I've got a 7.3 SD with a 3.73 axle ratio and on one particular hill of 11 %, I used to run out of power in second gear pulling my larger GN. I did the usual mods, and now I can exceed the speed limit at partial throttle in third gear. On the open road in our hilly area, my torque converter rarely unlocks when my module is selected in its lowest setting. I routinely cruise at 65 -70 mph at about 1800+ rpm.  I use only synthetic lubricants, and observe proper warm up and cool down cycles. This has  been going on now for 8 years with no reliability or maintenance issues, engine or transmission. For me, this is a perfect combination.

Gard

hounddog, I agree with your logic and the logic of the proffessional delivery guy.  All my work trucks are basically stock under the hood.  The most I've done to any of my work trucks is upgrade tires and wheels since we are off road on jobsites quite a bit.  Even my daily driver for my company is a stock unit.  However, my personal truck for towing our LQ trailer is a little different.  When I call on it, I want it to be there!  I don't want to be grinding up a hill in second or third when I can pull that hill in fourth at 55 and have all the gauges in the green.  A lot of times I'm the lead truck for a camping weekend and I'd rather lighten up on the throttle a bit to make sure everyone is keeping up rather than wishing I wasn't looking at everyone bunched up behind me waiting for me to get to the top of the hill.  I take good care of my blue oval truck and want it to last a long time because of the investment I made when I bought it new.  I'm not well off enough to trade trucks every couple of years and not worry about it.  The 2001 super duty I own right now has got to last a long time towing my LQ 3h slant.  Regular peeks under the hood and regular maitenance help make sure that will happen.  I enjoy flippin the power brake off and setting the cruise control on the interstate.  Without my Super Chip, I was not able to that as much as I can now. 

deranger

hogtownboss, by any chance is that a 4x4 truck?

deranger

Here are some old sayings .Gauges first! You play you pay! Now I will also mention that on the diesel forums be it which ever brand 90% give or take of the failed engines and trannys are modded trucks.(except 6.0s)Even if all facts point to a mod NOT causing the failure its still modded trucks with the burned pistons,dropped valve seats and transmission issues.Then all the squabble starts about the manufactures looking so hard at these failures and dening warranty.Iwonder why the manufacture looks so hard? Maybe because modded trucks make up the majority of the big failures?

hounddog, all that might be true, but I have conflicting information.  My local feed supplier, gate supplier for my business bought a brand new F450 a couple of years ago.  In less than 40k miles, the truck had a blown head gasket and this truck had only pulled an Exiss 3h LQ.  It had not been driven hard at all. I also remember when Ford startd putting the 6.9 in F350 Rollbacks the first year and then later in anything from a F250 on up, they had problems with dropping valves, blown head gaskets and lost compression. 

Let's look at it from a different angle.  When you bought a 426 hemi from chrysler back in the 70's, it came from the factory with no warranty.  When you bought an LS-7 corvette or chevelle it came for the factory with no warranty.  Because the factory knew how they were going to be driven.  School teachers and accoutants weren't buying that kind of car with that kind of motor.

I think this falls back on the 80/20 rule?  Out of 100 people that make modifications to their trucks for more power, 20% of them are going to be show-offs!  The other 80% are going to use the trucks as they were intended, but with better driveability and a little more power.  But no hot rodding!  I've seen some local red necks that have installed dual turbos on their Dodge Cummins, over sized studs in place of head bolts, big injectors, open air intakes and producing phenomenal horse power. When they leave a stop light you can't see for the black fog and blue smoke off the tires.  I've had them pass me on the interstate and stomp it when they go by and if fogs the area with black smoke.  Those are the guys that are melting pistons, blowing head gaskets and having all the problems.  Over 50% of the trucks that my local diesel mechanic works on have some sort of power mode and the majority of them come in for repairs that would be required even if they didn't have a hp mode installed.

deranger

I think another consideration would be the owner's reason for the modifications. Many of the " failed" engines were used in conditions, for which they were not designed; four wheel burnouts, lower ET's etc. The fact that large ipower improvements can be made, easily and relatively inexpensively to diesel motors, lends them to be abused and stressed beyond their capabilities. Many of these failures were involved by drivers, whose main considerations were speed and acceleration.

If a review of the previous threads is made, you will find that most owners whose primary concern is towing, use modules in a midrange or low power setting. This is to ensure reliability, by keeping the cylinder head and EGT temperatures low enough to prevent damage. They are not concerned with extracting every ounce of horsepower. They are more interested in mileage, additional torque, and overall driveability while towing.

I would venture to say that if a survey were taken of modified diesel motors used for towing, you would find few failures. Most horse owners would not subject their pets to violent accelerations, slammed shifting and high speeds. Most like me, are unwilling to commit $10,000 to a new engine for this act of behaviour.

There are many levels of modifications that can be effected. The extreme changes are to extract the maximum amount of power at any cost. This results in a potential hand grenade, and the owners know this when they start the modifications. Most haulers are using a very low power improvement. Instead of doubling or trebling their horsepower, they are routinely adding only 40 - 80 HP, a small fraction of the total.

The fact that most owners have enjoyed reliable drivetrains for many years after the modifications were made, is a testimate to their driving techniques and the quality of the modifications that were made. These owners cannot be grouped or compared, to those whose primary interest is high performance.

Gard

Gard, very well said.

deranger

Just the facts again? Please reread the threads post by people who own and use this equipment on a daily bases. They are the experts and know best how their trucks behave. Those are the FACTS

hounddog, I think of myself as pretty typical when it comes to truck ownership, care and maintenace.  The barometer I use to measure that is what my peers, neighbors, co-workers, horse buddies, sub-contractors, vendors, family and so on are saying works for them when it comes to everything we talk about on these forums, from horses, to trailers and trucks.  Especially the trucks!  As I said in an earlier post, it took me a LONG time to install a power mod in my truck.  I was finally convinced by my diesel mechanic that it was safe, a good bang for my buck and would ADD drivability to install a Super Chip on the middle setting.  Not SHORTEN the life expectancy of my motor or my truck.  I did the exhaust a LONG time ago and installed a system from the CAT back.  Then did the air filter by changing to a K&N, but not the cold air package.  I also installed an engine brake that closes the waste gate on my turbo to take some load off the brakes on long downhill runs loaded.  I did a tremendous amount of research before any of the mods were done and before I spent the money for the mods.  The only thing I can think of that has been a negative concerning any of these mods is I'm going to replace some u-joints in my truck before some of my friends do.  I can live with that since I have a little more power and 90% of the time when that truck leaves the farm, it's towing or hauling something!  It's not a Sunday driver, it's a hardworking truck with enough power to make me smile when I call on it to do what I bought it for.

deranger