The full sized mid-size, my 2014 F150 "Fiddy"

[Grassland]

Penciled in itinerary for the road trip to The Rock.
Aug 20 04:30H press an Empty Cup coffee for the travel mug and clean the press.
05:00H GTFO of Winnipeg and head East on #1.
05:30H hover slightly above the seat of the truck and Yammer incessantly to my wife after 20oz of coffee.
Stop in Dryden for fuel, and just to remind myself there are more depressing towns than Winnipeg. Enjoy the monotony of evergreen trees and granite, my preferred types of tree and rock. Maybe fuel up in Terrace Bay. Won't even uncouple the trailer once we reach Neys. It's dinner and bed.
11 hours of travel
Aug 21 06:00H similar morning routine. Head to Samuel De Champlain provincial park. Undecided wether we take the #17 to Sault Ste Marie and then through Sudbury, or the 101 and go through Timmins. I've never driven much past Thunder Bay so this is all new ground for me.
Fuel will be expensive everywhere so any major town near the halfway point is where we will fuel up.
11 hours of travel.
Aug 22 06:00H be told to tone down the coffee intake from DW. Head to La Mauricie National Park in Quebec. Unfortunately the most direct route brings us through Ottawa and Montreal. Highway 417 and then route A50 I guess? After Montreal is the 40 I think up to Trois-Rivieres Quebec and then North to the park. 8 or so hours of driving.
Then we take a rest day and check out what La Belle province has to offer nearby.
Aug 24 06:00H take the 40 to Quebec City, and go through the city back to the #1. Unsure of fuel stops. Would like to stop in New Brunswick like Fredericton or Oromocto but the distance we need to cover is large. Looking at 12+ hours and over 1000km to get to Prince Edward Island.

This is where the 136 liter (36 gallon) fuel tank shines. Road trips pulling the trailer. Even at the worst observed fuel economy, I can exceed 500km towing the Escape 19. With a sub 100 liter tank typical of other half tons, we are down to 350ish range keeping a similar reserve.

 

[Grassland]

We've decided to take the south route thru Sault Sainte Marie.

Ontario and Quebec along with basically New Brunswick this time we are just passing through with haste to get to PEI and Newfoundland.

Another trip we will focus on Ontario or Quebec, as they are a much closer drive from Manitoba.

This seems like the last hurrah for The Fiddy, as if the market is strong it's going once we are back. Save some money on insurance and maintenance dropping the third vehicle, especially since I haven't been working much. My wife's WK2 won't have the towing range and it's also her daily.

 

[Grassland]

Quick check in now that we are back.
My personal life has been pretty hectic, so I haven't been here for a while.
Preliminary info from Winnipeg to Newfoundland and Back.

Nearly 13,000km, $4080 in fuel, six boxes of Wheat Thins multigrain crackers, and nearly five weeks of time.
This country is very large, with many large swaths without people or services. There were several sections of 150-190km without services. A good portion of this country is not covered by any of the three companies that run telecom (between my wife and I we have all three providers). Aka dead zones everywhere.
I question how this country is considered a developed nation based on our infrastructure and ghost towns and poverty seen from center to coast.
The natural beauty in this country is staggering.
Literally almost anywhere other than Manitoba going East has fantastic roads for motorcycling. There are at least a dozen places on my bucket list to ride one day, including pretty well anywhere in Newfoundland, most coastal areas in Nova Scotia, and the lake Superior area of Ontario.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Quick check in now that we are back.
My personal life has been pretty hectic, so I haven't been here for a while.
Preliminary info from Winnipeg to Newfoundland and Back.

Nearly 13,000km, $4080 in fuel, six boxes of Wheat Thins multigrain crackers, and nearly five weeks of time.
This country is very large, with many large swaths without people or services. There were several sections of 150-190km without services. A good portion of this country is not covered by any of the three companies that run telecom (between my wife and I we have all three providers). Aka dead zones everywhere.
I question how this country is considered a developed nation based on our infrastructure and ghost towns and poverty seen from center to coast.
The natural beauty in this country is staggering.
Literally almost anywhere other than Manitoba going East has fantastic roads for motorcycling. There are at least a dozen places on my bucket list to ride one day, including pretty well anywhere in Newfoundland, most coastal areas in Nova Scotia, and the lake Superior area of Ontario.

Glad to have you back, lol

 

[Grassland]

Alright, so, the truck and how it did.
Without weighing the camper, I estimate it is 4700-4900# if not 5k loaded for this trip. We did travel with 2/3-full fresh tank and there was a couple travel days where grey and black tanks were 2/3-3/4 full as well.
The truck has the topper, skid plates, "34s" plus a swing case full of stuff, 4 max tracks, a 20# propane tank and a small BBQ.
Plus the back seat was full of stuff like clothes, books, snacks, Viair compressor.

