Escapees March/April 2016

What puts the driver in the driver’s seat? Engine tuners Article and Photos by Emily and Mark Fagan #99408

Towing a trailer on flat ground is not too difficult, but if you want to see some of the more spectacular sights on this continent, sooner or later you are going to wind up driving on steep mountain grades. We’ve towed our 14,000-lb., 36-foot fifth-wheel trailer up and down a lot of roads that were seven percent grade or more during our many years of RV travel. Although our 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 single-rear-wheel truck, with its 6.7-liter diesel engine, was up to the task, it huffed and puffed on the steepest inclines and always seemed like it could benefit from a boost. On the other hand, while driving around town without the trailer attached, we often wished we could get better fuel mileage.

T wo summers ago we were camped in beautiful Ouray, Colorado, with plans to drive the eye-popping Million Dollar Highway (US Route 550) that goes south from Ouray up and over three sensa- tional 10,000 to 11,000 foot passes on its way through Silverton to Durango. We had heard about the miracles that an engine tuner (or “programmer”) could provide to a truck engine and decided to install one to help our truck tackle this trio of mountain passes while towing our trailer. Continued ›››

“An engine tuner eliminates these limitations and truly puts the driver in the driver’s seat of the truck.”

www.escapees.com | March/April 2016 | ESCAPEES . 69