Towing with tune

[mr8118]

Has anyone been towing with a heavy 15,000 pound plus load with a performance tune installed?

What have been your results, what do you recommend?

[hotlicks2go]

I hear from others that the EGTs can get very high and the turbos spool high consistently. I'm afraid to try to HOT of a tune during towing ... Matt from Spartan has suggested staying under 150hp.

[mr8118]

Well, Matt would know. But these numbers that the tune manufacturers put out seem to be variable. Is the 120 tune exact? When they change the performance, is it the turbo boost only, or is there more fuel? Or both? And if EGT are the only major concern, would adding a water/meth injection system solve the problem?

[whitehorse]

I've been towing my fifth wheel toy hauler with 210 tune in my F450 put over 1000 miles on it this summer like that & haven't had any trouble yet. Went the egts start getting to hot the tuner defuels & all is well. I set my cruise at 60-65 mph & leave it there. Pulls hills good & the fan has only kicked in once for about 20 seconds. When I was pulling the toy hauler with the truck stock I would lose speed climbing hills & the fan would kick in for 2-3 minutes at a time. The Toy hauler is just shy of 18000 # fully loaded.

[hotlicks2go]

How long/steep are these climbs? Is the tranny shifting pretty hard on this tune?

[gixxer1]

I'm towing a 11,500 lb travel trailer with the Spartan 250 tune and it works great lot's of power on the hill's without changing your foot on the pedal at all. Fuel milege up 3-5 Mpg over stock. I'm going on road trip towing this weekend and I've updated the DD so I can monitor the EGT's and see where every thing is running.

[mr8118]

So the only thing to worry about are the EGT's? The torque converter and the transmission are holding up to the loads?

[gixxer1]

Originally Posted by mr8118

So the only thing to worry about are the EGT's? The torque converter and the transmission are holding up to the loads?

Mine is working great, but I don't tow the trailer like I'm in a sport's car!!!
The transmission shifts a bit more harsh than the stock program, but I don't horse it at stop light's and I drive about 60 mph.

[LBZinthehizhood]

The max I have grossed is 33,XXX pounds and now using the 1.22 rev SCT 60hp tune (before using 1.20 tow tune) so far so good. Its night and day difference between stock and modded. I have guages but yet to install em so no egt reference here

[sttstroke]

My friend was towing about 13,000 with the 1.22 and it blew the intercooler boot off three times in about thirty miles