Towing long and heavy with a 6.5? Read on

[Acesneights1]

I think you'll be fine. It seems the campers take a much harder toll. I towed my 93 all the way up from NY with my burb and no issues with bone stock unmolested rad not cleaned .Maybe by then there will be a new fan clutch mod...

 

[Chief915]

I think you'll be fine. It seems the campers take a much harder toll.

True....I don't "expect" any problems out of her.

But on a funny side note..... while I was typing my earlier post I couldn't help thinking..... Maybe I should spend the 80 bucks and get a new set of injectors tested, matched, and installed before the trip.


I only have a fraction of the distance to travel, as compared to Great White's trip, but the rest of our situations are eerily similar. I do have a lot more time to "fail" than he did. Once I leave here, I will have about 40 days until I MUST be there.

 

[jmack91z28]

I wasn't sure but I only use the guy in Agawam now. Same price and I can go there and physically see the work. I have however always had good things to say about Tim. Never a problem with customer service at all.

Yes, Tim was very helpful. I asked him about their 6 month warranty, he said they'll back their injectors for a full year, so that's good to know. I plan on buying a set of new delphi's here soon.

 

[Acesneights1]

He must have just started carrying those. When I bought mine he only had remans or the Medallions which he did not recommmend.

 

[BigArt]

Yup he was definitely in a position that left him very few choices. I just wish that he would have had better luck, really sucks the big one.

But hey he ends up with a practically new truck now with the demonstrated proven ability to pull his trailer & prolly most anything he wants to hook to it.

No matter how much we try or how much we prepare for something we can't always predict the outcome.

He made the only choice he could & went above & beyond what most men would have been able to endure.

My hat is off to you BJ you did good & I will go out on a limb & suggest the majority of members (prolly ALL) here feel the same...:tiphat

Ditto ditto ditto.... I'm with you too BJ. Don't stay away too long. I bit the big one on a new engine about 3 and a half years ago.

Art

 

[WarWagon]

In the slow lane in first gear sounds like a disaster!!!! It dont go 30 in first, only about 10 mph. Hmmmm the math would be 5 mile @ 10 mph equals a half hour of flat grinding away @ the grade!!!! Naw cant be that bad!!!! I hope

It can be. The 6.2 NA simply doesn't have enough power to get out of it's own way. The 88 6.2 suburban we had would be in the slow lane on Eisenhower pass in Colorado blowing smoke. Not that the 350 burbs were much further ahead smelling like sulfur... I wanted a turbo on it so bad just to clear the smoke. The grades were so long that the AC would blow fog then warm up because it kicked out at WOT. Working the engine this hard running around Colorado with no trailers took the cross hatch off the cylinders in 70K miles and burned up the injectors. I did not know it had bad injectors at the time from the blue smoke show when starting and it started hard. (Back in the day before internet...)

The advice for the cooling system applies to your truck at least for a newer fan clutch. Fine tooth comb over the cooling system and hoses especially check the block heater for leaks indicating it is about to blow out of the block.

It will make it although going slow. Check that your flashers do not trigger the trailer brakes.

If it was my truck I would put a turbo on it. Trade off for MPG be dammed as going that slow N/A isn't worth the risk with slow trucks passing you. Obtain a turbo manifold, turbo, air filter assy, crossover, oil return, 3' of oil supply hose, and exhaust down pipe/complete exhaust. Electric lift pump if it has a mech pump on it. Upgrade the cooling system and then 1/4 turn on the fuel screw. You don't need the 1/4 turn as the turbo will clear up the smoke and give you better power, but, why not use the turbo to the max, after all the MPG doesn't change from stock fuel and boost to max smoke free fuel and boost.

 

[orrum]

Thanks War Wagon, I guess. LOL I do not want to turbo it until I have experimented with the WVO and then if it works I intend to buy a nice 6.5 mechanical with turbo. I really like the way these trucks are to work on and you guys have fixed the gremlins or at least identified all the gremlins. However I think with my new radiator rather than clean my condensor I will get another one since mine has a lot of mashed over areas especially on the passenger side and its also stopped up with stop leak. Ace told me how to clean the stop leak out so I can fix the ac. Also I want to upgrade my fan and clutch but I want to stay with the 4 bolt ones. I have read so much on fans I am going to have to back up and reread to find something I can afford.

 

[Acesneights1]

Your year and bodystyle is practically a cinch to put a 6.5 turbo setup on. It's the older square bodys and angled heads that present some challenge.

 

[imadtchmn]

If all you are looking for is downhiill decent control, in other words keeping the converter locked..... you do not need an aftermarket ECM anyway. You can make it happen with the bone stock ECM and PROM. Ask me how I know.

Two pieces of wire and a switch accomplishes the same thing. How much does two pieces of wire and a toggle switch cost?

Ok, since this would be a nice feature coming down a hill, I am asking how. BTW I agree with BJ also.

 

[great white]

Ok, since this would be a nice feature coming down a hill, I am asking how...

Wire and switch only works with OBDI trucks. A quick search of the forum will probably turn up what you're looking for instruction wise.

*edit- here's one - http://blog.heathdiesel.com/2005/11/manual-operation-of-torque-converter.html *

OBDII will code and go into limp mode with a manual lockup switch.

OBDII needs to have it programmed into the PCM.

BD Diesel Performance sells a "box" that supposedly works like the wire and switch on OBDI trucks although I have no personal experience with it....

 

[WarWagon]

Opening up an old thread with new advice.

Turbo master and Turbo's.
The single biggest boat anchor is not your trailer that you want to tow, but the GMx turbo. Adding a Turbo Master will get you more boost for a little more fuel and about 10MPH more in the 30 MPH range on a 6% grade. (Running 14psi near choke range vs. a spring can set at 6PSI factory for 1993. The 1994+ vac systems may run more boost.) Your MPG will be near that of a gas engine. Not only that but the exhaust restriction this turbo provides will keep heat in the engine locking in the cooling fan for even more drag on the climb. the GMx is done at 2200 RPM with more RPM and throttle simply trying to blow past the small waste gate. You can feel the engine running out of power in the upper RPM ranges.

Swap out to a larger turbo like the A Team Turbo kit and a tune and you have a completely different towing rig.
43 MPH flat out on 6%+ hills becomes 55 MPH. 7MPG becomes 10MPG. The fan doesn't run as much. You have power in the upper RPM range that automatic transmissions tend to keep you with your foot flat on the floor. The fuel savings would have saved me a small fortune in fuel at $210 per day if I would have put an ATT on first instead of a turbo master.

No more "oh no, it's gonna shift and loose power again." while going up the hill.

No the 6.5 isn't a modern common rail diesel. But getting the biggest boat anchor, a GMx turbo, off the engine's back will make it close enough for a lot less cash.

Locking up the TCC can be a bad idea. The TCC clutch isn't all that strong and can burn up easy. The "Overrun" clutches are also weak down through 2nd gear. The shifting method requires overrun clutches to allow compression braking and are only used with manual downshifting 3rd through 2nd gear. The first thing I burned out in my transmission was the 2nd gear overrun clutch. The next thing was the TCC clutch at less than 50K miles from a full rebuild. So locked TCC on compression braking can slip and completely burn off the overrun clutches. Locking a single disc TCC at WOT is never recommended, a triple disc unit is the min. Just ask Yank Converters...