Trying to find out how many of you are towing about the max rating for a FW with some mods. I have an 06 6.0 w/studs and BP fixes. I have a 16,500lb FW. I tow in AZ s we have a number of 5-7% grades that we tow up regularly to go camping. The weather is in the 100-115 range pulling these hills in the summer. I am going to get a Programer and am just looking for a little help getting up the hills. Most companies SCT, Edge and others say their tow tunes run from 25-60 HP and 50-100 Ft lbs of Torque. Is anyone using programers towing a max recommended load. If so what settings are you using on the tuner? Do these help much with the hills? How do you do with EGT's,

I realize this could go in the new tow thread or the performance section, but I believe more users will see it here with the 6.0L trucks.

Thanks

 

The heavier you tow, the less power you want to add through tuning. I know it sounds backward, but when you add more power to an already high load situation, you increase risk for failure, mainly head gaskets and overheating issues. Another reason for this is EGTs. running too high EGT for too long can destroy your exhaust valves and scorch your pistons. A mild tow tune can actually lower EGTs vs. the stock tune, partially because the higher RPMs and less charge in the combustion chamber.

That being said, you have studs, so you could probably get away with adding a little more power. Many of the tuners offer a heavy towing tune that is essentially just transmission tuning to better utilize the peak powerband of the engine.
EGT guage, along with watching oil and coolant temps would give you a great idea for how hard you can push the truck, while staying out of the danger zone. Keeping EGT under 1300F sustained will keep the risk down.

 

Towing that much you need to stick with a trans only, no power tune. Just leave it stock powerwise and run with your foot to the floor. Let the truck do its thing and it'll pull them just fine and wont break anything. Studs are good but if your just pushing it to break the next weak link they're not worth much.

 

I've found that if you start to run warm, slow to 55 to 60 and manually drop the tranny into 3rd while in tow/haul. The temps will drop almost immediately since your letting the gearing do the work instead of the engine as it was designed. My 05 was 100% stock and I never had a problem doing this with a 31' 5er pulling 12 mile 7% grades in the Eastern Sierras. Coming out of Bishop in August it was usually in the 100's.

 

Are you running a programmer? What is the weight you are pulling? Mine is 16500+. I run know with no programmer about 35-40 MPH. I keep the truck around 3000 rpm I believe it is in 3rd but not sure. I have some peddle left but the truck likes that speed and rpm on a 7% grade. I would not be able to do 55-60 even with the peddle to the floor. I had an 8,000 lb trailer and to be quite honest the truck did not want to go much faster. I did about 45 up these hills so the truck is doing well with the extra weight. I would however like to do about 50 with this truck and I thought with a mild tow tune I might be able to do that.


Thanks

 

As I stated it was 100% stock and if you don't know for sure if you were in 3rd then you didn't put it there manually. My 5er is app. 13k or a little higher loaded.

 

You should call Matt over at gearhead automotive and ask about towing heavy. I run the 8K tow tune and with studs, they claim will pull 13K without issues. I do pull 8K trailer on that tune with mods like yours. 6% grade doing 65-70 without heating up and passing anything I wanted. Oil temp at 222, coolant at 215 and that was July heat in Virginia.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have Ordered an Edge CTS2 and an SCT 7015. I will also be getting and exhaust soon. I will monitor all temps while towing.