Have fun with the cam phasers.

 

so the OP clearly stated he was looking to improve his towing NOT lose his low end torque

 

Then chahge out the gears.

 

did you see how much was involved in making the 3 valve swap??? clearly not, you can't even pay attention to teh good threads out there and you're offering "advice" against what several of us are agreeing on

and you have yet to get your truck out of the 16-17 second zone in the 1/4 mile

 

Is that your final answer?

 

If you want more low end to keep it in OD, then you'll have to shoot for an rpm range of around 1500-2000 depending on what gears you have...

I cruise in 3rd at just under 2500 rpms towing my TT and it does just fine.. And that's with a totally stock '97 5.4.. I only have a cat back and a K&N drop in and it's got 217,000 miles on it!

I've found that towing in OD does not really 'save' anything MPG wise... That's because you have to give it more pedal to hold your speed, so you might be running lower rpms, but you are dumping in more gas to hold that speed... I've found that letting the engine rev, you don't have to press the gas pedal as much and it all works out to 10 mpg in the end anyway...

If you want to tow in OD and pull low rpms, then you need an oil burner to do that...

Mitch

 

so why offer him so many worthless idea's and fill his head with nonsense when that's the most cost effective option for the OP???

 

I guess it wasn't your final answer?

 

Yeah, I've got the 3.73 gears, so I'm about as low as I want to go. The only reason I'd like to get into OD on the highway is to reduce the (perceived) strain on the engine. I guess I'm too used to rolling down the interstate in OD, and when it's pulling along in 3rd at 2800-2900 RPM, it sounds like the motor is screaming. If driving for extended periods of time (like from FL to AZ) in 3rd pulling a bunch of weight that is catching a bunch of wind is really not as hard on the truck as it sounds, then I guess I'm fine.

What does your TT weigh in at Mitch?

For those with enclosed or travel trailers, what speed do you try to maintain on the interstate? I try to keep it wound up to 75 or so...is that wrong?

 

The SOHC mod motors are good to over 6000 rpm, so 3000 all day is nothing. In the old days of pushrod V8's and no overdrive, normal highway rpm's were in the 3k range.