Want to increase towing power?

THis is a great misc>

A K&N?s (like dual exhausts) is more a state on mind on a modern well tuned engine through design as people look for magic bullets to cure their tall geared whoa?s with engine not matched to needs. It is a well known fact too the K&N filter gain flow but not filtering out the smallest of particles so media is less restrictive to flow.

The reason it easily bogs is because it is geared to tall for load. I can remember some family sedan in the 60?s and early 70?s that had more towing power than some of these new "trucks". I get and have trucks for towing power not a "car" in a trucks clothing with tall gears. Reprogramming the tranny will not "fix" anything because it is the torque load on it relative to effective gear ratios to control/develop proper towing power for the load in question. There is nothing more imbarassing than have a big fancy SUV that is marginal towing when taking the time to properly regear for the load it can make it into a very nice towing platform. And the funny part about this is that 20 to 30 years ago we had to use 4.10 and 4.56 gears with

29 or 30 inch tires too for really big trailers, we did not have a OD to mitigate it when cruising and now today people think they need a 3.54 or a 3.73 AND OD with 32 inch tires and wonder why the towing is lacking. If I was going to tow any serious weight with a Hemi (which really is a poor tow engine because of it power curve) in a SUV like a CC truck, I would have 4.56 gear put in and and be done with it. This would yeild about 3100 RPM in drive at 65 for pretty good power on a steep hill (closer to engine power band) and 2300 RPM or so in OD for flat land towing or not towing at all. It would "play" pretty will with that engine power curve and give you a SUV that actually can get out of its own way with or without a trailer in tow. Least not forget to the HP is basically torque x RPM and that at 3100RPM on a hill or 2300 in OD you will have a LOT more HP availble at the wheels than you will at 2700 and 1900 with 3.92?s and will not even comment on the what 3.54?s are like because it shoud have never been it truck to begin with as it should have shipped with at least 3.92?s as standard because 3.54 are a joke in that setup and vehical with that engine.

You just need a truck prperly geared that all because if it was it would not be floor boarded and done shifting with only a 6k trailer which is kinda light for the properly configured fullsized SUV. 20 years ago I used to tow a 4 horse trailer a LOT with a old (then fairly new) 79 J20 jeep. A trailer like that can weight 8 to 9K loaded depending on animal size and tack. I NEVER had problems hould speed on hills with it lowly rated 175hp AMC 360. That motor had goobs of torque for its size at low to mid RPMs and pulled extremely will with its 3.73 gears and 30 inch tires and no OD. I got 11 to 12 towing too. I have hauled a full sized pickup on a car hauler behind my 89 4x4 burb a few times and it would easily do hiway speeds and hold it on hills without floor boarding either. It has 29?s with 3.73 gears (see a pattern yet) Gearing matched to engines power curve is EVERYTHING when towing or you can dismiss its importance and keep floorboarding it and getting passed while watching the gas gauge drop and blame the tranny as being junk on day with it starts acting up because it certainly could not be anything else causing it. I would be imbarrased to drive a fancy SUV that cannot get out of its own way towing because it is nt properly equiped for the task.

it was ment to be "GENERAL" and what constitutes a "GOOD 1/2 TON" is up to each individual for me it has to be able to work and work well with loads suited for its capacity i dont ask a 1/2 ton to do the job of a semi.......thats flat stupid. if you want to keep your truck you wont overload it too seriously..preferably not at all but like i said its a work vehicle and i live in the real world where you cant always have the perfect situation all the time!

new 1/2 tons are usually

ok if thats your feeling then dont buy one to pull your 5,000 lb trailer..if you want to put a tire 3 inches taller than the factory desighned and rated its towing figures at then that's up to you. but dont complain because the gearing isnt right when you change the final gear by changing tire size/height. keep in mind a taller tire takes away from the rear gear thats just simple math!

ive owned several 1/2 tons and been very pleased with the towing capabilities with them infact one of the best towing vehicles was a chevy s10 with the 4.3 and auto trans. the owners manual rated the truck at 6k with the low gear whitch mine had. i pulled a 24 foot camper (not ultra lite model either mind you) a 25 foot macgreggor sail boat with the lead swing keel, and my tractor behind that truck. with all of these regular loads it performed to expectations. was it always fast? No. but if you were pulling well more than your own weight you wouldnt be either.

now on the other end of the scale was a 86 d100 slant 6 3speed auto. it seen the tractor and 24 foot pontoon boat on a regular basis. needless to say the poor ole truck was having to grunt but it did the job. and i knew what i had. i knew the take offs were slow and the top speed was low. and i mean low but hey it was what i had at the time. but truth be told i was asking the truck to do way more than it was ever desighned to do. i have no idea what the ratings on that truck was, and am scared to ask.

so you see im not saying that all 1/2 tons are suited for that sort of load but a properly equiped one should handle it very well, also you should note that im also saying with ANY tow vehicle you should know your rig and load and drive the combonation appropriately (yes i know i cant spell).

