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Hey everyone! Just completed the journey to RRE, 1583 miles. I also took my new box with me, a 22 ft Mallard camper. Ill try and be as specific as possible, so it may be a little long.
Maybe my expectations were high but, I was not happy with how the truck performed. Egts were a constant issue (sometimes 1200+) it didn't feel like it was pulling that hard. Also had a scare when my temp gauge reached the L in normal, so I decided to check Torque and my oil temp was 248 degrees. Needless to say I pulled over quick and let it cool. This was on the flat, I'm not sure I want to know how high it was when I was pulling in the mountains.
There was a lot of running in 3rd gear (even hit 2nd a couple times in the mountains) egts were uncontrollable in OD, unless it was flat. The issue was less prevalent after the plenum's were sealed. In fact I was able to bump my chip up (ts, canned tunes) to the lowest setting above stock. Before that even stock was hot. And in the mountains it was hot.
Camper doesn't even weigh 5k, I shouldn't even know it's back there. We checked for boost leaks and the plenum's were leaking like sives. Sealed them and it was better but not much. Keeping 65-70 was a very hsrd balancing act. Knowing when to give it throttle, and guessing wrong meant geeting out of it and slowing back down. I was definstly the slow guy of the convoy.
Also my fuel consumption was atrocious. Aaron even out did me pulling a 30 ft camper with power to the hilt.
I've pulled lots of trailers with this truck and don't recall having this much trouble. I understand this is different than a car trailer but still. My temper was about as warm as my egt gauge a few times. I pretty much had an eye on it all the time.
Any ideas? Just a refresher ,my truck is stock (stock inj, stock turbo), 6637, re sealed plenum's, 3.55 gears, auto, 203 t stat
I love my truck, and plan on keeping it, I just want it and the camper to get along better.
Here's some pics:
The new box!
Fuel use. It goes date, gallons, miles driven, mpg, price per gallon, station and total
I should add, boost didn't really seem to bee an issue. I had no problem hitting high teens when I was in 3rd and could rev it. Map was within 1 psi of my actual gauge. 5-7 psi was the norm in OD.
Reading your post Thomas takes me back ten years of fighting EGT's. I'm like Aaron, I don't know what to say, maybe to many miles on that motor. I hate to say that but have you done a compression test? I'm facing a hugh challenge myself with a big load and a stock motor maybe 4K miles getting to AZ. After buying the Blue Ox I mentioned in a post that I'm taking all bets on me making it or not and had no comers, LOL. I'm worried but I'm not telling my wife. The 3:55 gears are not helping at ALL! I know you said you were gearing down, that's good. How old are the sticks? On reading on here for ten years I have always tried to put together the perfect combo of mods but haven't succeeded yet. All I can say is 'good luck'.
Thomas, One thing I can say is that when I had that 203 thermostat for a brief period, my oil temps were in the same range. Changing the 203 immediately changed that and brought them back down. The temp is not anything to be alarmed about though.
Im running into the same issues as you are. Im pulling the same weight trailer 5k, and im in the 5-12k elevation range. Im constantly battling egts. Im running into the exact scenario as your are. I just opened my exhaust to 3" down pipe, and 4" straight and it didnt seem to help, I also didnt delete the exhaust back pressure valve because I need it as an exhaust brake.. The highest boost I can get to in extreme is 17psi and loose all my boost when I shift and normally in OD Im at about 5-7 psi. Im swapping out my up pipes tomorow for bellowed up pipes. Ill let u know how much it helps. Just watch my thread, Im going to end up doing an intercooler, and water meth injection. Lol let me spend the money before you Ill let u know what is and isnt working.
Something to keep in mind is that in higher elevations your hp can drop as much as 25%, these things only make 215hp at 3000rpms, Your already down to 180hp in higher elevations.
When your pulling on the interstate, is your egts stupid high between 1700-2700 rmps and then once u rap it out to 3200-3500 there cooler?
Also one thing noone will tell you about the boost test, is that you wanna plug your valve cover vent if u decide to pressure up on the inlet side of it. Youll blow your valve cover seals, like I did.
Also one thing noone will tell you about the boost test, is that you wanna plug your valve cover vent if u decide to pressure up on the inlet side of it. Youll blow your valve cover seals, like I did.
hmm. That's interesting. I've never heard of that before. But I'll remember for later.
