I drive I-70 from denver to Eagle several times a month, on my last trip up I was running late and put my foot into it. It was 80 degrees in Denver when I left 50 at the top of VAil pass and 75 in Eagle. Well on the first hill comming out of Denver I floored it and got up to 1300 degrees on my EGT gauge and had to let off. Is this normal for an empty truck and half a tank of fuel? I will be towing 7500lbs Denver to Moab on thursday and want to know what EGT's I should try to stay under or around.
Sorry for the noob question but it's my first diesel and I dont want to melt anything. Thank you

Stock trucks can run as high as 1300 unloaded. With the trailer in picture I have never seen it go above 1350 but I believe 1400 is about as high as you want to sustain for any period of time. I don't think a trailer of 7-8000lbs will make that much of a difference in EGT. Use 1350 as a indication to start thinking about dropping a gear or letting up off the throttle.

When powering up my last truck (Ford) I contacted the Banks engineers for an answer to that very question. Their response was as follows:

1200 Degrees or less - Okay for constant EGT temperature
1400 Degrees - should not me exceeded for more than 3 minutes
1600 Degrees - should not be exceeded for more than 15 seconds

According to the engineers exceeding any of these temperatures in conjunction with the time limits will shorten engine life. Exceeding these limits in excess will result in engine failure.

When powering up my last truck (Ford) I contacted the Banks engineers for an answer to that very question. Their response was as follows:

1200 Degrees or less - Okay for constant EGT temperature
1400 Degrees - should not me exceeded for more than 3 minutes
1600 Degrees - should not be exceeded for more than 15 seconds



Banks Engineer Brian gave me the same info just last week after I called to inquire about their SixGun package for the '06 LLY engined units. He was very helpful and took the time to answer all my questions, during which he explained a lot about Banks taking the trouble and time to insure that if these, and other, parameters are exceeded, the truck will go into "Limp" so no damage is done. What's nice about their package is you can clear the "Limp" and CEL's with a touch of a button on the PDA based system.

Can't wait for them to finish their program review of the '06 LLY so I can put their system on my truck and GM be damned with their over-sensitive programming and constant CEL's just due to a little more air coming into the intake...what a crock.