Towing up hills

[Diamondpilot]

Why not?...DP would take that ball and run with it if the issue was with a DMAX.

I would not either. I had a 05 Dmax and when it was not in the shop it pulled really well. Nice engine, you never hear me bad mouth the motor, only talk about the issues I had. Now I am not a fan of the chassis, body, or interior but the running gear is good stuff.

Lets be honest here. He has a bigger issue. Heck a 351 in that same truck would do better.

Chris

 

[timswi]

I would not either. I had a 05 Dmax and when it was not in the shop it pulled really well. Nice engine, you never hear me bad mouth the motor, only talk about the issues I had. Now I am not a fan of the chassis, body, or interior but the running gear is good stuff.

Lets be honest here. He has a bigger issue. Heck a 351 in that same truck would do better.

Chris

Sorry...That was a hanging curve ball that I couldn't resist.

Anyway, you're probably right. Although, my 89 6.2 Non turbo GM diesel (Detroit, not Olds) would wind up pretty good while downshifting, even though it had a ton of torque but no real horsepower. I just wonder if the OP's tranny is working correctly. I can see screaming to the top of the hill in 1st gear, but not bogging down. That's what mine did when I overloaded it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sorry...That was a hanging curve ball that I couldn't resist.

Anyway, you're probably right. Although, my 89 6.2 Non turbo GM diesel (Detroit, not Olds) would wind up pretty good while downshifting, even though it had a ton of torque but no real horsepower. I just wonder if the OP's tranny is working correctly. I can see screaming to the top of the hill in 1st gear, but not bogging down. That's what mine did when I overloaded it.

Hey, its all in good fun. I would have taken that shot also. :thumbsup: In all seriousness, the issues I had with my Dmax were not engine related other than the glow plugs and some injector issues. The tranny and engine combo along with the rear end is a good combo. It was just a combo of all the little problems I had that made me run.

My uncle has a early 90's 3/4 ton Suburban with the 6.5 and it has no problems pulling 10,000# and occasionally 12,000# all over the place in the dead of summer. It may slow to 55 and to be honest a modern gasser would eat its lunch, but it been a relative trouble free truck. Just 2 injector pumps since new other than normal maintenance items.

The OP's truck either has a very poorly geared rear end or a tranny issue.


Chris

 

[timswi]

He, its all in good fun. I would have taken that shot also. :thumbsup: In all seriousness, the issues I had with my Dmax were not engine related other than the glow plugs and some injector issues. The tranny and engine combo along with the rear end is a good combo. It was just a combo of all the little problems I had that made me run.

My uncle has a early 90's 3/4 ton Suburban with the 6.5 and it has no problems pulling 10,000# and occasionally 12,000# all over the place int the dead of summer. It may slow to 55 and to be honest a modern gasser would eat its lunch, but it been a relative trouble free truck. Just 2 injector pumps since new other than normal maintenance items.

The OP's truck either has a very poorly geared rear end or a tranny issue.


Chris

Mybe my 89 was a 6.5..Don't remember...Only problem I ever had was a couple of glow plugs and a battery cable. Someone harped on me to sell it to him or I'd still have it...3/4 ton GMC suburban 4X4 loaded. Bought it from my mom's boss who buys top of the line everything and abuses them accordingly.

 

[tractorsanmore]

I have a 89 f250 4x4 with the 7.3 diesel and 4:10 gears , 185 hp ( all stock ) 93,000 miles .
Tow rating is 9000 lbs I believe . As long as I keep the load under that amount it does ok , although it slows on hills , pretty much comparable to a 460 gas engine but with around 6 more mpg highway ( empty ) . The op needs more truck just as he figures .

 

[Davidsan]

Ok, probably should have mentioned it is a manual transmission. I made a turn onto this road and never shifted out of 2nd all the way up the hill. Just before the crest was a pretty steep climb and it just almost didn't make it.

