I have a 2010 SCrew with 75000 miles. I'm the original owner and it has been well kept up. I had a slide in for awhile, but recently upgraded to a Starcraft 265RLS travel trailer. Living in Idaho, there is no escaping mountains and the truck struggles with them. I have weight distributing bars and airbags on the truck. Fully loaded with the trailer, the truck weighed 8260 and the trailer weighed 6860. I know that puts me about 500 pounds over the GVW, but I can live with that. What I need is a bit more power in the mountains. While I will at some point to upgrade to a SuperDuty, it's just not in the near future. Since I'm only towing 8-10 a year, I think I'm better off keeping the truck and installing a supercharger.

So what I'd like opinions on is if you think it's worthwhile on this truck and if it will provide enough of an increase in power for my configuration. I'm not a lead foot, so I'm really only looking for towing help. Since the truck is in such great shape and long paid for, I'd really like to keep it as long as possible. 5-8 years longer would be great, but I don't want to adversely affect the longevity. I've looked at the procharger, but wonder if there is a different one better suited for my usage.

Thanks.

Edit: I should add that I have 3.73 gears and max tow package, so maybe an upgrade to 4.56 would solve my issues?

 

A tuner would help some as well as lower gears but I think I would just be patient until I could afford that upgrade to a F250. A supercharger would open up a large can of worms i would think.

 

What do you mean by "struggle"?

Does it just mean that you are having to pull some higher rpms than normal?

With a 2010, that means you have the 5.4, so that's gonna need some rpms to get you in it's power curve..

What gear are you in? You should have the 6 speed, so I'd think you are probably in 4th or maybe even 3rd gear?

What all are you carrying in the truck to get you at that GVW on the truck? Tongue weight should not be anymore than #1100 at most (if it's more than that, you will be close to the max rating of the hitch alone)

I've got a 13 Eco and only towing a #5000 TT with it, so it does the grades in 4th going an easy 60 mph at around 2500 rpms.

Good luck!

Mitch

 

A trailer at 6860# should not have more than 800# on the tongue. Load everything you can in the trailer and distribute it so that's the case. Being 500# over GVW is not a good situation.

 

I'd look at tuner and long tubes before I went off the deep end and went S/C

 

I'd regear and get custom tunes before I'd bother with headers.

 

Yes higher RPMs. It seems as though I'm always between gears. 4th slows and 3rd screams. The truck has my wife and I 36 gallons of gas generator and extra fuel, bikes, firewood, etc...

 

The 6860# is measured attached to the truck. The scale I use isn't long enough to weigh all axles, so the measurements were the truck and then the trailer.

 

Am I really going to gain much with a tuner? I understand the value with turbochargers, but wouldn't expect much naturally aspirated.

 

I'm a few years out from the upgrade and when I do it'll be a F350 Screw long bed diesel. I plan to own that for quite some time and expect to to be able to handle everything I throw at it. 35' 5th wheel, and a large slide-in. while towing a boat.

 

A tuner may add 20hp and you would notice the difference. Lower gears shouldn't be so terribly expensive if your truck is 2wd. I thought I had a rear diff problem and talked to the local 4x4 shop. they told me it wouldn't be more than $600 if they had to rebuild the entire unit. To use a supercharger in a towing application, the engine would probably have to be totally rebuilt to handle the extra stress and heat and probably your transmission too. Megabucks.

 

It's a 4wd, but I may tackle it myself. I've done gears on my jeeps multiple times. I think I'll start with a tuner and work from there. I only want to improve my towing so hopefully that will help with the tuning. The truck sees minimal usage now as my wife and I carpool to work.

 

If you have done gears before, get 4.56's for both axles, then a SCT programmer with custom tunes from a reputable mail order tuning shop.

That's what is putting you over GVWR, and I'd be concerned about the GAWR too. A 1/2 ton truck just isn't made to load to the gills *AND* tow a big trailer.

I find that hard to believe with a 6 speed. Let it scream, it's a OHC engine that will run all day at 5k rpm. It will just suck gas.

 

4th is basically direct drive (very slight overdrive) 1:106 IIRC
3rd is your highest gear with underdrive

4-4,500 RPMs sustained is okay as long as you keep an eye on coolant and trans temperatures

 

Do you have a suggestion on a good shop or two? My tires are 275/70-18, so slightly larger than stock and it currently has 3.73s. Is 4.56 too big of a jump? I could do 4.10s.


Yeah I know. It is only 500lbs over when fully loaded and lighter when coming home.


It happens on steeper climbs. There are a number of them around me. Good to know that it's not an issue revving it up.