I recently drove a new chevy Z71

What? you want it to perform like a sports car while pulling to near full capacity on oversized tires????

A Hemi in a CC dodge truck with 3.54 gears would be about the

if that's your feeling then you dont have to buy the HEMI.....dont worry it wont break my heart

It is like they are forcing your hand

if you dont like the extra wieght on the front axle you dont have to buy the comings either.

now weither you like what ive said or not....its really no skin off my nose. thats the way i see it take it or leave it read the information provided by the manufactures ect for your self and make your own decisions as to what's the choices for you.

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ok... Replace Montana with Texas/New Mexico or Kansas.

As for gearing, My truck has no trouble doing 70-80. if I changed from 3.55 to 3.92, the RPMs would increase by 20% But Im pretty sure I will not gain

20 more power, so I will just be spinning the engine faster and burning more gas. If I was pulling a lot, then I would go to the 3.92s in a heart beat if I couldn't get a bigger truck. Given I hardly drive the truck as it is, I could get the 3.92s installed and not see much of a hit in my annual fuel consumption anyways.

I used to cruise 80 and 85 with 4.10?s and no OD for years!!! I pulled the engine after 150K to build it up some and found no real cyclinder wear and bearing were great. You may spin it faster but it it carring less load to cruise truck because it has to develope less cylinder pressure to cruise at a higher RPM to cruise witch means less bearing and piston ring pressure too. Goinf from a 3.55 to a 3.91 is about 11% not 20 % and truck will cruise eaiser and OD will work better and MPG will likel improve too if it is a heavy truck. A 3.55 was a compromise gear in a 4x4 when ther was no OD but it is a waste on a big 4x4 with OD unless you place very low standards on performance. MY k3500 has

4.10 with 30?s and it turns about 2500 at 70mph and will cruise nicely at any speed you choose to without complaint and pulls OD fairly well too even on hills with AC on (it never doneshifts unless you have a really big load on a steep hiway hill. I can bury the speedo without using OD to with 4.10?s. You must remeber that if you have one of those hemi?s its power peak is past 5000 RPM and it torque peak is around 4000 rpm and if you are stuck on 2000 to 2400 RPM cruises at 70 to 85 mph, you are only developing about maybe 100HP or so at the rear wheel at those speed and that RPM of you are lucky and this is why towing can really suck. Even the old 360 had more torque below 3000 rpm where you spend most of your time than the new Hemi. People look at the HP rating but they do not factor how it all come it to play and how much of it is usable towing as they think 345 HP is 345 hp all the time not when it is wound to the max. That kind of power curve would be nice in a sleek car but not of much use in a heavy truck that needs strong low and mid range toque so performance and MPG can suffer. Man a old 300 HP V10 truck engine would badly wipe the floor with hemi towing big time and so would even a GM6.0 because its power peaks about 1000 RPM sooner and it deleivers more towing power though it is rated lower HP wise than the hemi. THings are not that cut and dried in the HP game.

That would be why I don't like the lil Hondas... I don't like winding out the engine to make power. I like it nice and low. just like the big rigs... they only have 200, 300, 400 HP, but have 700-2000 ft-lb of torque! that will make anyone smile!!!

