Quest for the ultimate tow rig......

[Shed]

Hello all! As some of you know I want my "ultimate tow rig". I have a few questions for people as to what you 2 cents is in building this truck. Please keep in mind this truck will never grace the pages of the diesel mags or pimp my ride! Just looking to make it more safe and efficient while towing my 5'er and occasionally my boat (when the Yukon is'nt).

Upgrades so far:

Magnaflow 4" exhaust with 5" tip
Airaid intake (over boost problems have been rectified)
Amsoil oil, ATF

Future wants:

Brakes!!! Anyone know of good aftermarket brake pads made for handling the added tow weight I seem to ALWAYS have???

Shocks. I know nothing, other than it's stock height and will stay that way, with stock 16" wheels and 245 wide tires.

Trans./Diff. pans/covers???? Do these do what they say? I want to "help" my truck stay healthy and live for a long long time! Mag Hytec good ones?

Airbags.... I know, I know, I want the truck not to squat, I think it could potentially be a safety issue, but she's not overloaded, and there is nothing broke in the rear end!!! Plus I hear it's can be a more comfortable ride!

Intercoolers..... What exactly do these do? I made the mistake of getting pinned down by a banks guy who swears this is the best thing ever for lowering temps in the engine comp. Are they really worth it?

Tune.... No comments needed here, goin to Kennedy soon for his magic on the ECM.

Thanks to all, sorry such a long post just not exactly sure what to do first and what not to do!!!! Thank you all for your comments and advise!!!! Shed:o

[DmaxMaverick]

Hello all! As some of you know I want my "ultimate tow rig". I have a few questions for people as to what you 2 cents is in building this truck. Please keep in mind this truck will never grace the pages of the diesel mags or pimp my ride! Just looking to make it more safe and efficient while towing my 5'er and occasionally my boat (when the Yukon is'nt).

Upgrades so far:

Magnaflow 4" exhaust with 5" tip
Airaid intake (over boost problems have been rectified)
Amsoil oil, ATF

Future wants:

Brakes!!! Anyone know of good aftermarket brake pads made for handling the added tow weight I seem to ALWAYS have???

What's wrong with your OEM's. IMO, they're the best ever seen on a factory LT. I have no problem with loads at GCWR. They'll probably last 150-200K.

Shocks. I know nothing, other than it's stock height and will stay that way, with stock 16" wheels and 245 wide tires.

Bilstein. Period.

Trans./Diff. pans/covers???? Do these do what they say? I want to "help" my truck stay healthy and live for a long long time! Mag Hytec good ones?

Opinions differ. If you don't have a problem with temps, probably an unnecessary expense. I'd suggest the diff cover, just for the added capacity. Won't hurt. Jury's still out on the tranny pan. The diff cover is not cheap. The tranny pan isn't too expensive, but will hang down below the frame.

Airbags.... I know, I know, I want the truck not to squat, I think it could potentially be a safety issue, but she's not overloaded, and there is nothing broke in the rear end!!! Plus I hear it's can be a more comfortable ride!

AirLift bags with the electronic controller. You won't regret it.

Intercoolers..... What exactly do these do? I made the mistake of getting pinned down by a banks guy who swears this is the best thing ever for lowering temps in the engine comp. Are they really worth it?

You already have one (between the A/C condenser and radiator). That's what that aluminum pipe and blue hose is all about. An aftermarket larger CAC is nice if you are making big power (way more than what it sounds like you want).

Tune.... No comments needed here, goin to Kennedy soon for his magic on the ECM.

Good choice. (you got the comment, anyway)

Thanks to all, sorry such a long post just not exactly sure what to do first and what not to do!!!! Thank you all for your comments and advise!!!! Shed:o



Do you have gages? If not, get some. EGT at least, then boost, then whatever tickles your fancy.

[Mark Rinker]

I agree that GM's factory pads are superior to many aftermarket pads, but wouldn't expect 100K lifespan if towing heavy. (Unless you never stop, that is...)

