Regarding vehicle up grades (do they really work)

[Lightning]

Thor,
My buddy has a 4.6L Expedition and he tows a 21' boat with. He swapped to new gears and swears by it. If you want more details, email me.

[CA Stu]

Hi folks, first time poster.
Had to chime in on this one. I had a 96 Dodge 1500 w/ a 5.9 V8 all the bolt ons, 12 mpg, lots of pinging under load, forget towing with it.
Traded it in for a 2001 2500 w/ the Cummins diesel, put a Banks Stinger kit on it, it will tow the freakin Queen Mary sideways up Rice Road in the summer with the A/C blazing and still get good mileage.
If you want a great tow vehicle, get a diesel.
My .02
CA Stu
(I get about 16-17 mpg around town, about 14 towing my 23 ft boat.)

[THOR]

Lightning,
What gears did he put in there? Mine are no where near what I need.

[VanDeano]

Yep, my Dad just bought a new Ford pick up with a turbo diesel. I was amazed how much power and top end it had. Was nothing like his 1985 diesel.
My only problem with his diesel is (I know I may get a lot of crap for this) that it is a FORD.
But then again, I have a Ford 460 in my boat.

[63stevens]

My pull vehicle is a 1989 E350 class C MH. It doesn't pull the hills great(33mph on grapevine) but it has 65k on it and has never left me standing on the side of the road. If you want something that pulls great and gets mileage get a diesel. I don't know much about the duramax but the ford powerstroke get's the job done. That 496 in the chevy's with the allison does a great job too!

[77charger]

hers my experience
89 burb4x4(a turd to begin with)(190hp)was stock a dog.now flowmaster hi flow cat(15-20hp)
,jba headers(10hp),chip(10hp) k&n,tbi spacer(5hp),msd(10hp)with all this claimed horsepower i should have felt more than a hole in the pocket!!!only difference was the hole in the pocket noticed very little if anything now all i have is the exhaust everything is now stock and very very little difference.
I have a cousin who believes in all this crap he has puts a filter,wires,plugs ,atc and tells me all this stuff is worth lots of extra hp well i have finished my beer and am still waiting at the sand bar for him to show.
I am a believer in the old cam,compression and carbueration makes hp.any everytime i have swaped cams,intakes,and carbs i have felt a difference.
Now if i can rebuild my burban motor soon and swap cams i hope it wont be a turd on the floor and if still is a vortec will be bolted on.BTW i saw a filter comparison in hrm lately and the difference in hp was 2 at the most between stock and aftermarket!!!!plus the KN i had always let dirt flow thru(yes it was oiled)BPOS
[ August 09, 2002, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: 77charger ]

[cruser]

Just got back from a trip pulling my 23', 5500 lbs Sleekcraft(includes trailer) about 1000 mi. Also included is me, my wife and a few 100 pounds of gear. Total GVW is about 12K or so. Tow vehicle is a 98 Expedition w/5.7. Got about 11 mpg at between 65-70 using AC. Only issue I have with towing is that, as mentioned above, 2-3 are too far apart. Didn't find a hill that I couldn't go up at >60 mph, if I kept my foot in it and allowed it to shift down to 2nd, otherwise if I let up a little bit and kept it in 3rd, the lowest speed I got was about 55. We have a 6% hill in town that I can go up at >65 if I want to rev over 4000 in 2nd or, if I shift up I can only hold 55mph. When not towing on this hill, it runs @60 pretty easy.

[VanDeano]

77 Charger,
I feel your pain! wink