Unloaded trailer weights

[patrick_g]

Robbie, Sounds like a heck of a setup. I don't have any banks stuff on my Cummins buty I did change out a few things: injector pump and injectors with much higher pressure so I get finer fuel plume and simultaneously get more HP, torque, AND MPG, 4 inch exhaust, larger free flowing commercial muffler, changed out intake manifold to get better flow and distribution. I get way better performance and just a tad better (about 1-2) mpg better. I only get about 25 lbs of boost which will git 'er done for me. I have the 4:10 (or is that 4:11?) but have an aux OD (20%) and am running 19.5 Alcoas and Michelins like the 2 ton UPS trucks use (before Sprinters.)

There is just one thing I wanted to mention in case you hadn't found out. It makes a serious difference where the pyro sensor is installed. A lot of shops put them after the turbo. Not the best location since the turbo extracts a variable amount of energy from the exhaust stream it makes a variable error in trying to judge what the actual exhaust temp is upstream where it matters the most, closer to your exhaust valves. Anywhere upstream of the turbo is better and in the exhaust manifod is about as good as it gets.

With some installations you can melt a piston and not exceed the designated "RED LINE." I bring this up since for so much boost your pyro reading seems like it could be a tad low.

Pat

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Pat, With the mods you have made forget Banks. Your mods sound like you did your homework, I bet its effecient and pulls like a frieght train. What you can get out of a cummins is amazing. For what little I now about cummins is it a 12v or 24v and also what year is it? I have a few friend around here that use Garmins diesel performance and truck pull and drag race with these trucks and they are mind blowing. Don't know if you have heard of them but I think they have the record quarter mile times.

I appreciate the tip on the temp probe location, the previous owner had all the work done by a good shop so I hope its in the right place,I see a probe in the exhaust oulet right at the turbo which I'm assuming that is it but I will investigate further to be safe. I also believe even if you add a 100-150 degree correction factor according to Ford I'm still under there 1000-1100 degree limits the told me to stay under? Does that sound right? Also when the temps climb I'm usually leaning on it so I usually back off a tad to let it breathe.

I wanted to add a programmer for towing/economy mode but my Ford dealer said with as good as it is running he didn't think the head gaskets would hold and him being the only diesel mech. at my dealer he would void my warranty if I blew them. So I decided against it. 25 lbs of boost on 6 cylinders is pretty good.

 

[patrick_g]

Robbie, The pump and injector swap was a Dr. Performance first stage. They did a lot more radical stuff up to drag racing levels with propane injection and such.

I just wanted a little more HP and torque and a tad better MPG and got it. Got to be careful with the Dodge drive train as it won't hold up with a "TORQUE MONSTER" My 3500 is a '97 with 12 valves. It was originally a California vehicle and had an exhaust gas recirculation system than made adding an exhaust brake a nightmare of additional complication. The intake manifold had a big lump in it to accomodate the big recirc pipe. When I left CA I swapped the intake manifold for a non recirc to get better flow and distribution.

I have made a few cross country trips carying the largest camper Lance made, factory customized to my specs when built, sometimes towing a dune buggy. I have a Grand Challenger service body by Stahl and a front bumper by Reunel. The bumper with extra lights and a Warn 12,000 lb winch plus stainless steel push bars and solid round bar light guards weighs 500 lbs.

I customized the springs all the way around. custom elliptical coils in front designed and built to carry the extra weight and ride 1/2 inch over stock. The advantage of the elliptical tapered rods the coils were turned from is that it gives you a variable spring rate. Small bumps on the interstate give deflections like in a passeenger car but off road any larger bumps run into a much stiffer spring constant and you don't bottom out as much as with stock springs. I put dual shocks on the front, gas charged Bilsteins.

