I have an '06 with stock bolts, turbo, exhaust. I do have an EGT gauge tied into the driver's side manifold.

I'll have the FICM out in the near future for oil rail work. I've been considering having it reworked and adding the Atlas 40 while out.

I do tow a 7.5-8K TT with the truck. My tows are in East Texas so I'm not pulling massive grades for minutes at a time.

All the searching I've done leads me to believe it won't be much of an issue. The only caveat to that appears to be most folks are running some sort of modified exhaust, and maybe a modified kitty.

Can anybody running a stock setup towing at or more than my TT with the Atlas 40 comment on their experience?

 

Before I did exhaust, etc., I towed a 8k lb travel trailer with a H&S tow tune. Similar added power to the Atlas 40 FICM tune. EGT's got up there pulling up a mountain pass but were good otherwise. I've since got turbo back flo-pro, Atlas 40 and custom SCT tunes. EGT's stay quite a bit lower and are safe. I'd give a try and just watch your EGT's. I know it wasn't the exact situation but similar. My guess is you'll be wanting to put an exhaust on.

 

I went with the FICM economy tune & Tony Wildman tow tune combination (and 4" exhaust). I didn't want to worry about watching EGT's. Has worked well for us pulling a 39' 5th wheel in the Black Hills and to Colorado.

 

I have Ed's Atlas 40 FICM and stock exhaust. I tow a 7000lb TT. (32 ft.)
Highest EGT so far touched 1200, but that was climbing mountains in Arkansas. I'm not far from you in NW LA so similar terrain.

​​​​​​​You should be fine... just mind your EGT guage.

 

Almost forgot, Circuit Board Medics lent me a FICM tuner so I could test the various FICM tunes out before purchasing and sending my FICM out. I did have to pay to ship it back and forth but it was worth it for me. I got to try all of the FICM tunes with my SCT tunes and T Wildman tunes before deciding on my purchase. So I knew what I was getting.

 

I've done up to 10k+ with the Atlas 40 on flat ground and EGT wasn't an issue with the stock exhaust, but I wouldn't want to do that on the regular. My TT is only 5k but I don't even get close to touching 1250* driving like a sane person pulling a trailer. If I was checking 0-60 times with the trailer on I could make it an issue.

A trans-tune makes a big difference also, an aggressive tow/haul will downshift and flow a lot more air and help keep EGTs down.

 

I have 15k miles towing a 10k lb 5th wheel with Atlas 40 and tunes, no issues. EGT's run 8-900 on the flats and no problem keeping them in 1200-1250 range in the hills. Tow tunes were canned and PHP 60hp Tow. Stock bolts and 200k miles.

 

You should be fine. East Texas is the BEST for driving, I miss I-20 all the time

 

Thanks for feedback, this helps confirms what I was generally thinking.

 

There's still plenty of room for you to come back

 

sorry, wrong thread

 

The Atlas 40 does a great job of waking these trucks back up after Ford took their ***** away all those years ago.

If you're towing heavy, a good trans tune with what I'd use in conjunction with the Atlas 40 will keep things cool and manageable. Depending on the load, I use Matt's Unlimited tow which is stock with a modified shift strategy rolled back to the first strategy available for my truck VXDA1M2 (at my request). The tow/haul is much more aggressive and does a better job than the latest and ever so lazy VXDB1MZ.

Bottom line you'll be happy with the Atlas 40, just help your truck breathe in better.

 

Thanks for heads up on tow tunes. I'm in the market for a stealth delete so I'll need the SCT to kill the CEL anyway. Good time to a add a tow tune. And since I'm not interested in dropping the coin into studs just yet, it seems like a FICM plus tow tune is the best combo to squeeze out some ponies while minimizing head bolt risk.