towing w/pulley, tuning, ?s for Troyer
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Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Virginia
towing w/pulley, tuning, ?s for Troyer
Mike T (and anyone else feel free to chime in),
I left you a message & info last week. I know you're busy so I thought I'd sum up my questions for the benefit of others and ask them here. This is regarding my 2003 Lightning with mods beeing a catback exhaust, JDM air intake kit, FTVB. I'm getting ready to throw the tune & pulley into the mix, so here are my questions:
1. I do a lot of towing, maybe 30-50% of this truck's life will be spent towing either a 3000 lb boat or a 3500-4000 lb horse/trailer. I know a lot of people tow this kind of weight with even a 4lb pulley and *say* it's safe. I would only be towing with a 2 lb pulley. Can you give me a tune that is truly safe for a 2 pounder and towing? When towing, I see up to 6, maybe 7 lbs of boost at the most with current setup. I believe this will be the extent of the performance mods that I do to this truck. I've got to keep this truck reliable and affordable.
I really want to go the interchangeable pulley route-- 4 pounder and then *something* that I can tow with and AFAIK the 2 pounder ring is the only option. What, specifically is the danger in towing with increased boost, if you're not actually getting into the higher boost numbers? And can a good tune compensate for this? I of course understand that if I were going WOT all the time when towing (or otherwise), something will eventually go kaboom regardless of the tuning. But where do you draw the line and what is really safe?
2. Do you datalog customer trucks? I am located not far from your shop. I know you've tuned a bazillion of these trucks, so my question is, given my basic setup (chip/filter/pulley/catback) is there anything significant to gain tuning-wise from datalogging? I am interested in a dataloggin/tuning session... But not really to eek out an extra 2 or 3 hp. I can see the benefit if I had a built motor tons of bolt-ons, but this isn't the case.
thanks
I left you a message & info last week. I know you're busy so I thought I'd sum up my questions for the benefit of others and ask them here. This is regarding my 2003 Lightning with mods beeing a catback exhaust, JDM air intake kit, FTVB. I'm getting ready to throw the tune & pulley into the mix, so here are my questions:
1. I do a lot of towing, maybe 30-50% of this truck's life will be spent towing either a 3000 lb boat or a 3500-4000 lb horse/trailer. I know a lot of people tow this kind of weight with even a 4lb pulley and *say* it's safe. I would only be towing with a 2 lb pulley. Can you give me a tune that is truly safe for a 2 pounder and towing? When towing, I see up to 6, maybe 7 lbs of boost at the most with current setup. I believe this will be the extent of the performance mods that I do to this truck. I've got to keep this truck reliable and affordable.
I really want to go the interchangeable pulley route-- 4 pounder and then *something* that I can tow with and AFAIK the 2 pounder ring is the only option. What, specifically is the danger in towing with increased boost, if you're not actually getting into the higher boost numbers? And can a good tune compensate for this? I of course understand that if I were going WOT all the time when towing (or otherwise), something will eventually go kaboom regardless of the tuning. But where do you draw the line and what is really safe?
2. Do you datalog customer trucks? I am located not far from your shop. I know you've tuned a bazillion of these trucks, so my question is, given my basic setup (chip/filter/pulley/catback) is there anything significant to gain tuning-wise from datalogging? I am interested in a dataloggin/tuning session... But not really to eek out an extra 2 or 3 hp. I can see the benefit if I had a built motor tons of bolt-ons, but this isn't the case.
thanks
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi SS,
I do not advise towing with a raised boost pulley - and yes, I know there are a lot of Lightning owners who insist on doing that, but it still doesn't make it safe or right - that only means there are Lightning owners doing something I don't agree with, and would NEVER do on my Lighting, that's all.
In reality, I would say that using NOT MORE than a +2 PSI pulley, and as long as you have an EGT gauge (exhaust gas temperature) installed, then yes, you could give towing a try, and yes, I can do a tune that would be set up for towing. The only way I will do that for a Lighting owner is if they have an EGT gauge, use not more than a 2# pulley, and that the weight being towed is within reason. We will literally pass on a sale if we do not feel what the owner wants to do is going to be safe and they have a means of knowing whether the engine is operating safely or not at a glance - meaning an EGT gauge.
