Community Forums

hjsdds · 03-23-2014, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

..........
So, am I screwed or can I just crawl along at my own pace?

I like your "fatalism" get used to it. I had an MDT with that engine.

Downhill or on flats (after long acceleration) I could reach (eventually) respectable 75 and even 80 MPH. Uphill with that 36 footer (12,500 lbs) fifth I could "maintain" respectable 45 (small rise), 35 (steeper rise) 25-30 (really steep rise). Amish buggies speed. Brakes were good though.
The newer pickups are better (engines, trannies, "car like" feel and appointments), but with those improvements the pickup companies acquired licence to BS and lie, right, it will pull a shuttle and stop an airplane.
Yeah, you can pull pretty much anything with a pickup, just don't expect to go fast up hill and have a supply of Depends for those long downhills when you smoke the brakes on the fifth and the truck.

hjs

delmarrey · 03-23-2014, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjsdds

I like your "fatalism" get used to it. I had an MDT with that engine.

Well, I did think it was destiny when I found the truck. Now I'm wondering if it was a curse.

caissiel · 03-23-2014, 09:42 PM

Use and grin like my neighbor does.
He was offered as much as he paid for it 7 years ago.
No modes but a Banks puck that he asked me what was the safe limits.
I told him to just set it and watch the exhaust temperature.

Goneracin · 03-24-2014, 05:46 AM

No way was it a curse, there is a reason why the 7.3 holds its value so well. It is a quality solid engine, and with a few tweaks it will tow just fine. I think you will end up saving money in the long run.

hjsdds · 03-24-2014, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Well, I did think it was destiny when I found the truck. Now I'm wondering if it was a curse.

delmarrey, it's not a curse, it is what it is. As I said in the post above you can pull anything with a pickup, just expect to go slow up the hill and braking is going to be an issue going down.
Small diesels (6-7 liters) or any diesel for that matter, have a good starting torque. Combine it with a low gear (first) and you can pull a mountain, or that famous picture of moving a shuttle. What the glowing brochures from Detroit don't tell is that this 400 HP 800 ft-lb rating out of their 7 liter is at very high RPM and very narrow peak range that last about 10 seconds in real driving. On either side of that peak things poop out pretty quickly particularly as you start going up hill and the engine RPMs slow down and you discover that this gorgeous truck with leather seats, car like feel and look on which you spent your kids college fund turns into a dog or a pig going up the hill.
You want to go fast up the hill with a 16K or a 18K fifth you need displacement, something with 9 liters, or 11 liters, or 12 liters. Engines you will not find in a pickup, ever.
And all the accessories you can buy for those 7 liters, Banks, chips, turbos, etc, are basically fancy lipsticks you are putting on a pig. You can marginally improve the performance of that 7 liter (on the flat) and do very little for up hill performance and spend thousands of dollars on those sugar coatings to make yourself "fell good", or "feel better".

hjs

caissiel · 03-24-2014, 08:33 AM

I pass most semis on the hills with a grin. And just use a programmer. Never towed without it for 7 years.
Use to do it with a 2.9L Ranger with just modified exhaust towing a 5600 lbs trailer.
So yes we can do it just need to use patience like the big ones do. After all its not a race.

jauguston · 03-24-2014, 09:15 AM

hjs,

Your statement that you have to have massive cubic inch displacement to have real pulling power seems odd. My motorhome has a 350hp Cat C-7 engine that will pull hills like they are not even there at 2200 rpm. Its 7.2L. I weight 33,000 lbs.

delmarrey · 03-24-2014, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caissiel

I pass most semis on the hills with a grin. And just use a programmer. Never towed without it for 7 years.
Use to do it with a 2.9L Ranger with just modified exhaust towing a 5600 lbs trailer.
So yes we can do it just need to use patience like the big ones do. After all its not a race.

So which program/chip are you using? I'd like to have more info on systems before making the expenditure.

hjsdds · 03-24-2014, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauguston

hjs,

Your statement that you have to have massive cubic inch displacement to have real pulling power seems odd. My motorhome has a 350hp Cat C-7 engine that will pull hills like they are not even there at 2200 rpm. Its 7.2L. I weight 33,000 lbs.

I'm assuming you have an Allison, does it stay in 6th or does it drop one or two gears. I've driven MDTs and motorhomes with C-7, my experience was that if the hills were there you knew it, unless you got a good "run up" going before hand.
Going back to the 60s and the days of Hemis, 427s, 450s everyone knew that the displacement was the king, the torque was the queen and horsepower rating (by the manufacturer) was a court jester.
I know what 7 liter diesel is capable off, I had two of them, I also know what 14 liter with 1,650 ft-lb of torque can do I have one of those too.

It can pull 47,000 pounds (CAT scale verified) up hill in 10th gear overdrive and accelerate in 10th gear uphill, if I want to waste some diesel. And if a guy in a pickup passes me uphill, that's only because I let him.

hjs

delmarrey · 03-24-2014, 01:10 PM

I'm not sure the Ole Lady would want to ride in a behemoth.

Maybe if I install a water cooled exhaust like on my boat I could keep the EGT down enough to pull the hills?

And the tranny too.

hjsdds · 03-24-2014, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

I'm not sure the Ole Lady would want to ride in a behemoth.

Maybe if I install a water cooled exhaust like on my boat I could keep the EGT down enough to pull the hills?

And the tranny too.

Have your Ole Lady hook up with my Ole Lady,

she started a "club" named RDBE (Rigs Driven By Estrogen) and teaches other women to drive the "behemoths".
She has driven and pulled everything we owned from pickups,

to MDTs to "behemoth". Note who is pulling and who is napping, that's trust! Picture taken around 1984, second RV puling pickup we owned, there were two others after that, so I'm not ignorant about what can be done with pickups.

hjs

caissiel · 03-24-2014, 11:13 PM

The banks puck has the exhaust gauge option.
I have been using the Hypertech Max Power and been towing without the exhaust gauge the last 4 years.
Never observed any problem for the first 3 years with the gauge before it broke down. Started with level 1 then 2 and now 3. Fuel mileage gain is great while being able to keep the turbo pressure down.
Hypertech is a programmer designed to protect the truck while towing. Not very popular among Ford/ SCT fans but been great for me.

It can add up to 100 HP to the 99 7.3L.

delmarrey · 03-25-2014, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caissiel

The banks puck has the exhaust gauge option.
I have been using the Hypertech Max Power and been towing without the exhaust gauge the last 4 years.
Never observed any problem for the first 3 years with the gauge before it broke down. Started with level 1 then 2 and now 3. Fuel mileage gain is great while being able to keep the turbo pressure down.
Hypertech is a programmer designed to protect the truck while towing. Not very popular among Ford/ SCT fans but been great for me.

It can add up to 100 HP to the 99 7.3L.

Banks? Humm! I'll have to research it a bit. I'm moving away from the Edge products. Their power levels are so close together that it hardly makes any difference, and the max level is only 75hp @ 200#.

jesilvas · 03-25-2014, 07:28 AM

I would suggest getting custom tunes designed for heavy towing. Hypertech, Banks, Bully Dog, Edge, TS; all are generic. Made to fit all trucks.

Getting custom tunes allows you to work with your tuner so they can write it for as little or as much power as you want, WITH tweaking shift points and torque converter lock up points as well.