Copious

I drive a 2006 Cummins mega cab bone stock with 1400 miles on it. I'm about to drive from Ca to Tn taking 5 south then 40 across. I'll be hauling a 25ft tow behind camper that weighs about 6k. I understand that for the first 500 miles i'm to stay at 50mph. Will the truck be safe without any gauges or mods? If it's needed to install a gauge to monitor the boost and temps which gauge can be installed without voiding my warranty? Thank you very much in advance,

Chris

Smokeman

You won't need any guages for what you are doing. Your truck will play with 6K. Have a nice trip.

CoastalDav

Welcome to the site. As posted your fine with what your hauling.

Last time I made the trip from Melbourne, Florida to Gilroy, Ca. I took 40
and 5. Left hear about the 10th of March. On the way back, I ran into a flock or yellow butterflys between Bakersfield and Kingman, AZ in the desert. The front of the truck was Yellow! Had to hit a car wash in Kingman to get them off. The radiator caught a bunch. Might want to put a bug screen on and carry some water or something to clean the window with.

After you get through Flagstaff its all downhill. Great scenery, at least for me, have a good trip.

Dave

Copious

Thank you both for the info. I'm looking forward to this run. I figure I'll be able to stop off along the way for a night or so at the camp grounds. I'm curious if there's any Ram groups out there in TN.

24seven

If gauges were so vital that you needed them to tow 6k they would come installed in the truck! Like the one guy said 6k you wont even know its back there. One thing nobody mentioned yet was to vary your speed. Dont use the cruise control going across there. Also dont be afraid to open her up when you going up a hill (within reason of course) . Dont forget to let it sit and idle for a few minutes after you stop either (alot of people neglect this step) . Other then that have a safe trip!

SOhappy

I'm confused, with 1400 miles on the odo why are you still concerned about break-in? Heck, towing a trailer cross country is perfect at this point, hit the hills hard and get those egts (rpms since you don't have gauges) up, seriously. Like it's been said, you won't hardly notice 6k back there (that's less than half of what your truck is rated to pull). Right after I got my truck I towed my pervious 6klbs trailer to Illinois and back from Utah and didn't hardly notice it. So I said "Honey, we gotta get a bigger trailer"!

Copious

Lmao I'll have to remember that. Although I'm not sure the wife would go for the new trailer this early in the game lol. I'm looking forward to this trip. My original orders were canceled Tuesday. Now the trips more extensive.. Leave Cali drive to Wisconsin RVing en route of course. Then a short pit stop in TN and taking a break in texas before making a mad cap dash for Seattle, WA to report in to my next unit. I think the trucks gonna have more fun then I will lol

Copious

It's official I'm still alive. The drive was great. We putzed up to Wisconsin and then down to Georgia for a couple of days. I found that on the trip to Texas we were pulling 20mpg and loving it. The trip back to Cali and up to Seattle went smoothly. Pulling that camper and motorcycle through the mountains was a wet dream. The truck handled like a dream. Even had enough get up and go to pass people. I know it's not much, but I had a total of 9700lbs trailor and motorcycle included. I'm looking forward to my next road trip. with any luck it will be with a few new toys installed. Thanks for all the help and advise guys..

DIESELDENT

wow that was a really long trip.

Copious

It felt like an eternity, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The engine ran smooth the whole way. It honestly felt like I was standing still at 70. I had to keep a close eye on the speed. It kept creeping up till I'd look down and see myself doing 85..