New to the RV & Towing world

[Bobaloo]

Hello Everyone,
First post here, been lurking for the last month. Wife and I just got our first TT. It's a Rockwood 2504 and we love it. We went for our maiden voyage this past weekend and my 2015 Silverado V8 with 3:08 gearing pulled the rig like it was nothing. I kept it under 50 mph because I'm new at it and my truck only has 6 thousand miles. Here's my question, when I got to the camp ground and again when we returned home there was a smell coming from under the hood, not anything leaking just a worked engine smell. My neighbor friend who pulls all the time laughed and said my truck was just working for a change. I got around 11 mpg and loved how easy it pulled. Am I being worried for nothing or will this smell go away over time. Most of my driving is 40 miles to work and back on a flat hi way every day and I get 21 mpg average.

Thanks, I love this forum and have learned a lot here.

Bob

[schrederman]

With 3:08 gearing I'm wondering if your truck has a towing package. That would include an extra transmission cooler. If you don't have one you could be smelling your transmission... not good.

[Flybob]

Do you have a tow/haul mode? If so did you use it?

[aceinspp]

Was your truck equip with the factory trailer brake control? Make sure as mentioned to use the tow haul mode when towing as I think your truck does not have the factory tow package. Later RJD

[Bobaloo]

Yes it does have tow package and built in brake controller. I did use tow mode, it's not really a burning as it is just the heat on the new hoses, wires etc under the hood. As I said all I do is commute and the engine was never stressed until my first tow. The engine temp gauge never moved up higher than it ever has, it also has a transmission temp warning system than will tell me if the temp is too high. You're to pull over and let it idle until temp drops if you do get the prompt. I think I'm just being too anal about this, but just wanted to be sure that I'm not hurting anything. By the way the TT weighs 4124 lbs and the truck is rated for over 6k.

Thanks,

Bob

[msroll]

Might be engine paint burning off. My 14 Seirra had that smell for the first few thousand miles

[pappcam]

6000 miles seems like a lot of mileage to worry about a "break in" period or to expect something to be burning off at this point.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by schrederman

With 3:08 gearing I'm wondering if your truck has a towing package. That would include an extra transmission cooler. If you don't have one you could be smelling your transmission... not good.

the newer Chevy trucks have a 6 speed trans, which allows for higher rear end ratios but still tow higher amounts.

[msroll]

Originally Posted by pappcam

6000 miles seems like a lot of mileage to worry about a "break in" period or to expect something to be burning off at this point.

Not sure what it was I know it wasn't oil, grease, or electrical. I've got 7000 miles now and don't notice any smell now

[GypseeDaddy]

Originally Posted by pappcam

6000 miles seems like a lot of mileage to worry about a "break in" period or to expect something to be burning off at this point.

Not meaning to high jack this tread, but wanted to ask pappcam about his setup. I have just recently purchased a similar TT and looking for advice and lessons learned. Moving up from the popup world this is all a bit overwhelming.

[Bobaloo]

Little update, since original post we have gone on several camping trips of over 100 miles each way, flat and hilly.I found how to bring trans temp up on the dash display and have found out that I never get over 190 degrees. So I feel that the occasional "smell" under the hood is just the engine working harder the truck pulls with no problems and sometimes I forget it's behind us. Getting almost 12mpg pulling so a happy camper. Thanks for the input from all the private messages