New truck- latest trip- man it was cold!

[KyDan]

I'm baaaack! It was 2 freeking degrees the morning we left KY headed south.
January 14.
At least the roads were dry and salt mostly gone. It was a chore backing out of my driveway in the dark. The steam from the exhaust was huge and blocked my view significantly. We managed to get it out in the road and headed out.
We had kept an electric heater running in the trailer the previous 2 days unplugging it only when we were ready to move.
It was down to 20 in there by the 1st gas stop so I did light the LP furnace.
I made sure all my stops were on the far right gas pump so the furnace was on the far side away from any pumps.
It managed to get it back into the 30s inside the trailer by the 2nd gas stop and we basically left it on nearly all day. I think we reached above freezing temps a couple hours before our over night stop in GA.

It was a great trip and we'd be glad to re-visit every stop again some day.
My major disappointment is my brand new Titan gets a dismal 7 MPG and I am unable to run with the cruise control on as it insists on downshifting a gear immediately when I engage it.
That's gotta be a software thing but I have little hope I can get it changed.

We left FL just in time as they had heavy rain in the panhandle for 2 days after we left. We drove in rain nearly all the way back home but it was dry at our house for the unpack and re-winterize chores.
The new truck rides a little better which came in handy for those awesome miles thru Birmingham.
The navigation system is OK but they've got it locked so you can't change destination while moving! GREAT- what about the majority of us who travel with a wife/co-pilot/navigator?? Had to pull into a rest stop once to make a change.
Never had rain sensitive wipers before- they worked pretty neat going all the way from off to high speed depending on conditions.
So glad I hurried up and got the Husky full front mats just in time as they came in handy in sandy Florida as well as a muddy stop at a KOA in Nashville.
Ran it thru the car wash yesterday and then at home spent 20 minutes with a 40 year old can of turpentine getting off several pine tree sap drippings. The fresh ones came off easily. The one's that were 4 weeks old took a lot more rubbing but the turp did eventually dissolve the sap with no harm to the paint.

I sure would like to have a conversation with a Nissan engineer about this #@%^& cruise control. That is a major bummer as we're planning an even longer trip this summer and I really would like to use the cruise on the flats!

Probably go back to AZ next winter but FL was a good trip as well.
Thanks to all who recommended the sunpass and FL toll roads but we managed to run up over $50 in tolls! I hope they use it to do a little repaving on the turnpike! Hah!

Time to start planning the trip to the great North West!

Back to reality... sigh....

[aceinspp]

Glade to hear you had a great trip to FL. Last year when I was staying at a cg in the panhandle I was talking to a guy that had a brand new Titan towing a 34 ft Flagstaff. He said the worse thing about his truck was the gas mileage. Later RJD

[BandJCarm]

I know you searched long and hard for that truck. Hope it did ok other than mileage.

I do NOT use my on-board GPS, mostly for the reason you stated. My Garmin on the dash doesn't know or care that I'm moving.....and it's way more robust.

[acadianbob]

Glad you had a good trip. It's always fun to go somewhere and get out of the cold.

I'm sorry you ran into the cruise control issue. Who would ever guess or anticipate that one! It would never show up on a test drive. Not a happy surprise.

The 5.6 Nissan is noted for using a bit more fuel than some other brands. You may find that it will do better as temperatures go up and you get some more miles on it. Temperature sure makes a huge difference on my truck. And I found that my Fords actually continued to improve fuel mileage and took up to 25k miles to top out.

[chaps2018]

Post deleted

[ependydad]

[Jim34RL]

I can't believe your fuel mileage on the truck! What were you pulling with that truck to get such horrible fuel mileage.

That seems like the same fuel mileage my old 1979, 360, V8 Cherokee Chief with full time 4 wheel drive had. When I had my 2001, 6.0L gas 2500 Chevy Silverado my worst fuel mileage pulling a mid size 5er was 8 to 9 MPG's.

I just can't believe any truck manufacture would sell a vehicle today with such low fuel mileage regardless of weather.

[KyDan]

Pulling a 29 foot trailer. 6700 lbs loaded. Not a 5er.
If I drafted a semi mpg was low to mid 8s.

I'll post some pictures later today. Grandkids visiting now.

[Jmkjr72]

Wow on the mpg that’s the same category as our 99 suburban when we tow

[5picker]

Thanks for the report. It's great to hear about others adventures and realities.

Hope you can get the cruise sorted out. It is nice to use once in a while.

[polishdon]

Should have bought a diesel.

[DieselDrax]

As a former Titan owner (2005), I remember that pain. Along with the tiny gas tank it meant stopping for gas every 150-160 miles. [emoji15]

Glad to hear things went well other than the mpg and cruise control!

[Saturn V]

Yeah so what's up with the road thru Birmingham? Feels like you're in a jumpy house!

[KyDan]

The MPG was typically lower than the dash estimate. The number in the upper left is miles to empty. We didn't pass many gas stations due to the small tank.

Phipps park near Port St. Lucie was rustic, cheap and in a neat little town. We'd go back but try harder to get into the COE that is just outside this county park.

Sunset over the Port St Lucie canal locks.

The Navy Seal UDT museum is near and way cool for a day visit.

The hike/bike path around Lake Okeechobee is an easy 34 min drive from Phipps park. The entire path is flat as a pool table and just about as boring due to no trees or landscaping allowed on the dike.

[KyDan]

Hillsborough River state park was an easy drive across Florida from Phipps park. Located near St Pete.
There was a recreated fort just across the road and it's only open for tours 1 day a week. They do a reenactment of an old time rendezvous once or twice a year and it would be totally cool if we'd been there for that.

Our favorite site in Topsail Hill preserve state park. We won't tell the number!!

Surf was UP the day we arrived at Topsail.

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Pulling a 29 foot trailer. 6700 lbs loaded. Not a 5er.
If I drafted a semi mpg was low to mid 8s.

I'll post some pictures later today. Grandkids visiting now.

What speed do you tow?? Tow- Haul mode?? Cruise only on dead flat roads with no head wind. Good luck

[KyDan]

The most worthless sign I've ever seen!

Long legged visitor to our site in Ft. De Soto county park St. Pete FL.

Can't have another Fort without some big guns!

Disney World Fort Wilderness is a nice CG- especially if all you can get is a premium $ite.

[KyDan]

Weather-wise it looks like it's time to go home!

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by pdqparalegal1

What speed do you tow?? Tow- Haul mode?? Cruise only on dead flat roads with no head wind. Good luck

Didn't matter if I had tow haul on or off.
Didn't matter if it was 60 or 65 or 70 MPH.
Flat road fer sure.
As soon as I hit cruise it shifts down a gear. VERY frustrating!!
Shut off cruise and it shifts back to a higher gear every time.
We got one more MPG if we drove 60 but that's just too slow for the little gain.

[Ortep]

KyDan, I looked at the Titan before going with a '17 Ram 2500 CTD, CC, SB, 4x4. Now I'm not towing anything the size/weight you are (we have a T21TBHW AFrame, 21ft & 3300#). Last summer we went up the east coast thru the Blue Ridge, Appalachians, Smokey Mtn, pulling at 68mph and was averaging 18-19mpg. Cruise control worked great but the GPS, and I think this is standard for "hardwired" GPS's, doesn't let you change your destination while moving UNLESS you are changing the destination to a previous destination (stored in the GPS) where you can select a "recent" address.