I also messed with the rear leaf springs. Some leaves were removed and replaced and some added above stock count. The factory overloads were modified too and I put air bags between the frame and axle to allow adjuating ride height and it lets me level the ride with a camper or heavy tongue weight and aim the lights where they belong. The bags can support 10,000 lbs and can be used with about 5-8 PSI up to 100 PSI. They are inflated independently so uneven loads side to side can be leveled out. The inflators are under the gas flap. I have a 12 volt compressor, gauges, and valves to control the bags from the cab but just never got around to installing them.

The Gear Vendors over/under drive is a 20% overdrive unit. It allows convenient full power up and down shifts so I get 8 forward speeds which is enough to find one that matches the situation. Lightly loaded in OD OD it runs (lets just say well above the 70MPH speed limit) at 2000 RPM. I typically set the cruise exactly on the limit and just barely run the minimum recommended cruise RPM.

I have an aux tranny cooler and a shop owner asked why if I had a cooler was I running the stock OEM tranny heater. I said, SAY WHAT??? I now do not route the tranny fluid through the radiator "COOLER" function. It only guaranteed the fluid would be as hot as the water (a tad hot to my taste.) Now the tranny temp gauge runs way cooler and the thermostatically controlled aftermarket tranny cooler fan hardly ever comes on except when it is hot and I give the rig a real job to do.

I also have custom batt boxes in the service bed in spaces not ordinarily accessed. I carry two 220AH 6 volt golf cart batts in series for 12 volts. These are charged while driving or while parked with the camper onboard because I have roofed much of the camper sith solar panels. These batts will power a serious inverter to let me use tools. I prefer my gas genset for HD work but this is s simple alternative and the gen set is usually in the other truck (old beater Dakota 4x4.)

The Titan class V receiver hitch is rated at 14000 lbs and I have a long extension/adaptor that derates it to 6500 lbs while converting it to accomodate a standard 2 inch drawbar. This extensioin lets me pull a boat or dune buggy behind the camper which ovehangs the back of the truck significantly. In normal operation I have an adaptor (square tubing) inserted into the receiver to adapt it to standard 2 inch draw bars.

The top cabinets in the service body (above the wheel wells) have been welded shut and their space taken over by the other cabinets. When the camper is mounted on the truck you can't open the top cabs and as I used to travel in Mexico it would have been a super hassle. You get stopped at army checkpoints (sand bags and machine guns and the whole thing) where you are subject to search. I would have had to nearly remove the camper to open the top cabinets.

Pat

 

[Dargo]

My 20' GN trailer (with additional 5' dovetail) has single wheels on dual 10k axles and it weighs 6200 pounds empty. It has 2 12" I beams all the way back as opposed to 6" channel I've seen on others. Anyway, I just hauled 12,000 pounds on it behind my '96 Dodge (slightly modified ) for 800 miles. I was pleasantly surprised that cruise control could stay at 75 mph towing 18,000 pounds behind a 8000 pound truck even up long 7% grades. Some of the bumps in the road about broke my back with the ride, but the truck and trailer handled things fine. The downside was that I only averaged about 7 mpg with that load running that speed.

Oh yeah, that's with an automatic transmission too. Not exactly a stock tranny either. As soon as I "bombed" my Cummins it quickly dispensed with my stock transmission. I now have an ATS Stage V transmission setup.

 

[patrick_g]

Dargo, Don't you just love it when you get to enjoy the fruits of your mods. I twisted off the input shaft on the original Dodge automagic tranny in my '97 Dodge/Cummins and wasted the original aux OD too. I now am running a beefed up aftermarket modified tranny with Kevlar clutches and such as well as provisioins to mantain full pressure on the lockup torque converter during coasting and decelleration to enable good braking with exhaust brake, more inm keeping with what it should be able to do wilth the HD valve springs.

My exhaust brake and tranny are from BD, a very good name in aftermarket equipment.

Lets not tar Gear Vendors too fast for not holding together on my Cummins as good as on all the other engines. They told me the Cummins had torque pulses that were much more brutal than any of the other diesels in use in US pickups. SO... They did some reengineering and heat treating and hardening and now the aux OD holds up to Cummins.

Patrick