arveetek
06-23-2005, 07:59
I can sum up the experience in one word: WOW! :D
I can't beleive how much more grunt and torque my truck has now!
Last Friday, my wife and I left our home with our 29' Alpenlite 5th wheel (I know many of you are familiar with our rig). My parents took their rig as well, and so we convoyed to Ft. Worth, Texas.
There aren't a whole lot of hills between here and there, but I never found a single hill where I had trouble maintaing speed up the incline. The biggest hills we encountered were on the way back, through the Arbuckle mountains of central Oklahoma. I wouldn't really call them mountains, but I was able to maintain 65 mph up the hill all the way to the top.
In fact, about 50% of the trip I was able to tow the trailer in overdrive at 70 mph. I couldn't believe it. I've never been able to tow in overdrive before, unless it was extremely flat with no head winds. But now I have enough extra torque that I can pull up some small hills in overdrive without shifting down to third.
I averaged 11 mpg. That's better than I expected! The new engine has so much more torque and power, that it didn't take much throttle to keep the load moving, so I actually ended up using less fuel.
On this trip, I rarely had to give it full throttle. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle kept me moving and accelerating at a great pace. That usually kept me in the 7 to 11 psi boost range. When I really needed the power, I could mash the pedal and climb hills at 15 to 16 psi, with EGT's right at 1050. The only time I saw EGT's climb higher was when I was lugging in overdrive. I had to keep an eye on it then. There wasn't enough boost at that low of an rpm to keep the EGT's down. If they started climbing, I simply just pulled it down into 3rd, and then the boost jumped up and the EGT's fell, all at the same throttle position. It's really cool to see how boost effects EGT's. I could see 7 psi and 1100 degrees at 65 mph in OD, then pull it down into third and see 10 psi and 900 degrees at 65 mph, all at the same throttle position. It just goes to show how engine rpm, boost, and EGT's are all related to each other.
My dad was pulling his 10,000 lb. 5th wheel with a 95 Ford Power Stroke 7.3L diesel, with the 5 speed. My trailer weighs around 8,000 lbs. Even though his truck is chipped, I was able to come up behind him on the hills. I even passed him once just to show off! I know his load was heavier, but I still expected the Power Stroke to outpull me. But he couldn't. We were pretty well evenly matched.
I wish I had another gear, though. Third left me with plenty of power, but really high rpm at 70 mph. 4th is too high, with not enough power and too low of rpm. Something in between would have been perfect.
The only problem I had was engine cooling. I really had to watch the guage when pulling hard up hills. It would climb pretty fast. I didn't figure out until we nearly got home that it was mostly due to the fan clutch. It wouldn't engage the fan until the engine rpm came down low, then it would kick in. The temp. guage would be nearing red, but the fan wouldn't kick in unless I slowed the engine down. Once the fan kicked in, the temp would come back down. The last hour of the trip home, I popped the spring loose on the clutch to keep the fan engaged all the time. From then on, I ran cool as a cucumber. The only problem with that is it's rather noisy and it robs a bit of power.
Upgrading the cooling system to a dual-t/stat setup w/high-flow pump ought to be done. A better fan clutch is needed as well. An electric clutch would be ideal, so I could control it from the cab. For now, I'll just pop the fan spring when I'm towing, and then put it back in place when I'm not.
Before the turbo and before the rebuild, my n/a 6.2L would pull way down on two of the local hills and crest the top at 45-50 mph. I would have to downshift into 2nd to get there, with the engine rpm hitting near the governor. Now, I can pull up the same hills at 65 mph in 3rd, actually gaining speed by the time I reach the top. I never had to downshift into 2nd on any hill I encountered. Plus, I have so much more torque, I don't have to wind the engine up nearly as much as before. It just pulls and pulls and pulls no matter what gear you're in.
I would say that I have probably doubled the power of this engine over the stock n/a form. I am very pleased with the power and performance, and once I get the cooling issues addressed, I'll have a very good performing truck that I wouldn't mind crossing the country in, with my RV in tow.