Hey everyone! Just completed the journey to RRE, 1583 miles. I also took my new box with me, a 22 ft Mallard camper. Ill try and be as specific as possible, so it may be a little long.
Maybe my expectations were high but, I was not happy with how the truck performed. Egts were a constant issue (sometimes 1200+) it didn't feel like it was pulling that hard. Also had a scare when my temp gauge reached the L in normal, so I decided to check Torque and my oil temp was 248 degrees. Needless to say I pulled over quick and let it cool. This was on the flat, I'm not sure I want to know how high it was when I was pulling in the mountains.
There was a lot of running in 3rd gear (even hit 2nd a couple times in the mountains) egts were uncontrollable in OD, unless it was flat. The issue was less prevalent after the plenum's were sealed. In fact I was able to bump my chip up (ts, canned tunes) to the lowest setting above stock. Before that even stock was hot. And in the mountains it was hot.
Camper doesn't even weigh 5k, I shouldn't even know it's back there. We checked for boost leaks and the plenum's were leaking like sives. Sealed them and it was better but not much. Keeping 65-70 was a very hsrd balancing act. Knowing when to give it throttle, and guessing wrong meant geeting out of it and slowing back down. I was definstly the slow guy of the convoy.
Also my fuel consumption was atrocious. Aaron even out did me pulling a 30 ft camper with power to the hilt.
I've pulled lots of trailers with this truck and don't recall having this much trouble. I understand this is different than a car trailer but still. My temper was about as warm as my egt gauge a few times. I pretty much had an eye on it all the time.
Any ideas? Just a refresher ,my truck is stock (stock inj, stock turbo), 6637, re sealed plenum's, 3.55 gears, auto, 203 t stat
I love my truck, and plan on keeping it, I just want it and the camper to get along better.
Here's some pics:
The new box!
Fuel use. It goes date, gallons, miles driven, mpg, price per gallon, station and total
This was one tank. The last one before home
Thomas, I definitely think you have something else going on there. Although the trailer only weighs 5k, you're towing a brick. Not exactly a car trailer. So the wind resistance is going to make it "feel" heavier. One thing I think guys forget about, and I'm not saying this is your issue, is that these motors like to rev when towing. When I first started towing with a stock OBS, I tried to baby it and control MPG's. It's just not worth it. You HAVE to keep the RPM's up. If I don't hit a hill north of 2100/2300 I'm done for. If I keep the RPM's up she pulls without a problem. My truck with the fuel and the load that I had had none of the issues you speak of. I know you guys like to give me a hard time about towing like a bat out of hell, but that's what my truck likes and it keeps her happy so that's how I pull. I for one think that fuel economy should not be factored when trying to tow over distance. It's like getting on dyno for the first time. Setting yourself up for disappointment!
Thomas, I would agree that the aerodynamics of a camper trailer aren't conducive to making good MPG. It's like towing a giant shoe box down the highway at 65.
The EGT's however shouldn't be an issue. I kind of wonder if the TS canned tunes may be part of the issue. Mine runs a little on the warm side too and I'm running the same canned TS tunes. Even with the IC in my truck, sealed plenums and no detectable leaks, I can touch 1100-1200 degrees towing the big box.
I'll also second Todd's input that to make these things tow you can't be afraid to let them spin some R's. In fact, that's one of the things that I like the best about my 3.55 gears and the 5 speed. I'll just run it in 4th gear when I'm towing until I get above about 60 MPH. That puts my RPMs in the 2500 range which really wakes it up. For some people, it takes a conscious effort to remember that they're towing so that they let it carry out the gears a little further and let it spin the turbo. Don't hesitate to kick it out of OD and let it spool. Running 65 is tough with 3.55 gears. It's kind of in the dead zone between where you want to be to really get into it in OD and and where you want to be to feel comfortable with the RPM's in your direct gear (3rd for your auto, 4th for my 5 speed). For my setup it runs MUCH happier at 70 than it does at 60-65. Ask Todd about how it does at that speed. Towing the poop-up home from RRE last year it really like doing 70. You're probably about 1,500 pounds heavier and have all the added wind resistance so you're dragging a lot more resistance behind you. Don't be too down on the 'ol girl. She just needs some help with a little more power if you're going to do a lot of towing with it.
07-20-2015, 08:27 PM
