DD/Towing Upgrades

[757DuramaxKiller]

I am about to buy an 02 F-250 SRW. It is bone dry stock with 130,000 highway miles. It will be my daily driver but I will also use it to tow about 13,000 lbs about 1 or 2 times a month. I plan on adding a Garrett GT38PR turbo, 4" MBRP downpipe and turbo back exhaust, Volant ram air intake, BD power x monitor, and a TS 6 position chip. Also adding a leveling kit. Is this a good setup for what i want to do? What am I missing? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[SyN]

If your going to tow--->Look into a larger transmission cooler... such as the one installed on the 6.0L powerstrokes... There are many threads about this... do a search... you can find them on ebay- or a salvage yard... A few vendors here on this board sell new ones...

But be prepared to pay $250 or more for a new one which is crazy... But Your transmission is the weak link in our trucks and need all the help it can get...

My first concern would be a transmission cooler and gauges to monitor -->Engine Temp-Trans Temp-Boost-EGTs... You want everything to work together... not against each other...

If you have plans on keeping this truck for many yrs to come... I would look into switching to Red {ELC} coolant and add a coolant filter... You never have to add SCA to this coolant just pour it in and forget about it... The filter will keep you from going through water pumps... and keep your cooling clean and working properly... You will have to add an extender at 300K mile mark... or Drain and add Fresh...

Next would be a remote spin-on by-pass filter system on your transmission...This will help a little with cooling the ATF and keep it clean...Very vital stuff to help protect that transmission...

[757DuramaxKiller]

Ok so add a transmission cooler. I'll add that to the list. The BD Power X monitor shows me the EGTs, trans temp, and boost. My limit on upgrades is about $4500 so I still have about $1000 to work with. Anything else that I need or should add?

[757DuramaxKiller]

I've been hearing a lot of people talking about new HPOP's. Should I consider this?

[campbellflage]

If it were me and I was doing it all over again I would contact a vender on here and make a package. I bought the 38r and love it but then had to replace my up pipes, by the time that was said and done, I could have gotten a t4 style mount and turbo. Just something to think about. Definitely a 6.0 trans cooler. I wouldn't do a external trans filter though, BTS advises against it from what I have read, and I would say he definitely knows what he is talking about.

[SyN]

Camp: I'm know Brian know his transmissions...I would trust him to work on anything within my PSD...

All I know is my stock transmission has 287K miles on it... not all those miles... I put on...When I bought the truck... I did a complete flush on the transmission myself and added the dieselsite spin-on filter kit... and switched over to Amsoil Torque Drive ATF... After about 50K miles I flushed again and switched over to Valvoline Maxlife Merc/Dex and 2 bottles of Lubegard Red... After another 40k miles... I sent in a UOA to Polaris Labs.... Report came back--->Showing no problems--Just normal wear...Their Comments were----> Whatever your doing? Keep doing it... It's working perfectly....

I do tow a lot during the summer months...11k lb 5th Wheel... Some during the winter months... So the transmission is worked pretty good...

It's been a good beneficial addition for my 4R100...

I do change the remote spin on filter every 20K miles.... $12 is cheap insurance...

[campbellflage]

Syn, I don't disagree that it will keep the trans oil clean, and I am only going by what I have read, so... take it as a grain of sand... But I think it has something more to do with flow rates

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by campbellflage

Syn, I don't disagree that it will keep the trans oil clean, and I am only going by what I have read, so... take it as a grain of sand... But I think it has something more to do with flow rates

Most trans builders I talked to about external trans filters are concerned about a plugged filter cause a restriction however the Baldwin OB1318 (I think) flows like 20GPM...way more than the 3-4 GPM a 4r100 can pump and comes with a bypass valve set at 25 psid (which is the measure of the pressure differential between the input and output of the filter base) to prevent a clogged filter causing an issue. It is the same head that dieselsite uses.

Originally Posted by 757DuramaxKiller

I am about to buy an 02 F-250 SRW. It is bone dry stock with 130,000 highway miles. It will be my daily driver but I will also use it to tow about 13,000 lbs about 1 or 2 times a month. I plan on adding a Garrett GT38PR turbo, 4" MBRP downpipe and turbo back exhaust, Volant ram air intake, BD power x monitor, and a TS 6 position chip. Also adding a leveling kit. Is this a good setup for what i want to do? What am I missing? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Some pre-pump mods and a regulated return or FRx wouldn't hurt either.

[SyN]

rufus: You are correct about the head that is used in bob's unit... I talked to Bob before I bought the system, and discussed every matter I could think of... all is good...

I'm not telling anyone to buy it... Just wanted to bring the unit to 757 attention...He can do his own research if he is interested...