Thanks again to all of your help, DP members!
Casey
I can't beleive how much more grunt and torque my truck has now!
Last Friday, my wife and I left our home with our 29' Alpenlite 5th wheel (I know many of you are familiar with our rig). My parents took their rig as well, and so we convoyed to Ft. Worth, Texas.
There aren't a whole lot of hills between here and there, but I never found a single hill where I had trouble maintaing speed up the incline. The biggest hills we encountered were on the way back, through the Arbuckle mountains of central Oklahoma. I wouldn't really call them mountains, but I was able to maintain 65 mph up the hill all the way to the top.
In fact, about 50% of the trip I was able to tow the trailer in overdrive at 70 mph. I couldn't believe it. I've never been able to tow in overdrive before, unless it was extremely flat with no head winds. But now I have enough extra torque that I can pull up some small hills in overdrive without shifting down to third.
I averaged 11 mpg. That's better than I expected! The new engine has so much more torque and power, that it didn't take much throttle to keep the load moving, so I actually ended up using less fuel.
On this trip, I rarely had to give it full throttle. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle kept me moving and accelerating at a great pace. That usually kept me in the 7 to 11 psi boost range. When I really needed the power, I could mash the pedal and climb hills at 15 to 16 psi, with EGT's right at 1050. The only time I saw EGT's climb higher was when I was lugging in overdrive. I had to keep an eye on it then. There wasn't enough boost at that low of an rpm to keep the EGT's down. If they started climbing, I simply just pulled it down into 3rd, and then the boost jumped up and the EGT's fell, all at the same throttle position. It's really cool to see how boost effects EGT's. I could see 7 psi and 1100 degrees at 65 mph in OD, then pull it down into third and see 10 psi and 900 degrees at 65 mph, all at the same throttle position. It just goes to show how engine rpm, boost, and EGT's are all related to each other.
My dad was pulling his 10,000 lb. 5th wheel with a 95 Ford Power Stroke 7.3L diesel, with the 5 speed. My trailer weighs around 8,000 lbs. Even though his truck is chipped, I was able to come up behind him on the hills. I even passed him once just to show off! I know his load was heavier, but I still expected the Power Stroke to outpull me. But he couldn't. We were pretty well evenly matched.
I wish I had another gear, though. Third left me with plenty of power, but really high rpm at 70 mph. 4th is too high, with not enough power and too low of rpm. Something in between would have been perfect.
The only problem I had was engine cooling. I really had to watch the guage when pulling hard up hills. It would climb pretty fast. I didn't figure out until we nearly got home that it was mostly due to the fan clutch. It wouldn't engage the fan until the engine rpm came down low, then it would kick in. The temp. guage would be nearing red, but the fan wouldn't kick in unless I slowed the engine down. Once the fan kicked in, the temp would come back down. The last hour of the trip home, I popped the spring loose on the clutch to keep the fan engaged all the time. From then on, I ran cool as a cucumber. The only problem with that is it's rather noisy and it robs a bit of power.
Upgrading the cooling system to a dual-t/stat setup w/high-flow pump ought to be done. A better fan clutch is needed as well. An electric clutch would be ideal, so I could control it from the cab. For now, I'll just pop the fan spring when I'm towing, and then put it back in place when I'm not.
Before the turbo and before the rebuild, my n/a 6.2L would pull way down on two of the local hills and crest the top at 45-50 mph. I would have to downshift into 2nd to get there, with the engine rpm hitting near the governor. Now, I can pull up the same hills at 65 mph in 3rd, actually gaining speed by the time I reach the top. I never had to downshift into 2nd on any hill I encountered. Plus, I have so much more torque, I don't have to wind the engine up nearly as much as before. It just pulls and pulls and pulls no matter what gear you're in.
I would say that I have probably doubled the power of this engine over the stock n/a form. I am very pleased with the power and performance, and once I get the cooling issues addressed, I'll have a very good performing truck that I wouldn't mind crossing the country in, with my RV in tow.
Thanks again to all of your help, DP members!
Casey