So yes, if you want to do towing of a reasonable weight with a 2# pulley, we'll work with you on that basis.
Yes, we can do complete datalogging for you, of course! If you want to make an appointment to bring your vehicle here and have us do the installation, tuning & datalogging, sure, we can certainly do that for you.
The only type of pulley setups we use on Lightnings & Harleys are the interchangeable type, so no problem there, it's easy to set you up with say, a 2# ring and then a 4# ring for when you are not towing - you'll need matching supercharger drive belt sizes as well, and all of that is very easy to do.
We'll be happy to schedule you in for this, go ahead and call our staff, and ask to speak with Anita - she does all the install scheduling.
Talk to you soon!
I do not advise towing with a raised boost pulley - and yes, I know there are a lot of Lightning owners who insist on doing that, but it still doesn't make it safe or right - that only means there are Lightning owners doing something I don't agree with, and would NEVER do on my Lighting, that's all.
In reality, I would say that using NOT MORE than a +2 PSI pulley, and as long as you have an EGT gauge (exhaust gas temperature) installed, then yes, you could give towing a try, and yes, I can do a tune that would be set up for towing. The only way I will do that for a Lighting owner is if they have an EGT gauge, use not more than a 2# pulley, and that the weight being towed is within reason. We will literally pass on a sale if we do not feel what the owner wants to do is going to be safe and they have a means of knowing whether the engine is operating safely or not at a glance - meaning an EGT gauge.
So yes, if you want to do towing of a reasonable weight with a 2# pulley, we'll work with you on that basis.
Yes, we can do complete datalogging for you, of course! If you want to make an appointment to bring your vehicle here and have us do the installation, tuning & datalogging, sure, we can certainly do that for you.
The only type of pulley setups we use on Lightnings & Harleys are the interchangeable type, so no problem there, it's easy to set you up with say, a 2# ring and then a 4# ring for when you are not towing - you'll need matching supercharger drive belt sizes as well, and all of that is very easy to do.
We'll be happy to schedule you in for this, go ahead and call our staff, and ask to speak with Anita - she does all the install scheduling.
Talk to you soon!
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 480
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From: Virginia
thanks for the feedback, Mike. i will probably go the EGT route and 2lb then. i wish there was a "quick change" alternative for me as in stock to 4lb. it is probably going to be race one night/day, leave for horse show (towing) early next morning so I gotta have something quick and easy. i will get with you guys soon.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi SS,
We can always have a special size quick-change ring made that would deliver the stock boost level, so that if you wanted to switch rapidly between stock & 4PSI boost, that would be doable.
I still recommend having an EGT gauge on board any forced induction vehicle, even at stock boost levels - it's the *one* piece of data that, at an instant glance, will tell you whether everything is fine inside the combustion chambers.
In all candor, towing with a 2PSI pulley should not be a problem at all - I'm just a fanatic about EGT's & controlling load, etc. As you know, there are some Lightning owners out there towing on 6 PSI pulleys (unfortunately). I don't see a real problem towing on a 2PSI pulley, I just recommend using the EGT gauge as well, that's all.
Best of luck whatever you decide,
We can always have a special size quick-change ring made that would deliver the stock boost level, so that if you wanted to switch rapidly between stock & 4PSI boost, that would be doable.
I still recommend having an EGT gauge on board any forced induction vehicle, even at stock boost levels - it's the *one* piece of data that, at an instant glance, will tell you whether everything is fine inside the combustion chambers.
In all candor, towing with a 2PSI pulley should not be a problem at all - I'm just a fanatic about EGT's & controlling load, etc. As you know, there are some Lightning owners out there towing on 6 PSI pulleys (unfortunately). I don't see a real problem towing on a 2PSI pulley, I just recommend using the EGT gauge as well, that's all.
Best of luck whatever you decide,