I know people have put on intercoolers, but I haven't really seen anyone saying they made a big difference. Are they worth the money. I tow a toy hauler 7200 lb. trailer up 6% and 7% grades and I notice the hotter the day the less power it has. I know that is normal, but if an intercooler will really help that I would like to purchase one.My truck has stock exhaust except the guy I got it from put a magnaflow muffler, and there is no cat. I see it still has a stock downpipe.I ordered exhaust with a new crossover pipe, and from the turbo back.I am not sure how much this will help.When I was towing this weekend it was probably 90-95 degrees, and there was three 6% grades about a mile long, and a long grade that got to 7% at some points and I was really feeling it. My temp got to 230 and stayed there until I was at the top and the cooled back down.I am hoping to order gauges this week.Just wondering if Intercoolers really do help and if you think they are worth the money?Thanks.

R8, pulling that kind of weight with those kind of grades definately worth it, but from your sig looks like there is lots more for you to do before going there, read the more power thread in FAQs for a step by step process how to SAFELY make more power with the venerable 6.5 TD. Every now and again I grunt mine to pulling 18K on short trips.

Thanks for the reply.I want to get my exhaust and just see how it is.When I pulled this grade 3 weeks ago I didn't have all the 4wheelers in it so the trailer was about 1600 lbs. lighter and the truck pulled the 6% grades at 50 mph.But the temp outside was about 80-85 degress. The extra 1600 lbs. and 10 degrees I was doing about 35-40 mph.

Get the intercooler, you won't regret it.....trust me. I pull an 18ft car trailer with my Chevelle on it (7000# ish) and the 7% hills I have pulled have been able to hold 65mph locked up in OD. I know lots of guys will have something to say about being in OD on a hill towing but my trans temp only rises about 10 deg after a really long pull. Check out my sig, and at the very least in this order to :exhaust, intake, guages, chip and intercooler.:grd:

FF I pull 18K in OD, HD clutch pack, deep pan & extra trans cooler keeps it together for me, IC is a must IMO though for any towing light or heavy.

Right on!!! Thanks. That was what I was looking for. I am selling my 1985 suburban and plan on using some of that money for the upgrades.

Which one do you guys recommend?

Cheapest to build your own kit I think. Guys have been building their own on here. Check the other posts. Mine was a kit that came from Turbotechnology in Washington.

The one on mine I got from Kennedy see install how to's in my sig link, if yoyu are adept at TIG welding, or have a buddy who is, build it your own is best ecomomy way to do it, get the biggerst IC you can, several sites sell just the IC

I am building my own at shop. The stuff is cheap on ebay though if you are willing to do it yourself. I got my 24 X 12 X 4 polished intercooler with 3" in and 3" out for $185.00):h , 6 lengths of 3" alumimun pipe all with 90 degree bends at one end for $100.00, 24 stainless 3" T-clamps for free (got them from maintenance department at work) which are normally about $4.00 a piece and then now all that I need is the high temp tubing in bulk, about 3 feet i would say, and an adapter to from turbo 2.5" ID to 3" ID and one for the intake 2.5" to 3". A little patience, a sawzall, and a little plumbing skill is all that is needed from there on out.

185.00 Intercooler
100.00 3" polished aluminum tubing
150.00 for clamps and connectors

grand total of $435.00, not too bad really

r8, I have only had my IC installed for a short time, however the tests that I ran empty from dead stop to 80 mph up a 6*+ grade WOT for one mile showed that the intercooler lowered my egt's down 100*