7.3 towing power

[superpsd]

There is the KC turbo KC38R as well which is what I would choose over the standard 38R

 

[psduser1]

Op said his trailer is 18k, at elevations to 9000 ft.
Personally, my fifth wheel camper is 14k, at any given altitude. When I'm not pulling that, my flat decks get loaded up to 18k around the house.
To edit, superpsd has a good point. That setup may be a good alternative.

 

[TyCorr]

I dont know. I listened to the conventional wisdom too long around here. Or psn rather. A 38r is too small. You need a 160/30 or 175/30 for towing. I have that too small 38r snd those waaay to big 200% nozzles for towing. The "stock" tune is now ~375rwhp and foot to the floor won't even hit 1100deg. I have a tow tune that says its not meant for "heavy" towing(8k or less) but i can still break the tires loose with a loaded trailer in that tune. For me personally, i could tow just fine all day long with a 38r, good hpop, and stock injectors with bills tunes @php. I would tow in the eace tune obviously but its really enough power to do 45 loaded on the eorst hills. It gets a bit warmer, 1300deg, but thats not the end of the world if its intermittent.

If this guy cant hold 30mph theres something amiss.

 

[psduser1]

You might be right, ty. On the other hand, how long since you've towed with no tunes? 7.3s suck, bone stock, and at 14k, up to 4500', mine was on its knees.
If he's going to 8k, with 18000 behind him, I could see 35 mph.
The pulls out west are definitely worse than anything the east side has to offer, at least on any major interstate.

 

[rjustman]

yeah i got down into 2nd gear on a few hills.. or 3rd if you count Low gear.. it was were the shifters said "2".. it was holding 35 mph but throttle was matted.. i hate towing like that.. if i have to slow down to keep egts, or coolant temp in check thats fine.. i dont mind taking it easy.. im a tow at 55-65 mph guy anyways i dont have to be the first in line with a big load behind me.. i tow conservatively..

so far im going to get me a few gauges,a full exhaust, an s&b intake and replace that icp sensor.. i found a forum member that has one used for 60 bucks.. think its worth it or should i just spree and buy the 200 dollar sensor and buy it brand new..

personally id rather keep the stock injectors. i dont mind taking them out and sending them off to say rosewood or something for a good cleaning and rebuilding but i dont neet a 500hp beast..maybe i do but as of now i need to keep things as cheap as possible.. the truck will be pulling this trailer alot this summber as my 6.0 is all torn down.

 

[cbf9703]

Worst I see being in the east and towing is hitting 6-10% grades for a few miles, but not the elevation.

175/146, WW2, intake/exhaust, tunes and I'm comfortably rolling 70+ on 35s with a loaded toy hauler behind me. I still fight some turbo surge, but it would just be depressing to go back to bone stock and pull the same load. I've pulled comparable loads in friend's trucks both completely stock and stock fuel with tunes.... Not for me even on flat ground. Even small upgrades can spoil you.

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[cjfarm111]

I leave out west in Montana and in here to tell you that a 38r and big injectors are not a good combo to tow with. Sure you can "tune" them to run cool but then you make no power. Pretty simple. I danced around with a 38r with different exhaust housings and it works best with the 1.00 housing and stock to stage one injectors. That's just my
Opinion. Yes it's easy to just drop in and is a tough little turbo but wasn't ideal for my
Application

 

[mandkole]

Even small upgrades can spoil you.

this is it, right here.

We're talking about a truck at 26-27K gvw and elevation. Big upgrades aren't really needed for a tow application. You need an efficient, responsive running 300hp truck. Keep the motor moving air with rpm, and youre good. For the brief amount of time Im on a big hill ,at elevation, with 10K+ lbs, 55-60 mph is fast enough.

 

[TyCorr]

You might be right, ty. On the other hand, how long since you've towed with no tunes? 7.3s suck, bone stock, and at 14k, up to 4500', mine was on its knees.
If he's going to 8k, with 18000 behind him, I could see 35 mph.
The pulls out west are definitely worse than anything the east side has to offer, at least on any major interstate.

Two summers ago. I helped the village i live in with a watermain break. I had just took the engine out of my truck, cleaned off the rust, inspected it for wear internally, fixed all the oil leaks, and tossed the motor back in. I had to run stock injectors because the srp puked its guts into my 175/80s. I put 225k mile stockers in. It had a fuel system, an srp 1.1 (before that one blew up), and a 38r. I only had one chip at the time and it had php tunes for the 175s. I had to tow a pulverizer, a bucket, and a small tractor (42hp john deere). The trailer loaded had to be 18k lbs. I found a single pos chip with a 40hp php tow tune in my toolbox. Stuck it in just for the trans tuning which was a twisted stg2. From La Moille to arlington its 7 miles and its all uphill. Gradual with sections of 6% grade.

I took off and floorboarded once out of town. It was still kinda quirky with air and oil in the exhaust. It had grey haze for a mile up the hill. You could hear it running better and better as the hpo ckeaned up. By mile two it was running 60mph flat to the floor at 900 degrees. I even sent Jake(lincolnlocker) pictures as we were trying to figure out why my egts were hot. Apparently it was so and so's stock tuning files (not php).

