Towing my 5th wheel

[Brian06350]

First of I will start with the truck, 06 F350 CC long box, gearhead tunes, egr delete and air bags. My 5th wheel camper weighs in at about 13,000 lbs fully loaded. When it come to pulling the camper up a hill, it feels like the truck has no power. Thinking about a new set of gears. I due have a ficm tune coming from PHP that is the Atlas 40. Just looking for more ideas or what other have that works for them.

[jesilvas]

It depends on a lot of things.
What kind of grade?
What trans?
What gearing right now?
Tires/rims size?
What gear/speed are you hitting the hill at?

[Brian06350]

Sorry, forgot all about that stuff. The truck is pretty much stock.
Gears- 3.73
Trans- Auto
Tires- 275/75/18 stock size
Hill grade- All except little ones
I am hit the hill in overdrive and then the truck down shifts. Butt even with the truck down shifting and I step on it still can not pick up any speed.

[jesilvas]

13k is a lot. I bet it catches a lot of wind too.
So with 3.73s, stock tuning, and all that drag and weight, I'm not surprised.

[2006PSDSD]

You're close to or above 20K GCWR! You can't expect it to pull like a Pete

Is the truck pulling different than it has in the past?

[Brian06350]

First year pulling the fifth wheel. The only other thing the truck has pulled was a 22 foot cuddy cabin boat. So not sure what to expect from the truck. That is why I was thing of changing out the gears. I had a 3/4 ton chevy with 4.10 gears before this truck and I hate to say this but the chevy pulled the boat better than this ford.

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by Brian06350

First year pulling the fifth wheel. The only other thing the truck has pulled was a 22 foot cuddy cabin boat. So not sure what to expect from the truck. That is why I was thing of changing out the gears. I had a 3/4 ton chevy with 4.10 gears before this truck and I hate to say this but the chevy pulled the boat better than this ford.

Pulling the same 13k trailer?

I made my Samsung SGH-I997 send this.

[2006PSDSD]

It may be a gearing issue. The Tow Boss is set up with 4.30's IIRC and a 26K GCWR. Doesn't sounds right though, I think the 450's are 26K

In any case, if you load your truck at or close to its max GCWR, you're just not going to be able to do the speed limit all the time, and trying to do so will really stress your drivetrain and engine

[Brian06350]

No, the chevy never pulled the 5th wheel. The boat was the only thing both trucks pulled. I sold the boat and bought the 5th wheel.

[Evil Eye]

I'm running 3.73 gears and my toy hauler (5th wheel) is just a bit lighter than yours (12k) and I'm considering a gearing change to 4.30's since I run a 33" tire. It is a bit of a strain on the drivetrain to tow such a heavy load up the grades that we pull. The gearing will help out considerably. BTW, if you have a 4x4, remember that you have to do both sets of gears, which for me is going to set me back about $2k. Still trying to get my wife's approval...