I am putting the final details in place for a long trip starting in early March, that will take me from Minnesota to Sarnia, Ontario with boat#1, Chicago to Camarillo, California with boat#2, Dana Point California to Coulton's Point, Maryland with boat#3, possible deadhead or boat from Maryland to Florida Keys, and final return from the Keys with boat#4 back to Minnesota...total miles will be roughly 9200, possibly more depending on the east coast segment to Florida.
The trip will take place over about 5-6 weeks, and will include stopovers in Phoenix, a week of downtime mid-trip at home, and a stopover in the Florida Keys. 1) Loaded, 2) empty with trailer (deadhead), and 3) empty truck (without trailer) miles will be logged and examined. The 2006 K3500 SRW will be used, towing a custom built triple axle transport trailer with 21K# axle capacity. The boats range in size and weight from a 30'-37' LOA, the lightest at roughly 12K# and the heaviest weighing in at about 16K#.
I plan to test three different aftermarket products while underway, trying my best to make meaningful comparisons of their features and functionality. I'll spreadsheet the fuel consumption and take notes on the driveability, shift characterisitics, trans temps, water temps, boost and EGTs observed while underway. My goal is to be as scientific as possible, while realizing that the 'real world' is far from a lab or a dyno test with carefully controlled variables...but hey we tow in the real world, not in a lab, right???
The 'tunes' I plan to take along for the ride:
Thermocouple will be installed and Edge used to monitor boost and EGTs. All products are being upgraded to the latest versions available this month, before the test begins. My focus will be on the basic tow/economy settings on all products.
- Edge Evolution (25002)
- Diablosport Predator (U7186)
- Kennedy Custom ECM - +40hp version
More details, soon!