Well first let me say thanks for the information that I have been reading here. I have a F350 that's moded for towing and it sure does, BUT I am considering the 4500 CC 4X4 W/Monroe as I want to be legal for towing. I have a few questions about this truck.
1. I take it I can chip it for towing, and how difficult is it?
2. guages, From experience, I will NOT chip without guages (pyro mainly), noticed truck already had tranny temp guage installed.
3. Highway travel. We drive from Maine to SC mostly so I want something that will be good at highway speed. This truck has air ride seats so comfort should be good.
4. Overall suggestions/hints/tips would be greatly appreciated.
Now if only I could hide that bowtie on the grill, I can see some major jaw drops from my bule oval friends!

Thanks,

OK did lots of reading and i now know this.

Chips/tuners available for the 4500.
No exhaust ready yet, hope soon, it really does help!
Still looking for instructions on installing a pyro.(best place to put probe), Not sure if one available from factory.
Oh, and how good is the air filters on these? Looking to get more air in and less restriction out (breath in, breath out)!

Thanks,
Bondo©

predator here on my my 04 lly pyro on the way hope exhaust comes out soon

First of all,do you need the4x4.With 5.13 gears your fuel cost are going to be out of sight at highway speeds.The air ride seats do a good job while loaded,but these trucks ride like s--t unloaded even with air ride seats.I have a4x2 4500 with 4.78 gears and average 10mpg loaded and 14mpg unloaded at 65mph turning 2300rpm. animal 4500 rv transporter

We do endurance racing with our horses, and we are usually parked in a field so the 4X4 does come in handy if there is no tractor there to pull us out. How good is the locking diff in these? I noticed the one I am looking at has this option but is 2 wheel drive. The fuel milage is a concern to me as we do travel from ME to SC for the events. If I stay with 2 wheel, going to have to swap the tires, as I noted they were highway tires and didn't look to good for grass/mud.
Thanks for the reply.
Bondo©

The locking rear end does a decent job, if you have weight on it. I have run alot of snow cover roads with no problems.But if you dont have any weight on it,it like a hog on ice,in the wet grass.The 4500 weights 4 to 6k more than your present truck,and you might have less ground clearence with 4500. animal 4500 rvtransporter

Do a search on the "hoot method" for installing a pyro. Biggest restriction should be the muffler, you could just swap it out in the mean time. I dont know on the big boys but the air box on the 2500hd and 3500's is pretty good from the factory. IMO I would shoot Diesel Tech a PM on programing. I dont believe you will take a huge hit for the 4x4 over the 2wd in terms of milage but there will be a bit. I suppose every litle bit helps though.

Thanks, looks like Hoot did a great job for the Pyro very good write up:)

And thanks for the other info. Hope to do all the mods this fall.

Bondo©

Go with the Edge Performance unit and the Attitude monitor system. On level 5, system increases HP by 125hp and torque by 325. Attitude will monitor 11 different engine and tranny functions, 4 at a time. Here they are:
1. Boost
2. EGT
3. RPM
4. % Engine Load
5. Gear
6. Speed
7. Throttle Position
8. Torque converter clutch status
9. Transmission clutch slippage
10. Percent back down due to high EGT
11. Engine temperature

After you get out of 1st gear, the Edge will plant you back in your seat. I have actually outran several cars with this system just seeing what it will do. The best thing is that you can shift from 0, stock, all the way up to 5 on the fly. My wife starts to laugh when she sees me changing power levels when I am sitting beside a Ford PSD. Good luck on your modes, John

The Edge w/ attitude definately does a nice job wigth the monitoring of all the system info. However, they have not figured out a way to override the speed limiter. The 4x4 w/ 5:13's has the 75mph speed limiter.

I am very pleased with the PPE from Pacific as it does override the speed limiter. Power is excellent. Switching programs is a pain as you can't do it on the fly. It takes a couple of minutes. However, while towing, I don't switch it around. It works for me.

Currently on a 3500 mile vacation from Flagstaff to Port Angelos, WA. Mileage has been a low of 6.8 to a high of 8.4. Good times.

TechProf