New to the forum sit so bear with me.....

I Have a 199.5 F250 7.3 auto, CCSB, I want to triple tow, a 5er and the boat, I know I'm limited to 70ft (CO state law), my boat weighs 3,500 lbs loaded. My understanding is my truck will allow me to tow 12,500. That only leaves me 9,000 for the trailer loaded of course. Anyone Haul more than 12,500 SAFELY.
My truck is stock except for exhaust and cold air intake. I do plan on installing gauges for EGT and trans temp to be safe.

 

several people haul more than that, including me, as far as triples, my truck camper and trailer overall lenght is 77ft 4inches...same law here is 70 ft but they have never said anything...drive slow and be safe. remember dont go anywhere you have to back out of (ask me how I know)


WELCOME TO FTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for info... Slow and steady it what I like... 68 MPH=18 mpg (unloaded)
I do triple tow now, redneck toy-hauler (goose-neck flatbed with a truck camper mounted on the tongue) and the boat, but I know I'm well under 10,000 lbs and only about 65ft long, I just don't want to break anything going too big!

I've been lucky enough to only have to drive around the block and pull thru camp grounds... I can't wait till we venture far enough from home to have tp pull in to a fuel station both trailers in tow!

 

I can probably count the times i've been under 12,500 payload.

That number is silly.. my skid steer weighs 8k, trailer 3k, tools 1k.

I'm at 14000 behind me at all times.. I find that anywhere around 21-22k behind me is where it really get's touchy. It feels like your not pulling the load it's pushing or pulling you.

 

I guess my biggest fear is burning up the tranny...... I bought my truck at 160,000 so I have NO idea if or when its been re-built or not??? I do run synthetic..... what kind of trans temps can I expect 68-70 mph some hills , but defiantly no mountain roads

 

I forgot to say welcome in the first post.. my bad.. welcome!!

Do you have gauges?? The dumb@ss one on the dash is a joke.. do not trust it's lies.
Ignore this first part.. i reread your post.
First step is to get some gauges. Riffraff diesel has package deals on them. He's a great guy to deal with.

Second.. did you buy this truck recently? How do you know the fluid has been swapped? If this is a new addition then I have yet to see a used truck that had fresh trans fluid.. it's expensive to buy 22quarts (IIRC)

Third... I don't like synthetic trans fluid. There are lots of guys that run it.. I will not. I also will not run ford's semi synthetic blend. I do straight non synthetic atf. My dad now has gone thru 3 stock trannys with semi synthetic blend... All three ate the torque converter.

Fourth.. the best thing you can do for it is put good fluid in it, upgrade to a 6.0 transmission cooler, and get a valve body from JW or BTS.

Fifth.. you should see 60-70 degrees over ambient temp once you get warmed up. With your tiny 7.3 cooler it may run 70-80 over ambient.. My tranny has 360k on it and it's now starting to run 70-80 degrees over ambient

 

Thanks for the welcomes fellas...

I've had the truck 4 yrs now when I first got the truck the fluid was really dark, so I had it flushed made them drop the pan and change the filter... which is more like a screen...... I've seen many folks do the 6.0 trans cooler swap...... i know I'm about due for a fluid change at 62,000 miles (fluid is still clean and no funky smell), I'm thinking a deeper ribbed trans pan is in order too..... How bad $$ wise is doing the 6.0 cooler swap?? altho it has to be cheaper than a new tranny!

Gauges are on order......

 

Should be able to get one used for about $150.. new is $320-ish.

I've always been told a deeper pan doesn't help any.. i know bts refuses to use them as they reduce cooling.

A valve body with good tuning will really help the tranny survive

 

Thanks for the info!!

 

As for total weight, our rig (seen in sig, below) weighs right at 23K total. Granted, I now have a BTS trans, but I did have to pull all the hills in Arkansas on the way to BTS on the stock 185k mile tranny without blowing anything up.

Still, I'd at least give thought to the gauges, 6.0 trans cooler and valve body at the least. Should hold together for a while, depending on its current condition.

 

I to have read the deep pans don't justify the cost. Gauges, cooler, consider Blackstone labs for oil analysis, and I change my fluid 30k max, actually shorter intervals, but that's me. Mercon V fluid is fine. I also run an external spin on filter.
Check out the Colorado chapter, your enviornment is different from us here in the south.

 

Welcome to FTE BigDtrain! Tell me you are not going to build this train and drive at 68 mph with family?

 

Thanks for info guys!

Sounds like the consensus is; gauges, a bigger cooler, possibly a new valve body and standard ATF will give me some happy happy happy safe towing!

Nlemerise..... I doing see any reason NOT to safely tow at 68mph? I don't intend to do it loaded down with 15,000 lbs, I triple tow now with just under 10,000 lbs and it's all under control...... I do realize the increased weight will give me more reason to be much more cautious and if I don't feel it us a safe speed I can always slow down!

Not to sound arrogant by any means, but have you triple forward and had a bad experience towing that fast?

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, and I don't mean any disrespect in my first response to your comment, family and safety is my first priority always, however I do see people touring at what seems yo be 80 ft long and well over 16,000 lbs rolling along at 75+mph! That speed with that load seems crazy to me!

 

I've driven triples, doubles, and tractor-trailer combinations for way over a million miles with no tickets/no accidents. I wouldn't consider driving a combination of three vehicles at 68 mph. It is on the edge, everything is cool until something goes wrong. Then a train generally cannot be controlled. I always err on the safe side because I have seen the consequences too many times...I drive by the theory "There are old truckers and there are bold truckers, but there are no old AND bold truckers." Absolutely no offense taken or meant!