Greetings!
I am looking for advice and or videos on proper driving while towing heavy loads with a 6.0.
I have done a search and haven't found what I am looking for.
It is easy to drive an unloaded vehicle but these 6.0's are prone to head gasket failure and I am asking for some basic principles to adhere to when towing heavy loads in hot weather or up steep grades. I am not asking about towing from the perspective of how to tow a trailer but how to properly drive my Ford F450 with a 6.0 when towing.
I have mostly been a gasoline driver and bought this truck to use it. I just got done having the heads worked on and do not want to have a failure due to my negligence.
Obviously slamming the pedal to the metal and thinking I have this big bad azz diesel truck and it can do anything is a recipe for disaster so please offer some constructive advice on how to drive a 6.0 when towing.

Thanks!

 

Do you still have the SCT tuner?
If so, what tune are you running?
EGR system still intact?

It isn't only about boost, it is also about the tune, and how it manages the fuel and timing and combustion pressure.
Running some tunes when towing heavy can ruin even the best head gasket job and set of heads.

Oh, and what towing weight are you talking about?

 

That SCT tuner has been on the truck since purchased.
I do not want to run any tune that will damage the engine.
I don't think there are any "custom" tunes.
42 foot Fifth wheel, my guess every bit of 15,000 pounds.

I totally want advice because I am heading on a trip in a week.
Engine running great. I have only used it locally since fixed. Towed dump trailer around town loaded with no overheat issues.

I know nothing about tuners and am not looking to ruin my engine.
I am okay with factory settings.
Please advise.
Thank you!

 

Personally, I would return the truck to the stock tune. The performance would be noticeably less, but you would at least know what you have and IMO it would be "safer". If you had more time before your trip, you could investigate the tune options, but IMO you need something like the "unlimited tow tune" from Gearhead. I haven't been in that game for a long time, so I don't know what options are out there.

Do you have the SCT device itself? Is the stock tune still loaded on it?

Not knowing what tune is in it would make me a bit nervous. Canned tunes are NOT good when working the truck hard (and a 15k load is a workout on hills). It isn't just boost and head gaskets at risk, it is also the transmission.

A functional EGR system can provide some protection from overboost, so an EGR delete doesn't exactly make it safer unfortunately (IMHO anyway).

 

I have the SCT device and the truck is in Stock tune.
What advice can you provide about towing a 15,000 pound trailer up hills in 90 degree summer conditions?
I have the ForScan on my phone.
What should I be monitoring?
What strategy do I use for climbing? Higher RPM and lower gear?
I am just trying to understand what I should be trying to achieve before venturing out.

 

The tow/haul feature works well IMO. I don't think you would need to do anything special when towing with tow/haul on. That said, I do not tow heavy, so perhaps the ones with that experience will join you soon.

I would install the "blue wire mod" that allows the fan to be put on full speed with the flip of a switch. Managing coolant temperatures would be one of my prime objectives!

Most people that tow heavy also recommend an EGT gauge. Managing exhaust gas temperatures is important.

Also important when you "load up the engine" is to monitor fuel pressure (requires an add-on gauge like the EGT does).

 

Plus 1, all the above post.

 

If you don't have a way to monitor the engine while it is truly working, it is a recipe for disaster. If you don't, spend a little money and get a setup asap.

Bismic offered great advice and I would recommend you look into the unlimitted tow tune from Gear head. My truck lives in that tune and I do not swap between the others I own from them. Think of the tune not a so much as performance, but engine/trans fine tuning. Your shifts will be better, tow/haul enhanced and your fueling will not change but your truck will run better than it ever has....safely.

EGT's shouldn't be too much of a worry if your turbo and fueling is stock. EGT's can destroy your engine but in stock form, unless you're hammering the sh%t out of it up a hill you'll be good.

ECT and EOT is just if not more important and add Trans to that list.

Don't let the engine lug below 2k up hills, keep the RPM's up and constant regulated by your foot. My 6.0 loves to live in 2200-2500 rpm and pulls all day. My setup is different than yours but you wil find the sweet spot once you use it more.

 

It appears they offer many options. How would I know which one to get and how would it get onto my SCT controller and or my vehicle.
I wouldn't ask if I knew the answers.

 

I have not purchased from them for many years, that is how good and happy I am that there tunes work.

