Hey can anyone help:

I have an 02 F250 7.3L which I have installed;

4" suspention lift
315 Mickey T's
K&N Air Filter

I will be towing a 10K 5th wheel this summer and I would like to know if I am going to run into problems. I live in Colorado so I will be towing in the mountains.

I did take it into the dealer to adjust the computer by re-programming the computer for the larger tire diameter. I did notice some improvement but they would only get as close as possible to adjusting for the increased tire size.

Questions:

What should I do first?
1. Swap to a 5" exhaust
2. Replace the chip
3. Get a super tuner to adjust for tire size and shifting
4. Change out my gearing

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers

 

well, to be honest with you, I dont think your going to like towing with the lift. I had a 6 inch on my 1 ton, and when I put 12000 on it, it tended to sway REAL bad from the added height. I put mine back to stock. Sure it doesnt look quite as nice, but it does more. Just my .o2

 

Hey,

Thanks for the response.

What were you towing? How fast were you going when you noticed the trailer sway.

I live in colorado where we do get some high winds but, most of all I have found if I stay at the speed limit 65 I don't have any problems towing.

I was towing a 25' wilderness trailer which weighed about 6K wet. I definitely notice some performance issues traveling on some of our passes but over all it wasn't to bad.

I am really going to be bummed if I have to lose my current setup It took forever to get me here.

 

I have a f350 that I pull excavators,bull doziers,and chippers and loaders,im also lifted 4 inchs with 35's but I reprogrammed it to add 80hp extra and it was a night and day difference.I just came back from michigan and canada pulling a 12 ton trailer with a 60'foot altec boom loaded on it.Came thru the scales weighing just under 22 thousand pounds(yes I was over weight)oops.But My truck had no problems hitting 80,had to take a second look at the fox that just passed me.
So just give it more power and go have fun camping just remember towing need more stopping time.Thats the only thing that I truley noticed was braking,so make sure your trailer has working brakes My trailer has 8 wheels 8 brakes and a top of the line brake controler not el cheapie version.Your towing in mountains!!
Later

 

Thanks hotrodn439,

What programmer did you use or did you chip it?

I've been towing trailers for a number of years but, on a smaller scale. I had read a few different posts telling me that I would trash my tranny towing with such large tires. I just didn't want to trash my baby. She more reliable than a good woman. Ha Ha ----- But , not as much fun to play with at night.


Thanks

 

1. 4 or 5 inch will surely help with your egts. You do have gauges to monitor your egt's don't you?
2. So you already have a chip? What is it?
3. There are no tuners that I know of that will adjust speedo for tire size.(for the PSDs)
4. What gears do you have now? Should be fine with something around 4.10s

Need a little more info.
Mike

 

I used a superchip tuner,there is a newer version out by them nowit can even give you an extra 110 hp you wolnt need that for towing,i use the 80hp program
and have had no problems towing,which I do evey other day with one of my machines plus I travel out of town alot towing an enclosed trailer with my race gear and race bikes no problems on my trans yet 66,000 miles later.That tuner I think no can program in for tires but no sure.The safe tow program give you an extra 50 ponies which will probally be best for you! I use the extra cause I tow heavier stuff,I just take off nice and slowI just like the extra for while im already moving,plus I like smokin some cars when Im not towing!!

 

Thanks for the information:

1. I do not have any gauges yet. I just priced some out ouch. They want $400 clams for a l piller and 2 gauges (Turbo, exhaust)

2. No chip, just factory setup except I brought it in to a ford dealer to adjust my computer for new tire size. They said they ford will only allow them to adust to a certain point. IE rev per mile i need it to be 601 but they could only go down to 625. It did make an improvement but my mileage still sucks. It dropped from 16 to 17 mpg to about 10 mpg.

3. On tuners I thought I read that the hypertech III or predator will adjust for new tire configs?

4. I believe my gears are 410 but AI'll have to check and get back to ya.


Hope this helps.

 

Is the 10K with everything or just the trailer weight. Found after my wife got done she added about 1500 lb to the trailer. While in the mountains just watch your temp gauges especially on 6% long grades.

 

Tonkone,
Gauges can get expensive depending on what you get, but IMO it is a small price to pay for piece of mind. For example, I didn't have gauges when traveling from OK back home to UT. Tranny was burning up. Felt hot through the floorboard, but I didn't know how bad it really was until it stopped shifting on me. Then I was out an entire rebuild. That was how I got my wife to buy off on the expense. A couple of hundred bucks for the gauges vs a couple of thousand for the tranny.
They are absolutely essential if you will be towing a large load through the mountains of CO. Especially if you decide on getting a tuner. There is no way I would tow while chipped/tuned without them. Things can get real hot in a hurry.
Now that we've determined you need gauges, you have a few options. You can go expensive like the Edge Juice w/attitude. About $700. This will read your EGTs and boost, but no tranny (if its an auto you'll want a tranny gauge). Plus it will tune your truck (don't know power levels offhand). Next you can go with a set of gauges in a pillar mount. I spent about $300 on mine. VDO gauges from egauges.com with everything (pod, wiring, all brackets and sensors). So far it seems like a pretty good setup. There are less expensive and far more expensive setups out there but that is for you to decide. If I were to do it again I'd probably go with Isspro gauges from motorhaven.com. About the same price but I like the looks of the Isspro gauges better.
Tuners. Well I don't know much about the Predator (they don't make one for the OBS trucks) but I have heard it is a great tuner, their site isn't clear on tire/gear changes. I have heard stories of the Hypertech tuners and putting out high EGTs but that is purely hearsay. Their website does state that it will correct for tires/gears.
One thing that stood out in your last post is that you went from 16-17mpg to 10mpg? How are you calculating? The overhead consoles in the SDs are notorious for giving false readings. If possible go for the old tried and true miles divided by gallons. Just be sure to fill up completely, diesel sure tends to foam especially the blended fuels.
Good luck, and get those gauges
Mike

 

Trailer weights 7900 dry. I believe max weight is 10 or 11K I can't see going over that except for huntig season, hauling back a few cow elk.

I try to take it easy when pulling up our mountain passes I have already burnt up one tranny on a chevy.

Thanks for the input

Cheers

 

I agree with your idea on guages I feel they are a necessity and I am get them. I wil check out the gauges you reffered.

I check my mileage when I fillup. I reset the odometer an only got about 335 miles to the tank. I can probably squeeze afew more miles but not much. I am currently going to replace my fuel filter to eliminate that as a potential problem.

Qouestion: Are the guages hard to install?

 

They're not too bad to do, just have to take your time. Measure twice, cut once. You know the drill. The most nervewracking part was drilling/tapping into my exhaust manifold for the thermocouple.
Once you get the gauges ask lots of questions.
Mike

 

hey guys just some fyi here.

i found out the other day that in nc if your trailer has a gvwr of 10,001lbs or more you need a class a license. also you need to document the previous 6 days of driving in a log book.(all you have to put down is local driving with out trailer.) and the day that you are pulling you have to run the log book. also you have to go though the weigh stations. it might be diffrent in other states but i thought i would put the word in your ear. i talked to the dmv and this is what they told me along with some more info.

 

wonder if they are getting confused with a CDL class A, the way I understand it if it is for private use just a regular lisc. is needed. Should say travel trailer when talking to them. I have a CDL class A.