towing in 250 or 275 tunes

zabeard · Jun 27, 2011

I read all the time of guys towing in these tunes. My truck just doesnt seem to do it. Most of the time its just short trips 10-15 miles and I dont want to change to the 210. If I dont change then i get horrible bucking/jerking where I have to let clear out then get back into it. Anywhere from 4000lbs to 10000lbs i get the same result.

Traction bars help? Is it transmission? Or maybe its nothing I can control. I dont mind changing the tune its just i have to plan ahead to do it. Right now I seem to be towing every weekend or doing something so I leave it in the 210 tow or 210 perf tunes so I am safe if something comes up. But dang I love driving the 275 and the early lockup.

Advice? Or just change the tunes. lol

jdgleason · Jun 27, 2011

Traction bars will help, but its really just the throttle sensitivity with the bigger tunes

zabeard · Jun 27, 2011

jdgleason said:
Traction bars will help, but its really just the throttle sensitivity with the bigger tunes

yea that is what it feels like to me. I hit a bump them blurp the throttle a bit and then it starts bucking.

maybe my driving skills arent as good as other...

jdgleason · Jun 27, 2011

Lol I know that no one I know can drive my truck smooth either haha. Id say trac bars and adjust your pedals so you can control your foot as best you can

superstroked · Jun 27, 2011

I pull my boat with the 275 tune...The boat and trailer are about 4500lbs...There is that tricky range between 1800 and 2000 prms that the throttle seems to be a little touchy but, I like how smooth it is when letting off of the throttle.

zabeard · Jun 27, 2011

jdgleason said:
Lol I know that no one I know can drive my truck smooth either haha. Id say trac bars and adjust your pedals so you can control your foot as best you can

lol, pretty much the same here. i laugh when its in the 275 tune and someone trys to move it and it bucks around on them. haha they almost seem half afraid to drive it.

anyway i may try some traction bars. I could probably make some for less than 100.

zabeard · Jun 27, 2011

superstroked said:
I pull my boat with the 275 tune...The boat and trailer are about 4500lbs...There is that tricky range between 1800 and 2000 prms that the throttle seems to be a little touchy but, I like how smooth it is when letting off of the throttle.

yes that is the exact range that i have problems with! i just wanted to make sure it wasnt just me. haha

sounds like a common thing.

Erikclaw · Jun 27, 2011

My truck does the same when I tried to tow with Eric's tunes. It was in ex race and would buck like a wild man. Have to run street, but then it can occur.

jdgleason · Jun 27, 2011

zabeard said:
lol, pretty much the same here. i laugh when its in the 275 tune and someone trys to move it and it bucks around on them. haha they almost seem half afraid to drive it.

anyway i may try some traction bars. I could probably make some for less than 100.

Id be surprised if you can get the material for less than a couple hundred bucks.... youll need several feet of thick wall stuff. Plus then powdercoat and heims or bushings. They arent cheap to make either. Thats the only reason I decided to buy some

zabeard · Jun 27, 2011

jdgleason said:
Id be surprised if you can get the material for less than a couple hundred bucks.... youll need several feet of thick wall stuff. Plus then powdercoat and heims or bushings. They arent cheap to make either. Thats the only reason I decided to buy some

Well I have 2"OD X .25" wall 1020 DOM at home on the steel rack and a plasma cutter for the brackets. I should have some 3/4" heims too. So I could do it, its just if I want to spend the time on it. ha. I really just want to buy the OUO or PMF bars but I probably wont.

jdgleason · Jun 27, 2011

Lol well if you have the stuff let er rip! Lol I just know that stuff isnt cheap. If ya do... make a build thread on it!

Dzchey21 · Jun 27, 2011

yeah building them is nice because you can do them how you want, but you really dont save a ton of money unless you get the materials for free, or next to free. I built mine, probably wont do that again lol.

As far as the towing with the older spartan stuff i had good luck on the 275, not the 310, just too touchy even with the bars.

jdgleason · Jun 27, 2011

Ya... I think I will end up going with OUO's adjustables for just that reason

David S. · Jun 27, 2011

I towed today with the 275 and I know exactly what your talking about. It's touchy but I learned to manage somehow pulling 249 wooden pallets behind me

zabeard · Jun 28, 2011

jdgleason said:
Lol well if you have the stuff let er rip! Lol I just know that stuff isnt cheap. If ya do... make a build thread on it!

Ill see what I can do. Just like you said though, even if I have half the parts I really dont save any money on it.

BFT · Jun 28, 2011

I pulled with the 275 when I was testing the water kit from AEM but kept blowing boots, so I don't have a for sure answer on that one.

The 250 tows nice but the converter lock leaves something to be desired

Mpoage · Jun 28, 2011

I towed with my buddies 6.4 several times on 275. I had problems keeping it from bucking but I finally just decided to set the cruise at about 35 then hold down the accel button till I got to the speed I needed to be at.

SunsetFarms9530 · Aug 26, 2011

I pulled a gooseneck 450 miles yesterday on Spartans 210 tow performance and I thought and told that it was the best tune when pulling anything and being on the farm I just leave it on that tune most of the time. I have had problems with the 250 tune jerking and bucking like you say and couldnt get over 30 mph. I had to drop it into 3rd to make it up any hill. As for yesterdays trip the 210 tp did the samething when I first started back out on the road and I couldnt get it over 30-35 mph and was manually shifting it into 3rd again to make it up any hill. Finally after about 20-25 miles or so of this happening I just hammered down and I dont know what happened but it finally smothed out and I was running 60-65mph just fine. The only gear that was rough was 3rd gear, it would jerk and buck abotu 4-5 times and then smooth out once I got back into the throttle. I dont know it if is something with Spartan or running the high tune but I am tempted to turn it down to the 150 and see what that does, if backing off the added horsepower will smooth the truck out when towing.

BFT · Aug 26, 2011

SunsetFarms9530 said:
I pulled a gooseneck 450 miles yesterday on Spartans 210 tow performance and I thought and told that it was the best tune when pulling anything and being on the farm I just leave it on that tune most of the time. I have had problems with the 250 tune jerking and bucking like you say and couldnt get over 30 mph. I had to drop it into 3rd to make it up any hill. As for yesterdays trip the 210 tp did the samething when I first started back out on the road and I couldnt get it over 30-35 mph and was manually shifting it into 3rd again to make it up any hill. Finally after about 20-25 miles or so of this happening I just hammered down and I dont know what happened but it finally smothed out and I was running 60-65mph just fine. The only gear that was rough was 3rd gear, it would jerk and buck abotu 4-5 times and then smooth out once I got back into the throttle. I dont know it if is something with Spartan or running the high tune but I am tempted to turn it down to the 150 and see what that does, if backing off the added horsepower will smooth the truck out when towing.

How heavy are you towing? I have never had it that bad and my loads are between 10-15k

Clay · Aug 26, 2011

zabeard said:
Well I have 2"OD X .25" wall 1020 DOM at home on the steel rack and a plasma cutter for the brackets. I should have some 3/4" heims too. So I could do it, its just if I want to spend the time on it. ha. I really just want to buy the OUO or PMF bars but I probably wont.

I got the PMF track bars and they are great. 800 bucks I think with 4" lift blocks.