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**moosetags** · 08-19-2011, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antique Pedaler

My big black DMAX is waiting for a hospital appointment to cure $8m worth of hail damage. On the bright side the two Airstreams were inside during the worst storm I've seen here in Wyoming.

Sorry to hear about your big guy getting hurt. Glad to hear that the Airstreams are OK.

Brian

**moosetags** · 08-19-2011, 09:53 PM

Fred is now broken-in and towed Lucy for the first time today. He pulled Lucy from Jacksonville down to Tampa (about 200 miles). He did very well and Lucy enjoyed the ride. Fred and Lucy stopped to pose for a couple of pictures at Citra on US 301.

Brian

**moosetags** · 04-20-2013, 10:18 AM

We have now had Fred for about 18 months. We got the Outfitter pop-up truck camper in September, 2011. The Outfitter (Ethel) weighs right at 3,000# ready to camp. Fred and Ethel together tip the scales at 11,600#. Throw Lucy into the mix at 7,400#, and we are traveling down the road with a 19,000# rig. I know that this sounds like a lot, but Fred doesn't even break a sweat maintaining highway speed. He rarely need to downshift to negotiate an upgrade. The combination of the Duramax and the exhaust brake do the job, even on significant downgrades.

Fred is now showing 46,000 miles on his odometer. He has been out west three times and has been to New England twice. Fred's fuel mileage has not been as good as we had hoped. Towing Lucy with Ethel on board, Fred averages 11 mpg. Fred with Ethel not towing gets 12 mpg. Not a lot of difference when we throw Lucy into the mix.

We have just put Fred's first set of new tires on at 45,000 miles on the OEM Michelin AT's. We consider that really good, and replaced Fred's tires with the same Michelins.

Fred has been serviced regularly, but has no repairs.

All in all, we are quite satisfied with Fred's performance and durability.

Brian

Antique Pedaler · 04-20-2013, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

Sorry to hear about your big guy getting hurt. Glad to hear that the Airstreams are OK.

Brian

Glad to report the big black DMAX exited the hospital in excellent condition. However, as we were eating lunch parked in a campground several months later a mega-monster class A coach took out DMAX's front end. So a second trip to the hospital ensued.

So far this winter, so good after 3 months. Today, we are parked at the Grand Canyon trailer village.

**moosetags** · 04-21-2013, 08:42 AM

I guess that three months without a mishap is good based on your recent history. Hopefully, that means that you have had your share of this type of trouble for the rest of your life.

Brian

JFScheck · 04-29-2013, 02:50 PM

Great report on Fred - glad to hear he is getting along so well with Lucy & Ethel!

**moosetags** · 05-19-2013, 09:17 AM

Fred is just about to turn 50,000 miles, and I decided to add a tuner. I did a lot of on-line research, and decided to go with an Edge Evolution CTS (85200). I installed it and immediately took a 700 mile run over to Jacksonville and back. I have thus far only run it with the economy tune, and was somewhat impressed with the results. Normally, running unloaded I get 14 mpg at 75mph on the interstate. On this trip, I got a solid 18 mpg. I have not tried the towing or performance tunes yet.

I was also impressed with the gauge selections and the ease of installation. There are 40 gauge selections for the LML Dmax, and I can view as many as 8 of these at the same time.

As Fred most often travels with the 3,000# Ethel in the bed, and about half the time he is also towing the 7,400# Lucy. I am anxious to evaluate the Edge Tuner's performance with these loads.

Brian

slowmover · 05-20-2013, 01:07 PM

As "tuners" have an effect on engine software parameters one would be well-advised to install a pyrometer. My pickup and even my work Peterbilt do not need them as software limits EGT (exhaust gas temperature) in all circumstances. That Peterbilt has more than 14-gauges not including the full menu of a driver information center or HVAC or radios.

With a GM I'd have been more likely to use EFI LIVE from a reputable tuner (not a criticism), but it would require the same. I would also be very careful about transmission life as controls on engine torque (the main change by tuners) is now out of the bag.

FE, alone, won't pay for an early re-build of that component to needed spec for a "tuned" truck ($5-6k or more).

Please don't take this the wrong way. I've read your many posts and threads with confidence in your decisions by the way you lay things out. But these issues need to be addressed for others maybe not so careful as yourself.

.