I had locked out od as the truck is on 35s and wants to run fast. This truck has akways been a freak though. My 03 was a 7.3 and with similar tuning it never could perform as well as the 00 did stock. The 99 and 00 trucks seem to have been the pinnacle of build quality.

I think with normal size tires and wheels i could do anything i needed to with a stock rig. You figure a new truck is only making the same rwhp as a tuned, healthy 7.3. Maybe not the 15+ superduty but all the others, yes. My stock 14 duramax didnt offer anything under 40 mph that the 7.3 couldnt do. At higher speeds the extra gears and double overdrive make operation more pleasant but those trucks still were grabbing gears to pass and such on high speed trips so its not all that different.

But you are correct, my hills still dont equal elevation so there us that. But a smaller turbo like the 38r would help, not hurt in that scenario.

 

[TyCorr]

Not exactly what you picture in a towing success story lol

 

[TyCorr]

this is it, right here.

We're talking about a truck at 26-27K gvw and elevation. Big upgrades aren't really needed for a tow application. You need an efficient, responsive running 300hp truck. Keep the motor moving air with rpm, and youre good. For the brief amount of time Im on a big hill ,at elevation, with 10K+ lbs, 55-60 mph is fast enough.

Yes. Precisely. And at that hp or slightly above is where my success at towing has occurred. Im plenty good with 60. Its too fast unless on a interstate type road. I run that high of a speed because with my gearing and 35s 3rd gear gets me into a strange spot for speed. It runs pretty hard in 3rd to do highway speed but 55 in od is a bad spot for me since putting a billet single plane wheel in my 38r. It needs more rpm (speed) in od or it gets hot. So i have to run 50 at decent rpms or 60-65 in od.

 

[psduser1]

Two summers ago. I helped the village i live in with a watermain break. I had just took the engine out of my truck, cleaned off the rust, inspected it for wear internally, fixed all the oil leaks, and tossed the motor back in. I had to run stock injectors because the srp puked its guts into my 175/80s. I put 225k mile stockers in. It had a fuel system, an srp 1.1 (before that one blew up), and a 38r. I only had one chip at the time and it had php tunes for the 175s. I had to tow a pulverizer, a bucket, and a small tractor (42hp john deere). The trailer loaded had to be 18k lbs. I found a single pos chip with a 40hp php tow tune in my toolbox. Stuck it in just for the trans tuning which was a twisted stg2. From La Moille to arlington its 7 miles and its all uphill. Gradual with sections of 6% grade.

I took off and floorboarded once out of town. It was still kinda quirky with air and oil in the exhaust. It had grey haze for a mile up the hill. You could hear it running better and better as the hpo ckeaned up. By mile two it was running 60mph flat to the floor at 900 degrees. I even sent Jake(lincolnlocker) pictures as we were trying to figure out why my egts were hot. Apparently it was so and so's stock tuning files (not php).

I had locked out od as the truck is on 35s and wants to run fast. This truck has akways been a freak though. My 03 was a 7.3 and with similar tuning it never could perform as well as the 00 did stock. The 99 and 00 trucks seem to have been the pinnacle of build quality.

I think with normal size tires and wheels i could do anything i needed to with a stock rig. You figure a new truck is only making the same rwhp as a tuned, healthy 7.3. Maybe not the 15+ superduty but all the others, yes. My stock 14 duramax didnt offer anything under 40 mph that the 7.3 couldnt do. At higher speeds the extra gears and double overdrive make operation more pleasant but those trucks still were grabbing gears to pass and such on high speed trips so its not all that different.

But you are correct, my hills still dont equal elevation so there us that. But a smaller turbo like the 38r would help, not hurt in that scenario.

I think we agree then?
My truck is 3.73s, on 34" tires, at 55 with a load, 5th gear is perfect. Sixth gear-od-will do it, but everything is much happier in the lower gear, higher rpm, scenario.
I'd do a 38r before any injector mods, assuming the stockers are reasonable.

 

[Bluke]

I would say it's also how you drive a 6 speed. You can run 3k all day long. Keep the rpms up. Keep them above 2k. Get an intake, exhaust, gauges, billet compressor wheel and good tunes. Do not upgrade the exhaust housing. You will be under the turbo quite a bit. Keep with the stock tire size.

I have have 160/100's, d66 turbo, 6 speed and 35" tires and it's kinda hot and laggy.

 

[rjustman]

i was in 4th gear all day long the other day cruising about 2500 rpms at 60mph.. so would you take a chance on the billet conversion piece i posted earlier for the 600 bucks to see how it performs before i dumped 1400 on a 38r.. im trying to keep costs down at the same time as make the truck perform a little better.. and it sounds like no one here has attempted it so it might be worth doing just to see what kind of a difference it does in fact make.. i can do the intake exhaust, and gauges then do the turbo conversion and do back to back comaprrisons..

