good for towing? street?

sonic blue l

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Ok this is what I've done, or am in the process of doing.

Ih pistons. (not coated, not cut). colt stage 2 cam. rcd push rods. Hamilton valve springs. port matched heads/ factory 6.4 exhaust manifolds. home ported /cut intake manifold. rcd intake elbo. 72mm rcd atmo turbo. stock high pressure (may do a bit of smoothing too it). Just canned h&s tunes, but I do have the mcc unlock. (just trying to decide who's tunes to go with). I do have stock head bolts, still thinking they should hold fine :)

Anyway, will this make a good truck for towing a 13,000 lb 5th wheel holiday trailer, 2nd will it be a nice fun drive to truck?

I was on the fence about the turbo, but from what I've read it should help lower my egt's while towing.

Thanks for any info/input.
 

ncollins64

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Yes it will tow well and yes it will be fun. Stock fuel? Gearhead tunes all the way and I'm curious but if your this far into it why not do studs? It's cheap insurance imo
 

sonic blue l

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stock fuel yes.

Studs were an idea, but honestly I want to try the way I tourque/ prep them and see if they hold. I was also paranoid about cracking the block. (probably the biggest reason) I've done some 6.4's with Spartan and stock bolts are still holding. (a few years back)

I have my 6.0l studded, I studded, ran a heat cycle, retorqued. Then about a year later got some bad fuel. replaced injectors and then rechecked the torque. There was some movement. With that said that was with lots of the old style lube. (never had the newer stuff when I did them). Now ive never had an issue, but on the other hand I did my dads 6.0l with stock bolts. He pulls a lot more weight, with lugging (hauling bales out of the field, etc) and he's never had an issue either. A 6.4 by design should be able to handle more, mind you id also be pushing more power, but I guess time will tell how it works out for me.\

What would be a realistic hp expectation?

Thanks
 
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sootie

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i would do regular arps and torque them in a fashion that doesnt crack the block. also-valve reliefs would be an outstanding idea...

Gearhead tunes for sure. Yes the truck will drive very stock like with the exception of a healthy bump in power.
 

sonic blue l

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I question the benefit of valve reliefs. The only real benefit would be extra valve room, however if your valve train is set up properly then I'd say one would be worse off with them.
Pro clearance. Negative, lower compression, sharp edges protruding into bowl, material removed from piston top (heat sink, flame travel, piston any weaker?, etc
Mind you I also think stock head bolts will be fine :)

So what rpm to gearheads tunes shift at? I can't figure oh why tuners like to rev them to 4g+ all the time. (6.0l and 6.4 performance tunes). Heads flowing crap, so why risk the extra margin of safety from a missed/slipped shift by upping the rpm so high?
Maybe that's why I don't believe in valve reliefs as if my shift points are not at 4,000 but closer to stock, I will have much more room for forgiveness if a shift or traction issue occurs.
 

sonic blue l

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Btw I'd ask gearhead but I still haven't got a response from them if their tow tune (mcc) can be used with tow haul. I also had issues with my. 6.0l tuning that was never addressed so I went elsewhere.

Everyone says gearhead, so I would like to use them, but past issues makes me a little concerned.
 

jcain

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Matt was always a pleasure to deal with. I only started doing my own tuning because my setup was changing so much and it was time for me to just do it myself.
 

6.4f350

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Nothing wrong with valve reliefs. I'm seeing and hearing more and more of these things coming apart with marks on the pistons from the valves kissing them. Seems to me like the stock rods have a tendency to stretch after a while. I wouldn't put one of these things together with factory head bolts unless that was the only option I had, that's just asking for problems.
 

sonic blue l

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Only ones I've seen hit valves had a reason. Example failed lifter, 4,000 rpm shifts taking out lifters. Cracked rod cap, failed rod bearing, failed piston pin.

Stock bolts will hold their own, with proper prep I'm sure most would be surprised what they will handle.

Mind you I also don't remove cabs to remove engines, so I'm probably far from the norm on how people do things or what they read on the net.
 

sootie

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I question the benefit of valve reliefs. The only real benefit would be extra valve room, however if your valve train is set up properly then I'd say one would be worse off with them.
Pro clearance. Negative, lower compression, sharp edges protruding into bowl, material removed from piston top (heat sink, flame travel, piston any weaker?, etc
Mind you I also think stock head bolts will be fine :)

So what rpm to gearheads tunes shift at? I can't figure oh why tuners like to rev them to 4g+ all the time. (6.0l and 6.4 performance tunes). Heads flowing crap, so why risk the extra margin of safety from a missed/slipped shift by upping the rpm so high?
Maybe that's why I don't believe in valve reliefs as if my shift points are not at 4,000 but closer to stock, I will have much more room for forgiveness if a shift or traction issue occurs.

dellipping the bowls allows the "torch" effect of the spray pattern hit a much thicker surface so it won't crack as easily

Btw I'd ask gearhead but I still haven't got a response from them if their tow tune (mcc) can be used with tow haul. I also had issues with my. 6.0l tuning that was never addressed so I went elsewhere.

Everyone says gearhead, so I would like to use them, but past issues makes me a little concerned.

no issues using tow/haul with gearhead tunes.

Only ones I've seen hit valves had a reason. Example failed lifter, 4,000 rpm shifts taking out lifters. Cracked rod cap, failed rod bearing, failed piston pin.

Stock bolts will hold their own, with proper prep I'm sure most would be surprised what they will handle.

Mind you I also don't remove cabs to remove engines, so I'm probably far from the norm on how people do things or what they read on the net.

i have had piston contact on stock motor just tuned as well as with an upgraded valvetrain and stage 1 cam. its better safe than sorry.

not too sure about rods streching. doesnt sound to feasible to me...
 

6.4f350

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not too sure about rods streching. doesnt sound to feasible to me...

Definitely feasible. Even though these engines are relatively low RPM, the stroke length means that the piston speed is still pretty high. With as tight as the stock tolerances are, it wouldn't take much out-of-specness for a valve to kiss a piston in a high RPM/back pressure situation.

I had a builder of many 6.0's and 6.4's tell me that he pulls stretched rods out all the time. That's why I put 8 new ones in mine even though it only needed one. I'm going to measure a few of my old ones and see how they look.
 
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sootie

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Are you suggesting that rods don't or can't stretch? Becuase they most certainly can and do...

i would love to see some proof as i have not personally seen t in a 6,4 application.
 

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