Through North Western Ontario the speed limit is 90kph. We did 90-105 for most of it. East of Thunder Bay it begins to get hilly.
Cruise control isn't helpful as it will drop too far in speed before it down shifts, and by then it needs to downshift 2-3 gears. So I didn't use it when particularly hilly.
The lack of select shift is the biggest issue, as it always is trying to get into sixth gear as soon as possible, even with tow haul mode on. I really should have got a custom tune.
Outside of keeping it in a proper gear, the cyclone obviously needs to reb for power, with peak torque around the 4k RPM mark and peak power around 6k or something.
Truck had no issue in Ontario. Could get to 110kph climbing hills.
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the wind picks up and the speed limit is 110kph. On climbs, there were times I couldn't go faster than 110kph. The pedal was to the floor and I was at 5500-6500 RPM.
In Newfoundland the speed limits were generally lower again. Around Gros Morne national park it's hilly/mountains to me. Truck had no problems there either.

Going forward, the lack of select shift has proven to be the biggest issue.
This trip has led me to believe a gasser mid size truck with plus 1" or 2" tires and some expo gear is going to be similarly limited to a 4-5k trailer, 7k tow ratings not withstanding.

I suspected this would be the limits of the truck, and it performed more or less as expected. With steeper gearing to bring me back to stock ratio, and the ability to lock out higher gears, I'd be fine to continue with this truck.

As it stands, I am still going to try and sell the truck while the market is in my favour, and hopefully in a couple years a new 2.7 XLT Supercab 301a won't be $61,000 CAD and ill be able to afford a new truck.
In the mean time, with no long trips on the horizon for a couple years, my wife's WK2 3.6 will take over towing duties, with the Fiddy being proof that it will be fine.

 

[Grassland]

I think the trailer for us is about as Goldie Locks as it can get.
It's not perfect by any means but it's about the best mix of size, weight, and room for us.
I'd like a bit smaller like the 17 just for weight and size (and a bit more flexibility in camp sites), but then it would be tighter inside and single axle. I could gladly manage but my wife likes the space for stuff.
We did laundry once a week roughly, but could stretch it out to close to two weeks, and had clothing for weather 0°C to 30°C.
Being able to pop in and make a wrap or sandwich while on the road, and not having set up and take down for travel days was a huge benefit. Easily 8 nights we just parked, checked level and then made dinner and went to bed. Next morning breakfast and then on the road in minutes.
The fresh and waste tanks are fairly small so the trailer is only good for maybe a week with being somewhat conservative in use.
The fridge had about 2 weeks of propane use, plus we boiled water a half dozen times or so, and ran the furnace a few times for 10-15 minutes each and we didn't run out on the first tank.
It could use more insulation all around, especially as we didn't get insulated underside.

I would say maybe as far as our needs and uses went, 8 out of 10?

 

[Grassland]

Forgot we managed to snag this photo in Newfoundland.
Going to be a while before the WK2 or the Transit get there

 

[Grassland]

Really sorry my phone doesn't have a built in way to compress images, the limit for uploads seems to be lower than 4.5MB.

Newfoundland is really awesome and I recommend checking it out if you can.
There are quite a few craft breweries (all around the island), along with lots of hiking, camping, small mountains, subarctic tundra kind of terrain, beaches, historical sites etc.
It's somewhere I'd like to go back to one day.

Especially on a motorcycle. But especially not my HD Forty Eight.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Really sorry my phone doesn't have a built in way to compress images, the limit for uploads seems to be lower than 4.5MB.

Newfoundland is really awesome and I recommend checking it out if you can.
There are quite a few craft breweries (all around the island), along with lots of hiking, camping, small mountains, subarctic tundra kind of terrain, beaches, historical sites etc.
It's somewhere I'd like to go back to one day.

Especially on a motorcycle. But especially not my HD Forty Eight.

Try emailing the pics to yourself and select a smaller size. I have to do that with my phone to be able to email pictures through Outlook.

 

[badm0t0rfinger]

Really sorry my phone doesn't have a built in way to compress images, the limit for uploads seems to be lower than 4.5MB

Imgur or a photo hosting site directly from your phone and then add the link to the picture icon on the post window.

 

[Grassland]

Well, going to miss the Fiddy. Sold it Thurs for $17900. Worked out well taking advantage of the high resale market while I still could.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Well, going to miss the Fiddy. Sold it Thurs for $17900. Worked out well taking advantage of the high resale market while I still could.

Congrats on the sale. What are you going to replace it with?

 

[Grassland]

Congrats on the sale. What are you going to replace it with?

Nothing. I can't afford a new F150 or any new truck.
Just going to use my wife's WK2 to tow the camper. Keep driving my T250 for work.