towing a trailer with tunes

[Bradley3054]

hi everyone im wondering whats the best method to tow a 10,000lb trailer, i have tony wildman custom tunes with light tow and extreme tow tunes. Now im not sure yet if i like them tunes yet, while i was towing my trailer i was experimenting with the tunes to see what i like and the differences. i notice with lite tow it raised the rpms more to even get into over drive and with extreme it raised the rpms alot more all the way to 2500 before it shift into over drive. so i mostly stuck with everyday driving tune cuz it pulled it just fine and got in over drive easy and stayed in place. Now while experimenting i watched my gauges and notice with economy tune my egts were only 100 deg hotter but with 500 and plus rpms less, now with tow tunes i read 100 deg cooler and 2400 rpms give or take to stay at 55mph. now can some of you shed some light onto this and tell me whats the healthiest thing to do here and do i need to change my tunes at all?

[rt_hawk]

Your doing the right thing, watch your gauges and adjust accordingly! Use Econ for lighter loads and tow modes for heavier stuff. Just watch the gauges, you'll know when something is off then and you can make changes until everything is back in check.

[Bradley3054]

now whats healthier? tow with 100 degrees more in egt with 500 rpm less or 100 degrees egts less and 500 rpms more?

[rt_hawk]

Both are far below any extreme so....I'd say just use the tow tune, probably better for the transmission to shift later/higher and lug the drivetrain less.

[Bradley3054]

it sucks i cant read my tranny temps cuz my guage i believe is reading the temps off the metal and not the oil, damn universal sunpro guage set up wouldnt fit in the hole so had to modify it till i can drill into my pan. ive read of people putting 6 speed manuals in there trucks can you put a 6 speed auto in our trucks?

[rt_hawk]

You can, cheaper to buy a 4R100 trans from John wood or BTS. Anything is possible with enough money.

Just use tow tune, get your gauges squared away sooner than later and drive more, worry less. Until something breaks, then cry and pull out the wallet. 4r100 is half way sturdy trans. Valve body and 6.0 cooler help and custom tunes too... If it is working good and you do regular fluid changes you should be fine.

[Bradley3054]

Havnt done a tranny fluid change but it's on my list, only had the truck for 10,000 miles worth and has 165,000 now so she's looking at one soon. Another question is 6 speed better then the 5 I would think it would be, but is there a big difference?

[rt_hawk]

I don't think a 6 is all that different, you get a lower 1st...other than that very similar gearing to a 5 speed IIRC.

[dentexpowerstroke]

most of the time with a 5 or 6 you have the same ratio in the highest gear. so it's mostly do you just want more lower end gears.

[Bradley3054]

lower end would always help with taking off