RV Towing: What mods?

P

Paul Underwood

New member
After several successful years of towing with my PSD with a 7.3, I recently purchased a 2006 Dodge 3500 Dually with a Cummins. It has 3.73 gears and automatic transmission with factory tow package. I am towing a 12,000 pound tandem axle 5th-wheel RV.

In my PSD, I had Autometer gauges (EGT, Boost and Trans Temp) aong with SuperChips Power Programmer set on max with straight 4" exhaust and a K&N Air Filter. I never had any problems. The reason for changing vehicles is I plan to purchase a much heavier 5th-wheel RV in the near future and needed a one-ton dually. My son is a Ford Master Diesel Tech and he highly recommended I purchase a Cummins powered truck.

I am considering purchasing the Edge with Juice and I am going to open up the exhaust. I would appreciate feedback on these plans and welcome any suggestions/alternatives you might have to offer.
 
Edge with Juice works well, new on the seen is a "smarty" down loader, works well on our trucks, it has a code scanner built in and HP numbers up to 175hp, and can be remover for warranty, your exhaust will work find for now i believe it's a full 4" from the factory, i would do something with your air filter and box, and maybe some kind of exhaust break since you will be towing a large 5er. and gages are always a good idea.

http://www.wagnerandassociates.biz/

Talk to Bob and he can fill you in on the smarty

Scott

PS if you are looking for a larger 5er let me know dad has a 2000 40 ft. travel supreme that he is unloading.
 
Airflow Airflow Airflow...

I tow heavy with my 2006 3500 also (14,000 toyhauler) and I was disappointed with the "out of the box" egts I saw while towing. I could easily hit 1500 with stock programming and after adding a little more fuel it was a chore to drive.

I went all in and installed BD's twins, now I can tow at pretty much any speed I want. I regularly tow on level 4 on my Juice, level 4 will only hit about 1150° when fully loaded and flogging the daylights out of it.

EGTs are a real issue on these trucks... definately look into a turbo upgrade if you tow that 5er alot.

As for exhaust... replace the muffler and drop the cat, your good to go.

Mike
 
I would stay away from any EDGE product. Allot of Duramax owners are having problems with them shutting down & overheating. Towing that much weight I would put more trust with a TS Performance system or TST.
 
dmax35 said:
I would stay away from any EDGE product. Allot of Duramax owners are having problems with them shutting down & overheating. Towing that much weight I would put more trust with a TS Performance system or TST.
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ive talked to alot of 6.0 owners and cummins owners that are running edge and they seem pretty happy with Edge products.
 
Paul,

We have a wide arangment of vendors here .. find a product you think you might want ..and give one of our ,if not all of them a shout , I'me sure they will take good care of you.
 
all you need is about 40 to mayybe 60 HP and you'll be fine. Edge works but not unloaded IMHO. GET a pyro, whatever you do.
 
I have an Edge Drag Comp in my truck with larger than stock injectors, basically I have plenty of fuel LOL Remember it's all in the setting you use, when I am pulling the house around the level NEVER goes over 1 (the lowest) and the EGT's stay below 1200. Check out my gallery for pics of the unit, but it's a 40ft, 15K fiver. IMHO you should concentrate on keeping EGT's down and the tranny cool, those are going to be the big issues with your truck and towing a large camper.

Intake, maybe exhuast, and look into an aftermarket Valve Body. This all assumes that you are going to play with the power level.

I will say this, after driving them all you will not find a better tow vehicle than a Dodge with a Cummins, that motor is simply awesome. At 70mph running under 2k RPM I have yet to find a hill that gives me any problems :evil
 
Hill, operative word LOL LOL

The truck just plain pulls it's nuts off, but there is a limit in all things (and I ususally find it).
 
well i just got off the phone with my Dad "Paul Underwood" and he said the 06 Ram did an excellent job pullin the 32 foot fifthwheel up the Colorado mountains..
he said he will post up the results this eveing. mileage, etc..

Hed said he is very happy with the edge, and exhaust mods, and air intake upgrades.
 
The only problem I encountered going up a 9 mile 6 degree grade pulling 12,000 pounds was my transmission temperature reached a high of 241 degrees just before reaching the mountain crest.

My son recommended I purchase and install a double capacity transmission pan to address the elevated transmission temperatures.

After I reached the peak and started down, within 1 mile the EGT dropped from a high of 1200 back down to 900 and the transmission temperature dropped from 241 back down to 185.

Average speed acending the mountain was 30-40 mph dictated by EGTs.
 
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