting to 50 or so. Fuel mileage went down significantly from about 11 to 7 and driver fatigue from steering into the gusting headwind was very noticable. The rig was stable, minimal to no actual sway, but having to steer "crossways" on a 2 lane road was not fun.

Will headwinds make a difference? Yes... Will crosswinds make a difference? HECK YES.

[AnolaBob]

Good information. We had a 24' Prism lite weight (3000lbs) which did not affect the truck at all. Since we are doubling that weight my concern is not being the guy who is travelling 45 mph down the road on a two lane highway. I just not sure what the power is from the diesel, it hasn't been under a load yet.

[campingcpl]

Originally Posted by AnolaBob

Good information. We had a 24' Prism lite weight (3000lbs) which did not affect the truck at all. Since we are doubling that weight my concern is not being the guy who is travelling 45 mph down the road on a two lane highway. I just not sure what the power is from the diesel, it hasn't been under a load yet.

Our trailer is about the same weight and size as yours and we are close to 9000 lbs fully loaded and we have an older 6.6 liter Duramax (rated at 320hp & 590 ft. lbs. of torque) and are using the Equal-i-zer brand hitch. I can set the cruise at 60 - 65 mph and hardly know that the trailer is back there even when we have been in higher winds. Like others have said your mileage will very. Normally we will average around 11 mpg at 65 mph and when climbing hills or driving into the wind we can drop to as low as 8 mpg still running at 65 mph. The best mileage we have ever got was around 13 mpg (tail wind coming through the plains ) and the worse we have ever got was about 7.5 mpg (this was climbing the mountain pass's at about 50 - 55 mph) with the diesel. Now our gas truck that was a different story (best was a little over 9 mpg and worse was 4.5 mpg pulling the same trailer)!