Cool story. I remember pieces of it from other threads. Nice work!

 

So where are we now?

Powertrain: 7.3L with a combo of parts from a 325k and 375k motor (mainly 325k)
-180/30 Injectors
-ARP Head studs
-PHP hydra with tunes from 1023 diesel, high idle, heavy tow, medium tow, daily, street, cummins killer, no start
-CNC Fab stage 2 HPOP with upgraded HPOP lines
-Fuel bowl spring kit with 70 psi spring
-Melling LPOP
-Riff raff braided fuel lines
-T4 turbo kit from irate with SXE364.5 .91 housing
-did new glow plugs and gaskets
-new injector cups (on one side)
-new EBPV line and sensor
-new IPR
-Glowshift gauges for EGT/Boost/HPOP Pressure/Fuel Pressure
-Newly built Trans with billet converter
-6.0 trans cooler
-NP271 manual shift t case
-245/70R19.5 Drive tires
-intake plenum inserts

I am sure I am forgetting more but that is what I have worked on so far.

The #1 goal is to get me to where I am going reliably and if I have issues I want to be able to fix it remotely. The point of the truck is that when I travel in a caravan of 1 I have 2 vehicles, the truck and hummer and I can drive 1 of them to get parts. This truck also wont go on a tow truck lol
#2 goal is to hit grades with enough power to maintain speed, I would like to be able to do that with #1 in mind so I need to set myself parameters on how hard to push the truck, I have no problem pushing it, I just want to push it safely.

Future parts and changes....

The bed needs paint bad, the interior is trash, the exterior has some messed up panels due to a blow out with the previous owner. I would like to find some interior and exterior upgrades from newer models but I want to finish the drivetrain first.

I carry spare HPOP lines, spare IPR, Spare IDM, spare HPOP. I do worry about the OE fuel lines from the frame to the fuel bowl, they are original but dont know how they normally last. hydro boost lines and all that is original, fuel pump is probably original. I am unsure of what takes a crap and what doesnt so I want to replace that kind of stuff if it is a known issue.

The fuel bowl has leaked on me 2 times, I tried a new cap and it seems to be better now but I contemplated deleting it. I am willing to spend money if its worth while but I dont want to just **** away money just because.

The next big project is swapping the 05+ front axle in, Id like to keep the same 8 lug rims but dont know if that is possible but I am welcoming the increased stopping power and better turning radius.

I have a 40 gallon fuel tank that I will be getting from my buddys 2012 F450, it was in his bed and he now has a truck bed camper. I will probably mount it on the side of the bed or under the bed and have it feed the main tank with a little pump so I can extend my range.

tuning is a big thing for me, not being a diesel guy and knowing very little I watched that 14 part series of killing a duramax. Maybe Gale is overkill...but I did find it interesting and scary lol.

We can watch EGT's and fuel pressure and drive pressure along with temps and even with all of that happy you can still cause damage with things we cant see easily. Like cylinder pressure, crank injection angle and turbo outlet temp. It would be nice to somehow monitor these but I understand it is difficult so getting max power to the ground without damage is something I do worry about a little.

Like can I tow 28k plus up grades on a medium tow tune or daily tune safely? What sustained boost should I feel safe at? Can I hold boost for 3 min at 30-35 lbs? Can Pulse width explain some of the things I cant see to me? I try to stay at or below 1100 EGTs max for extended periods of time.

All in all, this has been a fun truck to learn on and I plan to continue to learn. my buddy asked me today, would you do it all again?

So far, I cant say I have enough experience. I havent towed with a travel trailer and the hummer for 1000 miles plus, all I want is for the truck to do the job with #1 and #2 in mind. Some do semis with flat beds but then I couldnt store it at my house or use the truck for going to home depot. This isnt a nimble truck but certainly more nimble then a semi lol. The theory of pulling 28-30k with a truck that is designed for 80k is nice but its far more useless then this truck for everything else. a 2013 6.7 would be nice but I would have to spend 30-35k on a truck, a crew cab 12 ft bed isnt enough so Id have to add a 4ft dove or stretch the frame. Not having a payment and being in no debt with this truck is nice especially for a truck that sits alot but I have spent way more money then expected when things snowballed but hopefully that is all behind me.