After replacing factory with junk from NAPA and only getting about 40K miles out of them, we switched to Akebono rotors and ceramic pads, have had good results so far with our 2002 that tows a 30' trailer and average loads of 6-8K all day every day.

http://www.akebonobrakes.com/

[MaxACL]

Mark,

"but wouldn't expect 100K lifespan" . I just turned 260k with orginial pads, ball joints, etc. The spares never been out or the hoist. Replaced the OEM batteries several months ago, they petered out while it sat at the base when I was overseas.

Too bad the German injectors wont hold up.

Mike

[Mark Rinker]

Amazing. Got to love those clean, rust-free Texas high mile trucks, lots of miles to get from point A to point B down there!

Driving styles also factor MAJOR into brake wear. You must have a very gentle approach to your braking to go those miles.

We chose Akebono ceramics for the 2002 K2500 on the opinion of a former GM driveability tech, who's race team I sponser. He tows his 36' fully loaded race trailer behind a GM dually, and has switched to Akebono's over OEM pads for their heat handling capabilities.

The 2002 K3500 is also our 'in-town' delivery truck, which gets lots of stop and go heavy traffic driving with loads - its also our 'training platform' for new, younger drivers that tend to be heavy on the brakes at first...(until we work it out of them by showing them their destroyed brake hardware and threatening to take it out of their next paycheck... ;) )

[mark45678]

swaping the pads for a perfomance friction pad seams to work good , stock pads glaze over easy and dont grab as good once you get some miles on them.

[Mark Rinker]

The original intent of this thread was mods that contribute to the 'ultimate tow rig'...

One that you haven't mentioned, which is very nice if you put on lots of miles, or travel into Canada and want to burn US fuel, is more fuel capacity.
An extra 10 gallons will bring your daily cruising range back into a daily fill-up while towing.

Another proven way to stretch your cruising range between fillups is adding propane fumigation. You could even draw it from a tank mounted on your RV. There is a setup done this way with a 6.5TD documented on this site. Not sure how legal it is, but...

[StrangeEngine]

Brakes!!! Anyone know of good aftermarket brake pads made for handling the added tow weight I seem to ALWAYS have???

Hawk HP SuperDuty. A big step up over the stock pads.

- Mark

[Shed]

Thank you to all who have helped! It seems as though the brakes were a hot button! I'm just looking for something to help out and maybe be a little better with heat as I am looking at being in the mountains next year.

I definately would like to add a larger fuel tank! I know you can attest to the importance of that Mark! I would just just like to stay on the road for more than 4 hours!

Again thank you to all who replied. And keep coming with your thoughts, I am always interested! Wish a diesel mag would do some articles about tow rigs more often. I get tired of looking at the pretty 700 HP monsters! Give me a workhorse anyday! Shed:)

[NutNbutGMC]

If you're wearing hard on your pads because of the tow load, I'd adjust the trailer axle brakes to provide a bit more stopping assistance. I used my triple axle brakes to do most of the stopping while towing. There's a sweet spot there with a little adjustment.

[mark45678]

as far as the fuel tank , I made a 27 gallon tank out of .125" 6061 aluminum that pumps from the in bed tank to the filler neck just inside the body. I used a small GM fuel pump from a 6.5TD truck( OEM lift pump) that sucks from the in bed to a pump then to a filter and out a 1/4" rubber line that exits the bed in the drain hole on the left front of the truck bed. I removed the steel filer neck and weld in a 1/4" hose barb just below the filler neck cap and had the hose dump into the filler there. I can refill the main tank of the truck while driveing at highway speeds , it takes almost 1 hour to move all 26~27 gallons from the in bed to the main tank. I did want to make the AUX tank much larger the the OEM 6" bed 26 gallon tank just incase I got forget full and left the pump on to long..... works like a champ , I can drive over 770 mile not towing with a big marging of safety or 480 ~ 500 mile of towing my RV and still have 4 or 6 gallons left to find a fuel stop. AS stated by Mark R a full day of driving on one tank !

[jharden1]

I know you're talkin Dmax here, but FWIW an ultimate tow rig looks something like this (http://www.crewchief.com/aerocondo.html). :D