Just wanted to let ya'll know that I had a GREAT trip to the mountains this weekend towing my trailer loaded with quads (only approx. 6,000 lbs. gross) and the truck ran and pulled fantastic!! She pulled like a beast! I do have one question though. When pulling one particular grade on the interstate in high gear for about 5 miles at approx. 65 mph my boost according to my Insight was holding 27 psi. steady and would bump up to 28 and back to 27 intermittently. I got to thinking about my TTY bolts. Is it OK to maintain those boost levels for extended periods like that or should I back off the go pedal a bit in these situations? I know 28 psi. is within acceptable levels but just wanted to make sure it was OK to maintain that for a period of time. Thanks for any and all input. BTW, on that same pull my ECT was holding steady at 210 and my EOT was up to 225 just before cresting the hill. I feel certain that my oil cooler is healthy because I have a 8 - 9 deg. spread empty cruising at 65. Does that 15 deg. spread sound normal to ya'll under load like that? I understand the whole temp. delta concept and expect deltas to widen after cresting hills, etc. but was just wondering if it should widen that much DURING a hard pull also? On other hills I backed out of the go pedal just a smidge (maintaining 25 - 26 psi. of boost) and my delta stayed closer to 10 deg. on those pulls. Just keeping a watchful eye on the old girl. I love my 6.0!!

 

The boost goes up as you meet resistance, boost equals heat, you can find another gear or use tow/haul. Not being there I would say it looks normal.

 

Looks normal to me too.

 

Thanks guys! Just wanted to make sure all seemed well, I thought it did. It was a long pull. I'm not the type to race up the hills and have no problem backing down to not abuse the truck (which I normally do) I just wanted to see how it would act if I kept the foot planted. I'm happy! Thanks again!

 

As John mentioned above, I've found my truck seems happier if I drop a gear in situations like you describe. Give it a try next time and see what you think. It seems happy enough at the higher rpm and boost and temps drop. Don't be worried to let it spool up when the load and hills get rough.

 

Thanks Rusty! Yeah, I did let off and get back into it to make the truck downshift on several pulls along the way. Like you said, she seems happier that way. I just wondered how ya'll felt about leaving the boost way up for extended periods of time. All seems good!

 

If you find yourself in that situation a lot, an EGT gauge would be an excellent addition to your truck. Monitoring the temps at the exhaust would be ideal way to make sure you're not pulling too hard. It is possible to damage exhaust components, especially talking about (near)max boost for several minutes. EOT/ECT readings are slow to respond compared to an EGT gauge.

 

I have planned on getting the EGT thermocouple for my Insight for a while now but have not gotten around to it as of yet. That being said, I do a good bit of towing here locally (flat land) but seldom pull in the mountains. I need to quit putting it off and try to work it in the budget here soon. Also, I have read that it is highly unlikely that a stock truck would have high enough EGT's to hurt anything but am not sure how accurate of a statement that really is. Thanks again Rusty!!