 

[TyCorr]

I would say it's also how you drive a 6 speed. You can run 3k all day long. Keep the rpms up. Keep them above 2k. Get an intake, exhaust, gauges, billet compressor wheel and good tunes. Do not upgrade the exhaust housing. You will be under the turbo quite a bit. Keep with the stock tire size.

I have have 160/100's, d66 turbo, 6 speed and 35" tires and it's kinda hot and laggy.

It shouldnt be...barring a massive leak of boost your tuning stinks if that gets hot. Im gonna take a stab and say you are seeing 7ms of pw in some tunes.

 

[TyCorr]

i was in 4th gear all day long the other day cruising about 2500 rpms at 60mph.. so would you take a chance on the billet conversion piece i posted earlier for the 600 bucks to see how it performs before i dumped 1400 on a 38r.. im trying to keep costs down at the same time as make the truck perform a little better.. and it sounds like no one here has attempted it so it might be worth doing just to see what kind of a difference it does in fact make.. i can do the intake exhaust, and gauges then do the turbo conversion and do back to back comaprrisons..

I would not. Getting that far in and deciding it doesnt work now your 38r costs 2 grand.

 

[ja_cain]

My truck is completely stock and I recently installed a hydra with GH tunes and it is like a night and day difference. It tows so much better in the street furry tune (80 to 100hp). It never got over 1150 degrees on my trip back from Lynchburg and was able to maintain the speed limit with a loaded 7'x14' enclosed trailer in tow. I have leaky up pipes too, so it should be much better once I put the bellowed units on this summer. I would love to see someone try one of the kc turbos on a zf truck that tows heavy. It would be nice to have a higher flowing/quick spool option than the 38r that utilizes the stock mount.

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[lincolnlocker]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-99-5-2...ash=item1c5ce9a106:g:ol8AAOSwiwVWS~9w&vxp=mtr

Maybe something like this?? Or a local turbo builder said he would do it for 850 bucks and ****** the ebpv...

no.. stay away from fleabay. our vendors here offer better quality..

Intake, exhaust, and tuner. I would recommend Geer head or php tuning.
If that doesn't do it for you, the next easiest step is a 38r. That turbo will do anything you want to do in a towpig, and will support 400 hp pretty comfortably, other than the fact that it is significantly noisier than the jb 38.
There are "better" turbos available, but the drop in is cost effective.
After those steps would be injectors. Anything much bigger than stock will require some supporting mods.
As far as gauges, egt, boost are all that is "required". Fuel pressure will need to be checked under load, but you really shouldn't need to continually monitor it.:toast:
* you'll want to change your icp sensor with a ford sensor before anything else. Good info will keep the pcm happy!

exactly what he said^^^ agree 110%

You might be right, ty. On the other hand, how long since you've towed with no tunes? 7.3s suck, bone stock, and at 14k, up to 4500', mine was on its knees.
If he's going to 8k, with 18000 behind him, I could see 35 mph.
The pulls out west are definitely worse than anything the east side has to offer, at least on any major interstate.

those hills make or break a truck

yeah i got down into 2nd gear on a few hills.. or 3rd if you count Low gear.. it was were the shifters said "2".. it was holding 35 mph but throttle was matted.. i hate towing like that.. if i have to slow down to keep egts, or coolant temp in check thats fine.. i dont mind taking it easy.. im a tow at 55-65 mph guy anyways i dont have to be the first in line with a big load behind me.. i tow conservatively..

so far im going to get me a few gauges,a full exhaust, an s&b intake and replace that icp sensor.. i found a forum member that has one used for 60 bucks.. think its worth it or should i just spree and buy the 200 dollar sensor and buy it brand new..

personally id rather keep the stock injectors. i dont mind taking them out and sending them off to say rosewood or something for a good cleaning and rebuilding but i dont neet a 500hp beast..maybe i do but as of now i need to keep things as cheap as possible.. the truck will be pulling this trailer alot this summber as my 6.0 is all torn down.

do not get a highflow cone air filter kit.. just get a donaldson/wix/napa/6637 air filter and about 6 inches of 4" exhaust pipe and plumb it into the stock intake boot.. or search tymar intakes

live life full throttle

god bless america and the farmer who feeds your fat ass

 

[Jason]

I used to tow in Matt's street muscle tune all the time. 24' enclosed with a car in it, and the truck had 35's on it, 2002 ccsb as seen in my avatar. Got 13.66mpg hand calculated on a trip back from Santa Fe NM to Central Texas, running 68-70mph, which turned like 1750rpm, it wouldn't downshift on small hills, or in a headwind, and had no issue with passes in New Mexico (6k ish ft).

 

[TyCorr]

I used to tow in Matt's street muscle tune all the time. 24' enclosed with a car in it, and the truck had 35's on it, 2002 ccsb as seen in my avatar. Got 13.66mpg hand calculated on a trip back from Santa Fe NM to Central Texas, running 68-70mph, which turned like 1750rpm, it wouldn't downshift on small hills, or in a headwind, and had no issue with passes in New Mexico (6k ish ft).

Perfect...