I have a 2001 F350 dually 4x4 with the V10 and 4r100 trans. The truck only has 75k mileage and has led a creampuff life till now. While it is in great condition overall it is a total slug/roadblock performance wise. I bought it two years ago to be a tow rig for my pull behind camper with the intention on upgrading to a 5th wheel. The PO gave me all his maintenance records, and it appears he was pretty fussy with the upkeep. He has since passed away and I can't ask detailed questions, but what I know is he had longtube headers installed, and it has a K&N air filter. He did have some brand of tuner installed and not sure if that isn't part of my problem. I had the gears swapped from the factory 3:73 to 4:56 gears trying to get this thing to pull and while it is better, it is far, far from what I expect. I live in the "mountains" of central PA and no matter which direction I head I have to pull short steep hills. With my tow behind camper ~ 7000k I cannot maintain the speed limit on these road. Actuallyscary to get on I80. Those hills are at a max of 6% grade and the two long ones near me are maybe 5 miles long. I have the pedal mashed, down in second gear with the engine screaming as I crest the top of these hills going less than 40mph when I hit the bottom at 75. Something has to be amiss. My 1500 Silverado with a 5.3 (3:73 gears) has more snot than this superduty. What do I do? Since I have no idea of what tune is in it my only thought is to go the five star route and try and wake this puppy up. Open to any advise as it is a super nice truck and I as much as I would like a godzilla version of this truck I don't have the 50k in coin laying aroud to get there. I don't/didn't expect it to pull like a diesel, but I expected more than a vanguard briggs&stratton . What say yea?

 

Personally I'd remove whatever tune was installed and ditch the K&N Filter as well----return the vehicle to it's "as built" stage and go from there.

Too bad the PO isn't available to answer how did this truck in this trim perform, was he too towing anything on a consistent basis?

 

If he hauled anything, it was a car on a tow behind trailer ~4000#.
Also, this truck has the factory 16" tires
and my 05 Expedition with 5.4 outpulls it
Could a Ford dealer restore the factory ecm setting (remove the tune)?

 

Something sounds amiss. Obviously trash the K&N filter system and return to stack as previously advised. Yes a dealer can reflash to stock for $$$. IMHO, I would go straight to 5 Star tuning and get their tunes and not waste $$$ at a dealer for a stock reflash. The 5 Star tunes you can customize to your liking, or you can datalog and 5 Star can customize the tune for you. I have several tunes with a few customized tow tunes for my truck. It has changed the overall dynamic and performance of the truck. Obviously the trans shift strategies are a plus, but 5 Star allows the for the stochiometric fuel ratio setting to go into an open loop at around half throttle. I notice a nice boost of power when it does such. With 4.56 gears, towing ~7k, you should be able to motor down the road and not struggle. If you say the previous owner has kept up with maintenance, it has to be the tune.

 

Thanks. I had pretty much convinced myself that I must be running on some sort of an economy tune that is killing the power. I didn't mention, but the factory y (T) pipe was changed with the headers also. I expect that it should pull and be able to at least rum the speed limits when pulling 7k. If I was pulling 12k maybe a bit sluggish, but this is just crazy the way it is. Not a fan of oiled filters either.
I will look to get a custom tune from 5 star and try and wake this puppy up

 

I changed to 4:30 gears, did the y pipe mod when I got my 5 Star tunes. It helped, but I had them customize a tow tune to the characteristic of the truck pulling my camper that I decided to keep my truck. I was so frustrated before the custom tune, I was about to drop $60k on a new truck. We travel alot during the warm seasons with my sons sport and GCWR is usually over 20k lbs with all the gear and ammo and it is not a struggle for the truck. 65mph seems to be the sweet spot, so I put it on cruise and let it do its thing unless we are in the hills.

 

I'm interested to see what you find as I have a 99 F250 4x4 V10/auto myself. 3.73 gears, 16" with 285 tires and 145K on it. A couple months ago I hauled a 3 horse slant up a local 9% grade that was a few miles long. I had previously shifted into 2nd for a down hill bit,hit the grade and about 1/2 way up it was pedal to the floor doing 25 mph. I assume if it was in D it would have been able to drop into 1st. I thought to myself...seriously?? 10mpg hauling and this little power? Like you my former 5.3 would kick this thinks butt when I hauled hay or my jeep behind it. I seriously could not even fathom pulling a 10K RV behind this thing.

