Today, July 21st, found us in the midst of a heat wave. The same one you have been experiencing no doubt. But we were pulling our new DRV 16,000 pound 5th wheel for the first trip, a total of 300 miles through the Appalachian and Smokey Mountains.
Now if you've never pulled with a F-450 let me acquaint you with the intricacies of Ford's top pick up puller. It has two turbos for boosting power, normally only one is used as the load isn't significant to slow down the brute. Then you have the 4, yes 4, high speed electric fans for cooling the motor down, again not normally needed. With the 33,000 lb tow package you are endowed with a 4.88 rear end and the tow/haul set up.
So here's how all of this works. You start out pulling and get to your cruise speed, say 65 mph. Now as you start going up hill the truck will kick in the second turbo at about 62 to pick up speed it has lost. I sounds like the harpies of Hades coming through the fire wall. Oh, well you resolve, it's needed to keep the speed up going up this hill. Then as the heat builds up, the four fans kick in. Now you are convinced that the world is coming to an end, the engine is giving up the ghost and several squadrons of A-10's have just flown in the windows. This shrill scream last for about 5 minutes during which time you can only glance at your riding partner hoping that they don't say something profound because it will fall into space never to be heard above the screaming fans.
Once you've bested the summit all's quiet for the next few minutes until the next hill appears.
This is the life of a F-450 driver pulling a good 8 tons in 100+ temperatures. I hope the next couple of days are a little cooler or at least a little flatter. I know they will be pleasanter... aw blessed ear plugs!
Cheers.