You might be able to buy one (unlimited tow) or you may need to buy a 3 pack. Once you do, you pull the strategy from your stock tune off of the SCT programmer and send it to them. This is the point you tell them all the stuff your truck has or if is stock then stock it is. They write tunes and email them back to you. You download them to a folder, attach your SCT using the data cable that came with your SCT (it is a standard cable like for a printer IIRC with a USB end) and follow the prompts. Name the tunes or they may be named already (don't recall)

Once the SCT has the tunes in the handheld, plug it into the truck. Return the truck to stock programming (you normally don't have to but to be safe) and then choose the tune you wnat to install. Let both the PCM and TCM program....done. Drive it for a while and let the truck learn the tunes.

I have not done it for a while but that is what I recall.


WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT UPDATE THE FIRMWARE on the SCT. You can update software but NEVER the firmware.

BTW I tow a 39' weekend warrior (the heavy older 2008's) and my truck sings all day long. The custom no fuel tunes are what you need.

 

Report of my Towing Experience:
Purchased Gearhead Unlimited Tow package per advice. Drove about 150 miles without load prior to trip.

Tow Tune is great. Takes care of shifting with ease.

Best advice I could give for someone towing a heavy load with a 6.0 is to drive for RPM's not for speed.
When climbing long grades I just let the tow package do its job. Once I was on an incline and the RPM's dropped to around 1900 the truck would downshift. I simply kept the truck at 2500 RPM's after that and temperatures remained stable and truck climbed the hills.
I drove Interstate 81, 85, and 77, through PA, Virginia, NC. Virginia and PA have lots of steep grades to climb. I got down to 45mph on some hills but I was happy to be hauling that trailer.

 

i tow a 17k trailer with mine and im in southwest pa and just hauled from dc to breezewood and across the turnpike. one thing ill suggest when coming up on a big hill, let off the throttle and get back in it for a downshift instead of just putting the pedal to the floor. most of the time mine just needs the converter to unlock to maintain 55 on 7%. i just run stock tune in tow/haul and aside from being a little slow it does fine. another suggestion is make sure your fan is functioning. mine wasnt until i put an egr valve back in it, but mines an 03.

 

Mine being stock pulls the grades towing heavy and hasn't let me down. The grades in the East can be steep but in reality you are not climbing an extremely long distance, maybe 2000-3000 feet. Out West you can get into a pull of 5,000 plus feet, (5 people, 2 dogs, loaded 36' camper at 9,000 lbs,+) my truck hated a pull out of Death Valley, temps got to EOT 245 and I forget ECT, I think 235. Fan was at 100%, 35-45 mph 5-9% grade for 20 miles. To be fair, this was a steady grade, some in the East just appear and hit you with a hard grade.
I do not monitor EGTs or have a blue wire but I know my truck and the condition it is in, do I want to do that again? NO, my nerves were shot after we crested the pass!

 

I'll bet!

I plan on upgrading mine to breathe a little better on those long pulls. I've pulled some serious weight with The Monster and even with (come to find out) questionable heads, he always sat up and begged for more. He was previously tuned by Gearhead and it made a world of difference daily driving and towing. After the rebuild, no tuning here and EGR intact with a BPD cooler.

 

Ok, so I've officially done the head-to-head. F250 automatic 3.73s vs F350 manual 4.10s. ~20k pounds of trailer weight, up the same grade in the same 100*+ weather on I-20.

The 4.10s win. If anyone is on the fence about it, take the jump and do it. IMO puts the truck in a much better power band at all times, with the only exception so far being unloaded 75mph+ cruising. I would really want 4.30s if towing 100% of the time based on the performance difference the 4.10s give. I don't tow super fast especially when I'm heavy so limiting my top end to somewhere in the 70s would be a good trade off for me.

The Ex is going to get getting them next, because it's getting set up to pull a 12k RV and to haul the family along with it. It doesn't do a lot of work other than towing/ hauling, so if I discover that the manual was the real difference I don't see any downsides. But I drove the manual to mimic the automatic pretty well, I intentionally didn't downshift early compared to the auto and even with the boost drop the higher revs kept it moving better. Tunes were Atlas 40/trans only in the F-250, and whatever passes for stock in the F350 via the Edge, unknown if any FICM tune or not but doubt it based on EGTs.

Somewhat on topic - has anyone done a TruTrac and towed a lot with it? I'm thinking that I would really like the traction aid over stock LS (if it's even working anymore). Ex won't see GCWR maxing loads like the trucks most likely, but a TruTrac/Detroit isn't out of the question for the truck either.