has anyone ever pulled their 6.5 in a truck pull if so how did u do, Iv got a 94 6.5l turbo diesel and the chrome 3 inch exhaust is bout the only improvment as far as the engine goes how would i do in a pull , i dont want to get out there and not move the thing 10 feet

Engine is not the only aspect in a pull, weight and weigh distribution, gear ratio, overall drivetrain, tires. Stock 6.5 makes only decent power, but its more a matter of who can get the most power to the ground and not just spin your tires...

You need an intercooler of some sort to pull hard and heavy. The stock set up is a heat maker. Make enough heat and crack the heads. I'm not saying you can't pull just not competitivly.

pulls only last a couple seconds, do you really think that would make a difference? I mean, the rest of the motor is completely stock.

Think about the difference between O2 content with an IAT of 200 deg vs. 100 deg. at the same volume/psi. The greater the load the more heat the engine will eat unless you have a way of dispersing it via intercooling. the greater the density per volume of O2, the more power. the better you disperse the heat the more you can work the engine and for longer.

I realize that, but he's not pulling a trailer on the highway, intercooler wouldnt be able to cool much while he's pulling a max of 10-15mph.

I see higher EGT towing than pulling the sled. It only lasts 20 seconds if that. Pull and don't worry about it.

bout how much weight does the sled put on the truck when the weight has been moved all the way up. i pull a 25' gooseneck with a cab tractor and bushog, which all together weights somewehere over 20,000lbs, it does squat the truck pretty bad but still pulls it good.


but im not gonna say for sure the truck doesnt already have a chip in it cause we bought it used in 97

tires are very important. there is another forum here that talks about truck pulling.

Chevy 9465,


Pull that much weight far and long and you will pull the engines tongue out, how hot you get when pulling. see if you can get an old PS 3.5" exhaust from a muffler shop that does the Ford upgrades to 4 & 5" exhausts, you can get a stainless exhaust for free with the right shop owner.


Which truck you have 1500,2500,or 3500


something I'd recommend you check out www.activesuspension.com (http://www.activesuspension.com) works wonders for me you only know its there when in useEdited by: Turbine Doc

Pair of 10" auxiliary electric cooling fans mounted front of the charge-air cooler would work wonders in a pull, or any other hi output slow speed scenario.


Don't require much real estate, at less than 2" thick.


Try it - you'll like it.....

It realy loads the rear suspension. If you look at any pulling video's closely or watch in person you can see the truck flex upwards in the middle as it takes off. I have an add a leaf in the rear and it still squats down some. It won't hurt it. Use 4 low and roll on the throttle hard after it leaves the line.

would half an inch in the exhaust size really make a big enough differnce to really matter

GM starts out 3" at the down pipe, to 2 3/4" at the muffler, then 2.5" out of the muffler.

my pipe is 3 inches from the turbo all the way out of the exhaust

TUBINEDOC ITS A 2500 (3 QUATER TON)

turbine doc: so you like your roadmaster? ive been lookin at one.

would half an inch in the exhaust size really make a big enough differnce to really matter


actually it does Area = pi * Radiusē


2.5" (stock) has an internal area of ~4.9


3" like you have now is ~7.06


going to 3.5" would give you ~9.6 which is nearly double stock


going all the way to 4" gives you ~12.6


if you go crazy with 5" then you get ~19.6!


and of course the greater the internal area, the less the resistance to air flow, so yes, it does make a big difference.

i read that due to limited space the downpipe from the turbo was limited to 3inches is that true and if so im think bout gettin 4in the rest of the way back and then getti a 4 inch chrome tip would that b ok?

thats pretty much true, 3" is about as big as you can go without trimming some metal off the frame, but there is a lot to be gained by replacing the factory down-pipe with a mandrel bent one. I hear Summit Racing sells a flowmaster one (pn flo-17220) 2.5" crossover and 3" down pipe both mandrel bent for only 90 bucks, can't go wrong with that.


But don't forget that a freeflowing exhaust will only make a small difference in and of itself, it really just makes the other performance upgrades work that much better. I'd go with the intercooler and a Hot Chip to get you more boost/fuel.Edited by: Texas Diesel Guy

TDG,


I'm positive I could fit a 4" downpipe on my k3500.


I would even go as far as to say I could fit a 5" with a little finesse and replacing the turndown with a downpipe that comes off / mates up to the exhaust turbine housing

turbine doc: so you like your roadmaster? ive been lookin at one.


