What can I do to make towing easier with my truck?

33" tires are probably hurting your performance and mpg considerably. Drop to 30-31" which is stock size for your truck. I have a Hemi Durango 4x4 3.55 and pull about 5,000 lbs in very mountainous terrain. It does have a factory tranny cooler as well as an auxiliary engine cooler that works great.

If you upped the tire size then you need lower gears. Since you will be in there may as well go lower than the equivalent stock gears. Mileage will take a dump though. I am running 38" on my 1500 4x4 but I have replaced the axles with 1 ton units off a diesel with 4.10 gears. Cant pull crap though.

Howard, I have a '96 1500 with a 5.9 (3.55) and an '04 3500 dually with the Cummins (4.10). Junk the 33" rubber. They may look cool, but they will absolutely trash your ball joints and steering arms. They wear poorly. The extended sidewall makes the whole truck wobbly, ruining the handling. In addition, your effective axle is now about 3.4, effectively making your already poor towing much worse. I am not sure what your factory max towing weight is, but I think if you haven't already exceeded the factory recommendation, you are right at the limit. If you consider nothing else, please consider the inadequate brakes that equip the 1500. If you want to tow, get a 3500 and the Cummins. You won't believe the difference. On my 3500, I use 22.5 alcoas. The 1500 is a toy. The 3500 is the real deal. Steve

the stock tires are matched to the truck's load rating. increasing the load rating of the tires does not increase the truck's RAWR. (Rear Axle Weight Rating) and thus doesn't do much to help you. ALTHOUGH E rated tires will be more stable when your pushing the upper limits of C rated tire's ratings. But there again your pushing the limits of what the truck is designed to do in that case, if not already exceeding the design limits.

".boB"

Howard Page wrote:

The two are not directly related. The cold air system is one of the few easy changes that has been shown to increase low end torque. It's relativly inexpensive, and pretty simple to install.

A colder thermostat will pulll more heat out of the heads. That helps prevent detonation, and you can use mid grade instead of premium. It also gives you a little more lee-way on hot days with long grades. BUT, only do that if you've re-programmed the computer to accomadate it. Otherwise, you could make the engine run bad, and cut your mileage by a bunch.

-------- .boB

2006 FXDI hot rod 2008 Mustang Coupe 2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92 1965 FFR Cobra - 427W EFI, Damn Fast.

My 99 1500 already has a tube pulling air from the fender from the factory. Isnt that taking in cold air?

I already installed a 180 thermostat, what chip and CAI should I go to? I am in Houston weather if that makes a difference. 5.9l gas with auto.

Does the Hypertech come with set programming or do i have to figure it out? How do i check the belly pan?

Thanks.