What can I tow?

[cur.bill]

I have a 93 crewcab 7.3 non-turbo with a new eng and rebuilt trans. We are retiring in 18 months and would like to take up camping again. The rear was changed to a 3.55 from a 4:10. I am wondering what will I be able to tow in size and weight. Is a 5th wheel a better idea or should I stick with a tow behind. I have towed a 30 footer behind a surb. so i can remember what was involved. I really can't just buy something without considerable thought. The truck is 2 wheel drive and is totally rebuilt. Thank you

 

[h2odrx]

Slide ins are cool too!

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

You can tow alot, even with the 3.55's. I have the same gears and routinely have 5 tons behind it. I am turboed, but my brother tows the same tractor with the same gears N/A. He is just alittle slower
Some will tell you to put back the 4.10's, but I wouldn't. Just figure on downshifting a little more.
BTW if you have an automatic, make sure you have a large transmission cooler before doing much towing.

 

[jeffgordon24]

go for the 5 er you wont regret it tows easier parks easier and and 30 ft is almost that where as a trailor you lose at least 3 feet for the tongue

 

[Dirtleg]

Bill, in March of 2008 I towed 14,000 lbs from Houston Tx to Lynchburg Va behind my then NA IDI. Gears are 3.55's with 315/75-16 tires. That is effectively reducing the gear ratio to 3.2:1 in relation to the stock size tires with 3.55's. I averaged over 10 mpg at that weight. In all honesty I would not want to pull that heavy all the time. I really had to work it at times climbing some grades. Realistically 8k is about as much as I would be comfortable towing regularly NA.

My advice to you would be to get a very large transmission cooler, a tranny temp gauge and an EGT gauge. The transmission is stout enough if it's kept cool. I used a Tru-Cool 4135 (i think thats the right number) transmission cooler. I've hauled as much as 20k lbs of hay behind the truck and the transmission temps stayed under 200*. Bear in mind my truck has been worked hard and without the cooler my transmission would have died long ago.

Being NA you will find that when in the mountains you lose alot of power and your EGT's will get high while towing. It is crucial for you to be able to moniter the exhaust temperature in these situations. It's important to know when to back out of the throttle to prevent melting a piston or burning a valve. I keep mine under a sustained 1150* although I have heard some people go higher. I don't and haven't had any issues due to high EGT's.

Sounds like you are going to have a very good time out there Let us know how things progress.

 

[RLDSL]

If you don't plan on leaving Florida with the thing, no worries. You haven't got any hills to worry about Modifications needed from there are dependent on where you plan on going. If you are going to skirt the gulf, you'd be fine as is, but if heading into the mountains, you might seriously want to consider a turbo. You can pull without it. I pulled my 5er over the ozarks before I had my turbo and it tips the scales at around 10k It'd get the job done, but not without some persueding. That turbo takes a lot of the work out of it.
Another thing when shopping for trailers, avoid the temptation to grab that great deal on an older 35 footer thats going dirt cheap as many national park campgrounds an some state park campgrounds have a 30 ft length limit.