Thanks for reading and we are now up to date so feel free to add in comments or thoughts!

 

Very cool thread! You definitely have more patience and perseverance than I do lol. I noticed all the spare parts that you carry but didn't see anything about the 2 pressure hoses for power steering. Might be a good preventive matinance items to go ahead and replace if you haven't already given the remote traveling you do. also put some wire loom or a peice of hose on the power steering lines where they rub on the driver side shock tower. I tow heavy with my f450 4x4, weighed in just over 30k pounds today at the scales, and I tow with a 80 hp tow tune from DP tuner. You can tow with the higher hp tow tunes as long as you keep an eye on egts. With 4:88's I rarely get over 1100 degrees unless I'm really pushing it. I don't think it is wise to tow ( especially heavy towing) with a daily driver tune as shift points are different and more importantly the line pressures are set differently. There is a preventive matinance thread around here that has a wealth of knowledge to keep your truck running good. If you haven't seen it yet I will try to locate it for you👍

 

15,500 on that drive is no joke. That's the axle you need for that kind of weight and that's probably right around the limit too.

 

That guy might be the craziest. Mine has a ZF6 and a big 12k 5th wheel RV is already a handful to get moving smoothly in stop and go traffic. A trailer twice that weight would be ridiculous even with a 550. An old 2-axle Freightliner with a Series 60 and 10 speed Fuller would be a way better truck to pull a trailer loaded like that one in the picture.

 

Thanks! I will take a look at the preventative maintenance thread and look at some PS hoses, my PS is weak and need to go through the whole system. I figured I would buy myself time until I do the 05+ axle swap and do it all at once but maybe I will pick up some hoses and keep them with me if I have a trip planned before the axle swap. I have used 1023 diesel tuning and may look into a light tow tune and tow with that. I have heard good thing about DPTuner and that instagram guy towing 30-37k used them but I dont think they use PHP Hydras.

Building a rock crawler that started out as a production vehicle and trying to build it to tackle Johnson Valley hammer tails requires perseverance and an extremely high tolerance or mental punishment LOL All my buddies and I have been through countless axles, transfer cases, engines, etc. It is a dumb hobby and dealing with the crap I dealt with felt right at home unfortunately. I am also kind of married to the truck as it had been stretched. It will be tough to find another F550 like it, id probably have to do the semi truck flat bed route if I wanted something the same size or similar.

I have the bigger Dana S135 and I have seen it at a max GAWR of 16,500 lbs in bigger trucks. I think they de rate it on the F550 to 15k or 15,500 lbs due to tires and wheels. I was overweight on tires but bumped up to a higher rating. I probably should do wheel bearings since the axle has almost 400k on it. If I was guessing the previous owner didnt touch them....he wasnt fond of maintenance

That guy is crazy for sure, he also would deliver these cars in NY and the northeast where roads are tight. I thought he was nuts but I appreciated when he gave me his experiences as it shows the weight I want to pull could be done. I find it crazy that he feels the 7.3 could tow better from a maintaining speed and from a performance standpoint compared to the FL70 he has....the chassis and suspension on the FL70 blows the 7.3 out of the water though.

 

Great thread man looking forward to more of your adventures

 

The Dana S135 is rated for 13,500 lbs, which is the highest rear GAWR of any F-550 originally equipped with a 7.3L engine.

Ford did have a 15,000 lb GAWR axle available in the F-53 stripped motorhome chassis, but that axle was a Dana S150.

The major distinction is in material thickness of the housing, which carries the weight, not so much the gearing that moves the weight.

The gears and drop in third member are nearly the same (most parts are identical, with a few exceptions) between the S135 and the S150.

But the housing is thicker on the S150, and that is a key determining factor in the axle's rating capacity.

Ford never offered the S150 axle in an F-550 chassis cab, during any year, with any engine.

Perhaps Ford should have, as some aerial bucket truck applications with anti spring sag hardware attached to the rear suspension to prevent deflection when the bucket was deployed, managed to crack the housing to the S135, right at the spring perches.

