I just purchased a 2003 F250 5.4L supercab 4x4. The truck has 108,000 miles and we just went on our first trip pulling a 8,000 lb camper. I had to climb a hill for about two miles that had a 8% grade. The truck got down to 40 mph and the temp gauge on the transmision got into the yellow. I had to back out of the gas to let the temp cool. My question is should I have gotten a Diesel 7.3L? Should the temp on the transmision raised into the yellow? Thanks

 

Was the T/c unlocked and the trans floating between gears? My 5.4 isn't a mountain climber, I had some trouble going through GA. However, now that I have 4.56 gears to offset my 35" tires, it pulls much better.

Depending on your setup, you may consider a valve body/shift kit, gears, or more cooling. Programming might help as well.

 

mkjohnson,

Welcome to FTE! You can learn a lot about your SD and meet some good people.

As for what you should have bought, looks like you already made that decison. Like
ReAx said, there are some things he mentioned that will improve your pulling performance.
However, the 7.3 would have been a better choice for the conditions
you mentioned.

Good luck,

 

Thank for the information. I don't mean to sound stupid, What do you mean when you say a valve body/shift kit? What mods can you suggest to increase the proformance? Thanks

 

do a search online "factory tech valve body ford superduty" truckin magazine has a write up and there is a lot of other info on the parts and costs needed to fix the problem.
2001 Ford F250 Super Duty - Transmission Upgrade How To - Truckin' Magazine

 

A Torqshift tranny cooler will help too.

 

There are several different ways to do a shift kit/valve body mod. Companies like Transgo sell the parts in a box and you modify your valve body. Then companies like Factory Tech who sell pre-modded valve bodies. Basically what both of these do is increase the pressure going to the clutches and makes the shifts faster and stronger. Fast/strong shifts reduce the time the clutches get to grind, which keeps the trans cooler.

For what your doing, Gears, valve body and tuner would be my suggestions. You can do them all if you like, CAI, exhaust, Tuner, gears, valvebody, alloy driveshafts, new torque converter, supercharger.

I am at the driveshaft and t/c point. The Driveshafts I am looking at are from Dynatech. I've used their MMX tubes in the past, replacing a stock 54" driveshaft which weighed 33lbs with their MMX shaft which weighed 17lbs. I think dropping 20lbs of rotating weight without loosing much if any strength will help with acceleration. The stall point of the stock t/c is rather low, bumping it up to 2500-2800 rpms would make a significant improvement in the amount of power available when the truck takes off.

I want to do a screw type supercharger, but I can't swing the 6 grand until after I'm paid off.

all of this can be done and will help your power.

 

Where can you puchase items to upgrade the proformance of my F250? I was told that the programmer would only give me 10 more horsepower. What type of transmition cooler do I need to add to the existing one? Thanks

 

A programmer alone with a canned tune will be good for about 10hp. However with supporting mods and a truely custom tune, you can see a lot more. The best result I've read is Sniper Tuning's 60 hp tune on a stock mustang.

I like to suggest local mom & pop dealers, because I used to work for one. There are plenty of places online to pick up any of these items. Factory tech sells direct from their website. K&N can be had almost anywhere. Gears are probably best bought from the person doing the install unless you have a great source, they make their money on the install and not as much on the parts. Pretty much any cooler in addition to the stock should help, I like derale and b&m.

 

You might want to look at the possible overheating problem first. After a few yars of operation it is likely that the radiator, transmission cooler and AC cooler fins have some debris in them.

Cleaning the coolers might fix the overheating problem with no other modifications needed. Your truck should not run hot even when pulling an 8K load. The F-250 was designed to be a heavy hauler without having to modify it.

Lou Braun