Having towed with and without it would never go back & tow without one, with 4480# on rear axle pulling my GN truck sits dead level, I have the 3/4T set, adjusted to min stiff setting can be adjusted for more stiffness if need be. It also improved my empty handling not as much body sway when cornering, nice thing is you don't know it's there no effect on ride, it works as advertised, plus IIRC I think they will let you test for 30 days and return it if not satisfied.


If you decide to get one let me know and I'll describe a better way to set the tension on springs than what is in their instructions.


QM, 5" would be overkill several over on TDP tried different routines found for trouble involved and cost of larger dia pipe 3.5" was about all that was needed for what we flow, 4" netted a little better performance in a highly modded truck but not enought to justify scrapping a 3.5" to go to larger tube, that said when my Banks 3.5" pipe rots out I'll probably go to 4"Edited by: Turbine Doc

turbine doc: so you like your roadmaster? ive been lookin at one.


Having towed with and without it would never go back & tow without one, with 4480# on rear axle pulling my GN truck sits dead level, I have the 3/4T set, adjusted to min stiff setting can be adjusted for more stiffness if need be. It also improved my empty handling not as much body sway when cornering, nice thing is you don't know it's there no effect on ride, it works as advertised, plus IIRC I think they will let you test for 30 days and return it if not satisfied.


If you decide to get one let me know and I'll describe a better way to set the tension on springs than what is in their instructions.





Guess my mind is stuck over in the caprice forum but what is this roadmaster, I'm betting it ain't the version of the b-body ya be talking about.

turbine doc: so you like your roadmaster? ive been lookin at one.


Having towed with and without it would never go back & tow without one, with 4480# on rear axle pulling my GN truck sits dead level, I have the 3/4T set, adjusted to min stiff setting can be adjusted for more stiffness if need be. It also improved my empty handling not as much body sway when cornering, nice thing is you don't know it's there no effect on ride, it works as advertised, plus IIRC I think they will let you test for 30 days and return it if not satisfied.


If you decide to get one let me know and I'll describe a better way to set the tension on springs than what is in their instructions.





Guess my mind is stuck over in the caprice forum but what is this roadmaster, I'm betting it ain't the version of the b-body ya be talking about.





www.activesuspension.com (http://www.activesuspension.com)


Saw it profiled a couple of years back on TNN Truck TV looked good there had to try it, worked for me http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Thumbs Up.gif

how much of a helper spring is it? i am looking for something with at least 2000 lbs of help.

You would have to check with them it makes my 1/2 T nearly as capable as a 3/4T LD frame & axle are my limiter to do much more, but more to it than springs, I uprated to 3300 lb capable wheels, higher weight rated tires , stainless lines, drilled rotors high perf shoes & pads, GN Trailer & electric brakes do the load carry work, I had to mod my engine to get enough grunt to get and keep it rolling.


I run mine on min setting could stiffen up some more if I wanted I'm satisfied with the current setting

Due in large part to TD's recommendation, I installed the Roadmaster Active Suspension springs. I have noticed two things: the hop, skip and jump associated with driving empty on rough back roads has decreased noticeably. The porpoising that I sometimes experienced while towing on secondary roads has decreased. I'm not saying that both of these conditions has been eliminated, but the cost/value ratio is one of the best that I've realized on any of my truck's improvements.


Thanks TD.

Spin,


Did they correct their install directions to have you adjust one side and then the other, and then recheck the 1st side, as you add tension to one side it will pull out the other side I adjusted both until I no longer got a change on either side when inserting a coin (gage) between the coils. If they did not fix that go back and recheck the setting, I called them after installing my set and they said they would look into it.

TD,


Thanks for the heads up. The install directions made no mention of the need to recheck the 1st side. I forget now, do you perform the "quarter check" with the axle hanging?

IIRC been 2 years, but truck jacked up rear axle hanging, use quarter for gage see if it fits between gap in coils, adj tension until quarter slightly tight in coils, I as I said before did this until I did not get any/minimal change while inserting coin, also if you need more tension I think the instructions said you could go down to thickness of a dime.


Did you get the XIF or IIF set, even though I'm 1/2T truck I went with the IIF higher rated coils.

I went with the MK II (XXF) for 4WD heavy loads. Thatsa' one heafty spring.

I realize this is straying quite a lot for the original topic, perhaps I should start a new one...

Does the roadmaster raise the empty ride height at all? I have a safari rack on top of my 3/4 ton suburban and it currently has about 1/2" of clearance into my garage - so I can't really have the truck riding any higher while empty.

Thanks!
Ryan

No it only comes into play when bed is loaded down with stuff or when towing, go to their web site it has a small mpg clip how it works. Edited by: Turbine Doc

what do u guys think bout those air bags. ??good or bad??