I guess I should join in on this thread....We pulled in last night from our 4000 miles trip to TX and back. If you guys didn't see my other thread; we had some issues on the trip down. The trip back didn't have any issues at all....thankfully. I know I do not want to travel I-77 again at Fancy Gap in VA. For any of you that want to give your truck a workout on the east coast, that would be a place to do it. I read it was roughly a 7% grade for 7 miles. With having turbo system issues a week earlier, I was very happy to see I made the hike with no issues.

 

If you can pull Fancy Gap without a problem your truck is in great shape.

 

Truck got a good workout and my stress level and pucker factor went through the roof. ECT 230°, EOT 250°, EGT ~1400°, tried to keep boost below 28lbs, average speed was about 55mph.

 

What was your trans temp?

Stewart

 

I was all booked up and ready to leave out in the morning until I looked at the weather, rain everywhere! I cancelled this morning. Besides I can't get my new chip to work I my ex anyway so I guess I will be hanging out at the house

 

We did that grade at about 55 also, was in 3rd gear (drive) and mid 50% throttle opening, trans held in the 190-ish range but no boost or any of those other fancy numbers. . It's a big long hill for us Easterners, WV has some that are more steep but not quite as long, same as VT.

 

Highest spike was 210° and it was right near the top of the hill.

 

Wow...now I'm really impressed.

Stewart

 

That hill is no joke, even if it's east of the Mississippi. I haven't pulled a trailer over it, but been that way many times not towing. Saving grace is that it's not high altitude.

 

Another good one in NC is I40 between Old Fort and Black Mountain, maybe not as steep but curvy with concrete barriers between the East/West bound lanes.

It made Diesel Powers 10 toughest tows back in 2009, since then I think it's been booted off the list.

Diesel Power, November, 2009

What Makes A Tough Tow?
Whether it be a sharp 6 percent uphill grade (the maximum allowed on U.S. interstates-with certain exceptions in mountainous regions), a snowy, winding, heads-up stretch of highway in the mountains, or a long, drawn-out pass continuing on mile after mile in the desert heat, we've narrowed it down to the ten toughest tows found along our nation's highways.

We've picked the brains of former OE engineers, over-the-road truckers, and even sought out opinions from readers just like you to make this story possible. In fact, we'd like to hear even more of your towing stories, and read your top ten lists. If you've got a white-knuckle tale to tell, an interesting photo to share, or a death-defying towing route you run, shoot us an email at: michael.mcglothlin@sorc.com.

#10. BLACK MOUNTAIN

The Black Mountain pass begins at the eastern end of lengthy I-40, just three miles outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Located in the southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains, the pass spans 15 miles east before subsiding (somewhat) after the town of Black Mountain. It's unknown what the actual grade is, but locals claim it's definitely steeper than 6 percent and that the pass is also chock-full of winding turns that often catch drivers off guard.

Loveland seems tougher to keep speed up though to me.

 

I never had the tran temp that hot before and to be honest I didn't even know what the limits were. I was just hoping the dash gauge was still in working order since it never seems to move. My main concern was the damn turbo system.

I have been keeping a close eye on the oil cooler because I always seem to be at that 15° delta no matter what. Towing doesn't change much but will climb to 20° if going up hill. I am a few miles shy of 310,000 so I always worry about any of the stock parts failing. Both times the truck was in the shop for major repairs, the cash just wasn't there to replace the cooler when it was convenient.

Yup. I am wondering what I will experience over the summer when we make the trip out west.

 

The pull out of the river gorge in WV to the top of the hill is quite a fun one as well. Did that one pulling an F250 on the trailer while being loaded down with containers filled in the X and the truck on the trailer. I didn't have a trans temp gauge at that time, I just stayed in it all the way.

 

Well, it makes you feel any better, mine acts pretty much the same way. Deltas are negligible for normal around town driving. On the highway it doesn't seem to matter if I'm loaded or not deltas stay about 10*-15*. Delta will spike about 20* towing up a long grade. From the limited research I did in the 6.0 forum, it seems fairly normal - or at least common

 

That does make me feel better. When I spoke to a tech they said Ford suggest it stay below 15° difference during normal driving conditions. With all the work that most people do to these things, there is no set normal conditions anymore, so it is nice to see other people having the same readings.

 

From the 6.0 Tech Folder on normal readings

But as I understand from other posts that I couldn't find, the 15* deal comes from a ford tech bulletin/procedure for testing the EGR/oil cooler in which the procedure was to start with a fully warmed up engine at idle, in which case delta should be close to 0*. Then the truck was put under load for 30 seconds, or something like that, in which case EOC isn't supposed to surpass EOT by more than 15*. This really doesn't address normal driving nor the many running changes that were made to the 6.0 during the first few years. As I searched through threads and saw what other people were getting I worried less about it. There were many that had replaced coolers and not seeing any difference after. Watching delta is a method of monitoring oil cooler health which is not as much a concern on the temp of the oil as it is on the temp of the coolant as clogged coolers cause higher ECT's which cause head gasket failures due to increased pressure in the coolant passages.