"SnoMan" wrote: > [quote:b0ee69513c="Trey"] > As for gearing, My truck has no trouble doing 70-80. if I > changed from 3.55 > to 3.92, the RPMs would increase by 20% But Im pretty sure I > will not gain > 20 more power, so I will just be spinning the engine faster > and burning more > gas. > If I was pulling a lot, then I would go to the 3.92s in a > heart beat if I > couldn't get a bigger truck. Given I hardly drive the truck as > it is, I > could get the 3.92s installed and not see much of a hit in my > annual fuel > consumption anyways.[/quote:b0ee69513c] > > I used to cruise 80 and 85 with 4.10's and no OD for years!!! > I pulled the engine after 150K to build it up some and found > no real cyclinder wear and bearing were great. You may spin it > faster but it it carring less load to cruise truck because it > has to develope less cylinder pressure to cruise at a higher > RPM to cruise witch means less bearing and piston ring > pressure too. Goinf from a 3.55 to a 3.91 is about 11% not 20 > % and truck will cruise eaiser and OD will work better and MPG > will likel improve too if it is a heavy truck. A 3.55 was a > compromise gear in a 4x4 when ther was no OD but it is a waste > on a big 4x4 with OD unless you place very low standards on > performance. MY k3500 has 4.10 with 30's and it turns about > 2500 at 70mph and will cruise nicely at any speed you choose > to without complaint and pulls OD fairly well too even on > hills with AC on (it never doneshifts unless you have a really > big load on a steep hiway hill. I can bury the speedo without > using OD to with 4.10's. You must remeber that if you have one > of those hemi's its power peak is past 5000 RPM and it torque > peak is around 4000 rpm and if you are stuck on 2000 to 2400 > RPM cruises at 70 to 85 mph, you are only developing about > maybe 100HP or so at the rear wheel at those speed and that > RPM of you are lucky and this is why towing can really suck. > Even the old 360 had more torque below 3000 rpm where you > spend most of your time than the new Hemi. People look at the > HP rating but they do not factor how it all come it to play > and how much of it is usable towing as they think 345 HP is > 345 hp all the time not when it is wound to the max. That kind > of power curve would be nice in a sleek car but not of much > use in a heavy truck that needs strong low and mid range toque > so performance and MPG can suffer. Man a old 300 HP V10 truck > engine would badly wipe the floor with hemi towing big time > and so would even a GM6.0 because its power peaks about 1000 > RPM sooner and it deleivers more towing power though it is > rated lower HP wise than the hemi. THings are not that cut and > dried in the HP game.

I just went out yesterday to retrive a fullsized 4x4 on a car hauler and haul it 50 miles in 93 degrees heat on interstate hills. (it could have been 250 miles with the same outcome) The combine towed weight was around 7500 lbs. My truck never got one needle width above normal the whole time (never hit 200 by my gauge) and we were "chillin" big time too and I was not using recirculate either for A/C and it was cold the way I like it on a hot day. My tow vehical was a 2000 chevy K3500 with a 255hp rated 350 with a factory aux tranny cooler, engine oil cooler, a factory HD engine cooling with a 10 bladed clutch fan and 4.10 gears. We did the legal limit and then some towing and never left OD except for one very long steep hill and then I was able to easilly hold speed with very limited throttle in drive. At no time at all was I anywhere near floor boarded. The reason I post this is not to compare GM to Dodge but to compare gearing and engine power curves and setups when towing. My engines torque peak is rated at about 3000 RPM and when running 70 MPH in OD it is turning about 2500RPM and has good torque because it is close to its peak. If I drop out of OD to drive at 70 it shows about 3100 or so on tach and it is right in the engines sweet spot and it will pull there hard there smoothly and all day if need be without much fuss or running any warmer. To tow well you have to match the engines power curve to the load with proper gearing. If you have a engine with a 4000 RPM torque peak and a power peak above 5000 RPM, you are not going to have good towing performace or MPG while towing with tall gears and lower RPM?s. I will not own a truck that will not tow well and keep its cool no matter how hard I pull it because that is what I buy trucks for.

So, what did all of that mean?

This all means that is the truck is properly geared for the load towed the is will do well and that a 255hp rated truck tow much better than a 345HP rated truck that is not geared for the load. It is a poor shoice by the manufacture to "sell" a truck as powerfull with a big HP rating when its power cuvre is such that its rated power is no where near usable towing. Towing with a Hemi at 2500 RPM or less you are luck if you are putting much over 100HP at the wheels at 2500 RPM because since the engines rated torque peak is a 4200 and power peak a

5400 it will be making considerably less torque and HP below 3000rpm where 99% of the towing takes place. If you have a big load to haul with one, you want to be geared so that your RPM?s are above above 3000 RPM at 65 to 70 in drive (not OD) if you want reasonable pulling power on a long hill. If you are turning less, you are losing towing power and MPG under a load because engine is operating well below its peak VE RPM which means power output will be low and fuel consumption will be higher too.