 

Well, about all I can try now is a tune from a legit company. I have no idea of the origin of the tune in the truck, but I am 99% sure it isn't fomoco. Whether I am throwing good $$ after bad remains to be seen. In an alternate universe I would swap in a 400 or a 460 in a heartbeat, knowing at a minimum with the proper cam, carb and old time know how I would get a rig capable of pulling what I need pulled. At this time I would not consider anything else with one of these boat anchors again. Gears, headers, and y-pipe (all done) should have given me the truck I need. I don't want a diesel. I also have a 1972 F350 dump with the good old 300 putting out a whopping 120hp on a good day that would come very close to outpulling the V10. Makes zero sense - don't get me wrong, unladen it starts, runs and drives as nice as anything I have. Just don't drive up on a dollar bill, cause it will downshift and start lugging

 

I drove a 99 V10 F250 for 8 years. They were definitely not power houses. I even had 4.30 gears and a 5 star tune. At any kind of altitude you will never have the power you want.

My 07 3V V10 is a different story. Much better all around. I loved my 99 superduty but it was not very powerful for a heavy truck.

Even the 2000 PI models were noticeably better than the non PI 99.

It is what it is.

 

Sounds like a nice truck worth getting sorted out. Have the same motor/trans/gear combo and been happy with my truck the last few years since I’ve owned it.

It’s a stock config(stock manifolds/y-pipe/air cleaner) ‘03 V10 F250 4x4 w/4.56 gears-285/75-16 tires and it easily tows our ~6K lbs boat (boat/trailer/fuel) better than our ‘08 Expedition (5.4/3.73’s) through the Northern California mountains. Had 3.73’s in my F250 last year and it still towed the same boat better than the Expedition, but the 4.56’s definitely make it better.

How many miles do you think you’ve put on your truck the last couple years since you’ve owned it? What’s been mpg towing / not towing?

 

I hated the fact that you either barely mash the accelerator and it downshifts or if on cruise it drops 1mph and downshifts. I just could NOT use the power and torque of the engine I had 5 Star customize the shift strategy of my tow tune to lose 10mph before a downshift on cruise control, and if not on cruise, then I have to put it on the mat before a downshift. Now I am able to use the power of the engine and the truck tows so much better. . Over many thousands of miles I have learned how to let the truck do it's thing, but also how to use the downshift when climbing hills. I tow at 65mph, when I encounter a hill, I let the cruise drop to 55(it kicks it self out of cruise) I take over and floor it in 3rd until I get to 60, back off until the TC locks up and floor it again. I can usually gain speed or at least maintain 60 unless it is a very steep grade. Revs are very rarely above 3300.

 

I have only put 2k on it in two years that I have had it. MPG went up to 13.5 empty and 9.6 towing once I put the 4.56 gears in it. Which were both better than the factory 3.73's (simply lugged and downshifted too much). It is worth putting the $500 into a 5star tune, and then that's it, nothing left to do within reason.
If I was in the midwest, aka the flatlands, it would be fine just way to many hills around central PA

 

Its the transmission thats the real problem. Gear spacing is way to far apart with the automatic. My father had both versions of the 2v V10, a 2003 with automatic and a 2003 with 6spd manual. The manual transmission truck would run circles around the automatic truck with just about everything else on them equipped the same.

Just like a 5spd manual 460ci truck would run circles around a 4spd automatic version. My dad had those as well before he went to the V10.

 

Thats the truth! If the 2v had a 5 or 6spd auto, that would be sweet. I see ~800 rpms between gears on my 4r100. Newer auto trans(5-6) are around 3-400 rpms. 10 spd is even less.

 

I want to say the 2v eventually did get the 5R110 but only in the E series. My father currently has an F550 with the 3v 6.8L and 6R140. That truck pulls really well for a gas rig.