As others mentioned, the trailer empty is 7300 lb. The tractor is probably 8/9000 lbs (w/FEL and loaded rears) and box blade easy. so 16000 is a fair assessment.

Fortunately, this was all on a country road and no one was behind me.

The truck is in good running shape. I have no concerns with it's performance. Filters (Fuel and air) are clean and changed regularly. The one thing I have not done is adjusted the fuel to the turbo. The previous owner installed the turbo and turned up the fuel to match but it smoked and didn't crank real well, so he dialed it back. Any tips?

 

[Dmace]

As others mentioned, the trailer empty is 7300 lb. The tractor is probably 8/9000 lbs (w/FEL and loaded rears) and box blade easy. so 16000 is a fair assessment.

I thought you meant 7,300lbs total! There probably isn't anything wrong with the truck, pulling that much weight up a hill takes a lot more HP than that diesel is gonna make. Those weren't exactly strong building motors like the Cummins and even turbocharged you will be lucky to get 300hp before sending a piston through the wall.

The one thing I have not done is adjusted the fuel to the turbo. The previous owner installed the turbo and turned up the fuel to match but it smoked and didn't crank real well, so he dialed it back. Any tips?

The ONLY way you should properly tune this truck is to get an EGT gauge and a wideband Air/Fuel ratio gauge then make small adjustments making sure not to run too lean or rich and not to run too hot as well.

 

[arsenix2001]

Ive been with ford for 16 years one way or another. That motor is weak to say the least. And the 15-16k your pulling well exceeds what the truck is rated for. You could have your truck dyno tuned to see if your not getting enough advance on the injector pump.
Your motor if a 7.3 idi was rated at 185hp and 338lb tq. Dealer installed turbos raised this to 190/390. Just for comparison, late model 7.3's came from the factory at 275hp/575 tq. The 2003-2006 6.0 were 325/570 (not even rated to tow what your pulling gvcw) and the 2007(late model)-2010 6.4 put out up to 350hp/650tq and as far as i know the new ford built 6.7 scorpion puts out more. Ive owned a 2002 7.3, a 2004 6.0 and a chipped 2008 6.4. Each was a huge increase in seat of the pants power. My 08 pulls 14k like its not even there. I think you are just asking waaaaay to much of your truck.

 

[scoutcub]

Guess I'm a little disappointed with my truck and may have it overloaded for it's age???? Should I start shopping for a newer truck?

Seems like you and others are right, for that motor/year it's overloaded. You never did say what the axle ratio is?
And, will you be doing this type of towing regularly? Biggest factor in new purchasing decision, in my mind. Continued towing with that combo could invite $$$ problems.
Seems like if the previous owner "dialed back" on the turbo, it may not even be assisting?
Comparatively, I have the same type trailer (7,000 lb 25K gooseneck) and have pulled a 18000lb load (total 25K) up "hills" in Ohio.....certainly not mountains but some fairly long inclines that got me down to 45MPH. Truck is an 06 1 ton dually Powerstroke with platinum edge chip.
Good luck!

 

[QRTRHRS]

I sold a 14k rated gooseneck that weighed around 4500 lb to a man with an similar Ford truck, don't recall what year his truck was. He wanted to pull the trailer so we hooked it up and off we went.

I noticed right away that the truck was pretty anemic as did he. I don't think he had done much with the truck up to that point but he went ahead and bought the trailer from me anyway. I had my 97' Dodge at the time which was mildly juiced up so I had no issue pulling the trailer but you knew it was there.

One aspect about trailers not mentioned in this thread or even in the many others I have read is that some trailers regardless of weight will pull easier than others. Having pulled flats, stretch flats, dumps, tanks, vans, doubles, etc., I have noticed this phenomanon but never really heard any reason for it.

During the time period I owned that deckover gooseneck I also had a BP two horse trailer weighing around 3600 (forget exactly). A little bit of weight difference but that little BP pulled like it was not even back there.