pnichols wrote:
Ron, I assume you use full synthetic? I switched to Mobil 1 Extended Performance in our E450 several years ago.
Bryan, I'm curious as to when you're needing that much shaft torque from your V10 - it must be when towing that trailer I see in your van's photo? You're really getting some torque to the ground from those 4:56 diff gears at those high RPMs. That's the same gearing as is in our motorhome - which I assume weighs much more on average than your setup - and I haven't had a need yet to rev that high, even in the Sierras. I'll bet you're sometimes giving the diesels a run for their money!
We grew out of the trailer in the pic. The new race trailer weighs about 12,000 loaded, and then there's at least 3,000 pounds of people and gear in the van, so it scales about 22,000 most of the time. At that weight, I can keep 65-70 on any of the major I-5 climbs like Siskiyou and the Grapevine.
When I had the Weekend Warrior (it broke), I would top 25,000 pounds and that would slow me down a little, but I could still do about 55 on the big western climbs. The only climb that gets it are some of the taller summits in the Rockies, where it would drop to 45 or so because of the elevation.
PS - I run sythetic too. If I'm doing mostly towing, I'll go as far as 12,000 miles between oil changes. But cold starts are still as bad for synthetic as conventional. I had a recent job change so now I commute in-town, so for the time being I'm back to 5k changes at least until the van goes back to towing-only duty.
