Need Some More Power! How To Increase Towing Capacity for 5th Wheel

[double t]

I done the anarchy efi live route all that crap fell off my truck when I hit a bump replaced with a 5 inch turbo back straight pipe flo pro exhaust system. I never run anything but the stock settings man it sure woke that 6.7 up

[road dogs]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

road dogs - what elevation are you starting at when you make those 12,000' passes? I know it is not sea level.

I live at sea level-actually about 200', but regularly pull the Million Dollar Hwy, lotsa times (it's uphill both ways by the way), the Ike, Monarch, Hoosier and some others I don't recall. We also have a few local 8%-9% grades, one on the way to our favorite RV park. I downshift to keep EGTs below 1200 and temps under 215. So far it's worked well for me....

[Harry043]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

I have a 2007 3500 with the 5.9L and tow a 14K 5th wheel....never needed more power and we spent 7 yrs FTng traveling every week all over the USA
Your 2008 2500 with that 6.7L is NOT lacking for power
Sit back relax and enjoy the trip

I agree!!! I had a 2006 5.9 and I was pulling a 38 foot Open Range 5er that weighed in at around 14,000lbs and I pulled it all over the country with ease. That is a great motor, watch your tranny temps. I have a 2012 3500 now, pulling a heavier Cedar Creek, again, this 6.7 Cummins pulls it effortlessly, I put 2 transmission coolers on it, keeps the temps down below 180 when towing no matter what!

[cekkk]

Hello - he's only pulling 10k! With a Ram diesel!

[hipower65]

For many years the rule of thumb for EGT's was 1200 degrees with the temperature probe ahead of the turbo and 900 degrees after the turbo.

That has been pushed beyond 1200 in recent years due to the emissions treatment systems. While the time over the 1200 degree threshold is short the results that some folks are seeing is broken exhaust manifold bolts and/or cracked exhaust manifolds.

This trend seems to be more apparent in the heavier trucks than our RV towing pickup trucks, but the lighter/smaller vehicles aren't immune from these problems.

My thoughts and experiences don't address the OP's question, and I apologize for wandering off topic.

[Florida Rang]

The best way to get more power is to sell your 5th wheel and get a 45ft Prevost class A motorhome with a 600HP Cummings. Then you can go up any hill anywhere you want to go. Keep your truck and tow it behind your Prevost. Problem solved......( It is only money )

[picker]

Originally Posted by consolenut

your in an rv. whats the hurry. gear down and pull enjoy the ride.

Agree, completely.


Saves wear and tear on both the truck and the nerves.

[stanleyz]

With an 08 truck you have a DPF. You can delete the DPF and tune the truck. Just look on line for tuning and deleting. Now. Know this. Once deleted and tuned do not tow up any mountains with plus horse power tunes. Tow heavy stuff in stock only. I learned this the hard way. Blew head gasket on mount eagle tn. Cost me 5000 bucks. Good luck.

[StageCoachDr]

Listen to REDHOOKER!


If you boost your engine power and do nothing about your cooling systems (trans and engine), your torque converter, drive shaft, rear-end, fuel pump and injectors, one or more of them will fail. That's the expensive lesson every hot-rodder learns eventually.



The engineering of your power plant and everything it touches is an exact engineering balance. The manufacturer is not going to over engineer any part of the drive train to stand up under more load than it was designed to handle.

[Mtn. Lion]

Reduce the amount of weight you need to tow. Free HP.

[Btipton]

We are full-time RVers and tow a 15k fiver with a 2010 Dodge 3500 DRW. We installed a RaceMe Ultra at around 85k miles due to constant “DPF 80% Full” messages on the EVIC. We tow at stock settings as we don’t feel we need the added HP and torque. As already stated, EGT is a major limiting factor.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Btipton

We are full-time RVers and tow a 15k fiver with a 2010 Dodge 3500 DRW. We installed a RaceMe Ultra at around 85k miles due to constant “DPF 80% Full” messages on the EVIC. We tow at stock settings as we don’t feel we need the added HP and torque. As already stated, EGT is a major limiting factor.

If towing at STOCK settings.......why the RaceMe Ultra?
What does it do?

[Mark 7]

We just got back from a trip thru the Black Hills of SD and I weighed my latchup on the way out there to be sure that I was OK on weight with my new "Blow Max" - "China Bomb" tires many here scared me about after I bought them .

I was just over 21,000 '98 Dodge 2500 and Montana 3295RK and I pulled it about 1200 miles... about 1/2 of it in some pretty good hills (not mountains).

I do have larger injectors installed in the 24 valve Cummins, and a TST Power Max box installed. I normally tow with it set on "2", but occasionally I would bump it up to "5" on some of the longer pulls. I don't like to slow down, especially if there is a Duramax or a Power Stroke in sight somewhere

The "9" setting makes some cool black smoke, and has insane torque, but EGT's hit the limit and it likely not good for anything in the drive train.

The setup works well for my needs, and will pull anything so long as I don't mind buying the fuel!

BTW... on the way home it was 95˚ and I was running about 65 MPH on asphalt roads. I stopped for fuel and my tires were pretty toasty. The hottest set was the rear of the pickup, but I was maxed out on them so that did not surprise me. I looked online searching RV tire temps while I was fueling and that put my mind at ease quite a bit. Many sources said tire temps could easily get to 150˚ bot not to worry until they get closer to 180˚. Mine were all close to 120˚. I made it back home with my truck tires, and the "China Bombs" on the Montana in tact! Whew!

[Kurtsara]

Originally Posted by Oversoul

So, how much more power do those gauges give you anyways??????

Who? Did the op say he had gauges?