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Newby report on 3P, EcoBoost, w/ 27FB
We took delivery on Tuesday 11/1/11, took two days to pack up, hit the CAT scales and the road on Friday 11/4 heading south on I-25. There was a high wind warning for Saturday. Until we stopped at a rest stop, got out of the truck and almost got blown over, we had no idea that the wind was so fierce. Since we have never towed anything this big before, we have no experience from which to make comparisons, but with this setup we were completely unaware of the wind having any noticeable effect on us whatsoever. Subjectively I will attribute this to the Pro Pride, which I believe to be nothing short of amazing considering all of the horror stories we have heard...and seen...we saw a 25' box truck that got blown clear off the freeway into the weeds. Speaking of which, the tumbleweeds were so numerous that they looked like herds of tan sheep rolling along the ground at speed, and the blowing dust did force us to slow down for awhile until visibility improved.
We did have an issue with one of the weight distribution jacks on one side listing over about 10 - 15 degrees (several inches). When I called Sean Woodruff and explained the situation, he told me what to check and sure enough the installer at the dealership had overtightened the U-bolts and bent them way out of shape. The story about the tech and the dealership is too long and tedious to repeat, but their expressed dislike of the 3P from the get go should have tipped me off that I should have done the install myself. Sean overnighted me the parts to fix and properly install the WDJ and now all looks good. This kind of service is so rare in modern life that we just gotta love this guy...great product, great service. We sure wish we had more experiences like this.
The EcoBoost (Supercab, 163"wb, 8' bed) pulls smoothly and effortlessly. Raton Pass was a non-event, although when we turned into the wind the mileage dropped significantly, we are still breaking in the truck, so I'll pay more attention to mileage later. Cruises at 65mph at around 1800rpms. The integrated brake controller, toe/haul mode, etc work flawlessly...it even increases the # of turn signal blinks before cancel when the trailer is hooked up. All in all the TV/3P/Airstream is a solid package.
We have finally spent a week in here (we're at the beginning of a 6 month trip) getting everything sorted, figuring out the systems etc, and we sure are thrilled we decided to go w/ the Airstream and grateful that we have the time to take an extended trip.
Hope this is of some interest or usefullness to those considering a similar setup.
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