This only seemed to happen to a certain type/model of bucket truck, so the fault may have been more in the upfit, rather than Ford, but as I recall, Ford initially did pay for a few axles on the trucks that were still under the warranty.

The empty housing alone costs $4,000 retail, for an empty banjo shell... no carrier, no differential, no axles, no wheel ends, just a shell, which is not even available with the spring perch and shock weldments that match Ford's iteration.

And that is why I mention all of this. You've been through enough unexpected expense as it is. Since you are running literally a ton over the rear GAWR (see door plate), a regular inspection for housing cracks at the spring perch area might be good to work into your maintenance routine. That way you can fix the cracks ( V grind and weld them back up) before they leave you in a fix on those desolate highways across NV.

 

Probably it didn't hurt anything but it might over time so I would do as he suggests and carefully inspect the housing. You probably could just lighten it up a little and be okay. You were at ~6,000 lbs on the drive with the truck empty and you said your rock crawler was ~7,000 lbs so you should be able to keep the back under 13,500 with some careful strategizing. Any tongue weight from a decent sized travel trailer will put you over, but they do make little 3500 lb 23 footers with single axles that probably only add 500 or so pounds of tongue weight, so you might be able to make some thing work and stay legal.

 

Slightly heavier duty truck but a lot of them came with Cat 3126's which were not much better than a T444E powerwise. 7.2L I-6 vs a 7.3L V8. In a heavier chassis with 22.5" rubber I could see the little Cat not performing much better than the 7.3 in a lighter chassis, if at all.

 

Great thread look forward to more. Did you try hair spray on the IC boot?

 

Interesting....It is also interesting that someone told me that the S135 was found in vehicles with a 16.5 rated rear end. Do you know if wheel bearings are the same on the S150 and S135? I am curious if it is just a housing deal or if the hubs/bearings are bigger as well. I will inspect the housing

Correct, of my 2 trips I am right near the GAWR of 13500 because we do not own a trailer yet but it is good to know I was wayyyyy over that before
I didnt, I think I will try that when I get the new boot from hoselinx since they are still backordered right now.

 

Update: I reached out to Andrew Arthur for a 40Hp tow tune and an 80HP tow tune. Man, it rips! 1023 diesel tunes definitely seem tame which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, I want the truck to live a happy life towing heavy.

I’ve still had no luck with finding a local live tuner.

with all that said, I plan to do some more pulls soon and data log them so I can post them here but I am in need of another upgrade. Fuel system.

I noticed it when coming home from Utah, I had fuel pressure drop but it would come right back when letting off. It happened multiple times today on my old tunes and the new tunes. For 180/30 injectors I’m sure I’m fine just throwing another stock pump in there but I’m sure I could be told otherwise.

I’m assuming this pump is some cheap replacement or original. I’m running an entirely stock fuel system from the tank to the fuel bowl, only changes are the Diesel o rings FPR spring housing with a black 67-70 psi spring and braided AN fuel lines from the fuel bowl to the head. I have read up on the hutch and harpoon mod but idk if those apply to 550 behind the axle tanks or not.

any suggestions on what to do? I’m open to anything that improves reliability and ease of working on things when on the road, I don’t need fancy billet stuff for looks.

my next trip is 58 days away. Idaho to Fordyce Creek so plenty of grades with the big one going up the 80 by Tahoe, I’ll either be grossing 20k with the Hummer on the back or 28-29k with the Hummer on the back and towing a trailer with a Jeep on it so it’s time to get these things taken care of. This will also be the first trip in the heat so that will be interesting to see how EGTs react. I may need to clean the intercooler before the trip too.

 

Have you tried rebuilding the FPR? There’s more to it then just the spring. If it is not sealing well on the seat then you will also lose fuel pressure. https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/fuel-...ild-kit-99-03/

I’m not sure about the Hutch mod with your big truck but would definitely look into it. This is a place to start if the screens are also in your tank.

 

https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/compl...-orings-99-03/

that makes sense, I used this kit above...I also had a sealing issue with the microgard filter, it would blow the seal out of the fuel bowl cap, the wix with integrated cap seems to be holding.

also, the pump is very noisy.