Supercharged 7.3 gasohol F-250 4x4 towing 15K trailer etc

rjstractor wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
It must just be the irresistible need for antagonism speaking.
It's a custom hot rod and a cool one at that...that will also tow well.

Nailed it! Always fun to stir the pot a little. It would also be super fun to run around in that big sleeper, giving the occasional big surprise to various V8 muscle cars and tuner boys in imports!

Oh yeah!
That truck is like a reverse mullet. Party in front, business in the back!
Wonder what the trap times are on that big rig at 600+ Hp?

Grit dog wrote:
It must just be the irresistible need for antagonism speaking.
It's a custom hot rod and a cool one at that...that will also tow well.

Nailed it! Always fun to stir the pot a little. It would also be super fun to run around in that big sleeper, giving the occasional big surprise to various V8 muscle cars and tuner boys in imports!

I will say that a 3.5EB should be more reliable than a supercharged 7.3. The 3.5 is designed to be a boosted engine with the correct compression ratio and it's pistons are similar to diesel engine pistons with steel liners casted in for the ring lands. The super charged 7.3 probably doesn't have ideal compression for boost and doesn't have steel ring lands in the pistons for long term durability.

^Still whining about the exhaust manifold eh?

Specta said--That's why I would never buy a V-6 Ecoboost to tow with.

My 3.5l EB does not get hot when pulling long hills. I admit that I am only pulling 5000 pounds of trailer and stuff. I have pulled over the Beartooth Highway (east to west and west to east), up the west side of 14A from Lovell WY to Burgess Junction, the Ike, Million Dollar Highway (both ways) Wolf Creek Pass and one near Ashville that I can't remember the highway and many more.
My tranny temp never went above 215 degrees and the coolant gauge never moved more than a couple of degrees and I was running the air conditioning most of the time.
Another myth that most people mistakenly believe is that you have to wind a EB up to make power. The engine makes almost full HP and torque starting at 1800 rpms. I have never gone over 3500 rpms except during motor braking.
My only problem is that I am waiting for a new exhaust manifold and it is back ordered. The dealership that has done all of my work will not install an aftermarket unit.
I use tow/haul all the time when towing.
My 2011 has 206,000 miles and we have pulled all over the country multiple times and will be heading out again to the Rockies.

rjstractor wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:
Having ran huffers on a couple of old tech built for towing 454/460 one ton drw trucks in commercial service in the '70s heat was a engine killer.
This is 40+ year newer tech but I would like to see a actual towing test up the IKe and see how the belt driven huffer and other mods deals with excess heat through the engine/tranny. See what actual temps are like working heavy rather than a drag race.

I was wondering the same, was thinking that motor would really heat up from a long hard pull. With that much power it should easily complete a "full pull" with the 15K trailer up the Ike (60 mph the whole way) but could the cooling system exchange that much heat? And it would be fun to snicker at the abysmal mpg.

Idk what all would need to be done with the cooling system (or maybe even internally, larger water jackets, etc) but this isn't 40 years ago and there are already vehicles putting down this much or more power and pickup trucks built to tow that are making just as much heat, so I'd say the cooling system is easily doable.
BUT this truck isn't built to tow. It's not even on the radar as a real tow rig, nor would it likely be anytime in the foreseeable future. But you guys already know that. It must just be the irresistible need for antagonism speaking.
It's a custom hot rod and a cool one at that...that will also tow well.
Any new diesel will still eat this blown 7.3 for lunch, up a hill.

He!!, I remember actually doing an Ike test, on the Ike, with my buddy who had just installed a TRD blower on his 5.7 Tundra. He was bragging about it having 500hp! (which in fairness "was" a big deal 10-15 years ago). Asked how much hp my truck had. It was a LB7 Duramax with just a tuner. Told him a little over 400hp. I was running level 4 which was supposedly a 120hp tune on the 300hp stock engine. I didn't want to scatter the trans on L 5 or 6.
He said his 500hp tundra was going to wax the Chevy. He had a 2 place open sled trailer with 1 sled on it, so maybe 1500lbs total trailer. I had a 3 place enclosed with 2 sleds in it, so maybe 3000lbs total.
We hit it both ways on our trip to ride that day. The long 7% stretch going up Eastbound from Silverthorne to the tunnel and the shorter Westbound steep area at the bottom of the climb Wet of Georgetown.
My 400hp/800ftlb diesel left his 500/500 Tundra like a bad habit up the hill!
And his truck was a TRD with 3.91 gears. I was running 3.73s in the Dirtymax.

It's virtually the same comparison between the blown 7.3 and a new diesel pickup.

rjstractor wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:
Having ran huffers on a couple of old tech built for towing 454/460 one ton drw trucks in commercial service in the '70s heat was a engine killer.
This is 40+ year newer tech but I would like to see a actual towing test up the IKe and see how the belt driven huffer and other mods deals with excess heat through the engine/tranny. See what actual temps are like working heavy rather than a drag race.

I was wondering the same, was thinking that motor would really heat up from a long hard pull. With that much power it should easily complete a "full pull" with the 15K trailer up the Ike (60 mph the whole way) but could the cooling system exchange that much heat? And it would be fun to snicker at the abysmal mpg.

The engine will only use as much fuel as needed to do the work. Take a look at the TFL video of the Ram TRX (700hp ?) and the Ford Raptor (EcoBoost) on I70 with the same trailers at the same time. The mpg was surprising. It’s only a guess but it wouldn’t surprise me if the programming can be set to protect the engine from a pilot trying to tow 15k at 94mph up a 10mile 8% grade.

rjstractor wrote:


I was wondering the same, was thinking that motor would really heat up from a long hard pull. With that much power it should easily complete a "full pull" with the 15K trailer up the Ike (60 mph the whole way) but could the cooling system exchange that much heat? And it would be fun to snicker at the abysmal mpg.

That's why I would never buy a V-6 Ecoboost to tow with.

JIMNLIN wrote:
Having ran huffers on a couple of old tech built for towing 454/460 one ton drw trucks in commercial service in the '70s heat was a engine killer.
This is 40+ year newer tech but I would like to see a actual towing test up the IKe and see how the belt driven huffer and other mods deals with excess heat through the engine/tranny. See what actual temps are like working heavy rather than a drag race.

I was wondering the same, was thinking that motor would really heat up from a long hard pull. With that much power it should easily complete a "full pull" with the 15K trailer up the Ike (60 mph the whole way) but could the cooling system exchange that much heat? And it would be fun to snicker at the abysmal mpg.

“Misters” as in H2O injected into the intake or oiler squirting up into the cylinders to cool the piston bottoms ?

Am still noodling what my 7.4L Suburban will be built to.

Have tossed out exhaust turbo and supercharger, but the serpentine belt driven, centrifugal turbo is of interest...if there is enough room

Not looking for 1/4 mile or zero to 60MPH, but high altitude relief...though won’t mind better boy racer attributes ...