how much can 1st gen 250 tow

[rbricker1]

I'm looking at purchasing a 1st gen w 250 4x4 with 3. 54 gears & a 5 speed. I currently have a 99 2500 4x4 auto stock. I tow a 9000lb tt with know problem. I can run 65-70 uphill or level. I want to know with the proper mods like a 16cm housing & either fuel pump tweek or injectors the 1st gen is able to do the same performance.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

My dad used a 1st gen 250 4x4 to pull a 33ft Avion and a three horse slant behind that for several years before upgrading to the truck I have now. His was completely stock. They are good trucks. My dad switched to the 3500 mostly because he was really tearing up his back axle, but you are running about half the weight he was so you should have no problems. My dad has since passed away but I know he always liked the first gen for it's all out "manly tough truck image" As long as it has a cummins motor doing the work you know you have a pretty good truck.

 

[Underdog]

You can check my signature to see my truck. In addition

to the exhaust brake,I have the HD valve springs. I noticed

that I ommitted them in my sig.

When my truck was stock and had 3. 54 gears,I towed a

28. 5,single slide Hitchhiker II that weighed in the neighbor-

hood of 10,000#,with no problem

I then bought a double slide 31' Hitchhiker II with a GVW

of 12,720#. That's when I started running into problems.

I did ok on the flats and climbing hills(most of the time)

What really killed me was slight upgrades with a headwind

or a crosswind. Now,with 4. 10s and the other mods,I do

fine. The truck that you're describing,stock,has a GCWR

of 16,000#. With 4. 10 gears it would be, 17,000#.

I hope this helps.

 

[Underdog]

You can check my signature to see my truck. In addition

to the exhaust brake,I have the HD valve springs. I noticed

that I ommitted them in my sig.

When my truck was stock and had 3. 54 gears,I towed a

28. 5,single slide Hitchhiker II that weighed in the neighbor-

hood of 10,000#,with no problem

I then bought a double slide 31' Hitchhiker II with a GVW

of 12,720#. That's when I started running into problems.

I did ok on the flats and climbing hills(most of the time)

What really killed me was slight upgrades with a headwind

or a crosswind. Now,with 4. 10s and the other mods,I do

fine. The truck that you're describing,stock,has a GCWR

of 16,000#. With 4. 10 gears it would be, 17,000#.

I hope this helps.

 

[LSMITH]

A tweaked first gen will outpull your stock 99 easily. What you will end up doing though is trashing the transmission if you tow heavy with a good bit more power. The Getrag just doesn't tolerate much extra power if you tow hard.

 

[Mel Fuelling]

I hope that an extra quart of oil in my recently rebuilt Getrag(at

193k) makes a difference. The local rebuilder said that all of the Getrags he'd rebuilt seemed to show excessive countershaft

bearing wear. When he set an NV4500 beside my disassembled Getrag, the Getrag looks every bit as well built as the NV(I know that bad history isn't changed by looks). He recommended that

I run at least another quart of oil so that the oil is touching the main shaft or counter shaft(I forget which now), instead of depending on splash lubrication.



There are several of us running an extra quart in Getrags and

hoping that it solves the bearing problem.



Mel

 

[Midnite]

Mel has a great point about the extra quart in the Getrag. There are a couple other things I haven't seen mentioned yet that I'll hit:



1. Manual transmission first gens have a Dana 70 rear end. You might want to get a Mag-Hytec diff cover for better cooling and to increase the amount of lube.



2. The D/W250 has 2. 5" wide brake shoes. Although a TSB was issued long ago to upgrade all 250s to the 3" shoes (same as the 350), all 1st gens I've personally ever seen have never had this done. Case500D has a nifty page describing this upgrade in detail here.



3. For performance mods, the 16cm housing you mention would be great. www.piersdiesel.com has them at a very good price. I would go with the Bosch 185 (also referred to here as "PW" or "Power Wagon") injectors, but the Lucas PODs will give you slightly more power. Another very good thing would be to advance the injection pump timing, which is slightly retarded even with stock injectors. I believe both the PWs and PODs delay the injection a little bit compared to stock injectors, so the timing would be even *more* retarded with performance injectors. I would suggest 1. 4mm for stock injectors, and 1. 5 with PWs or PODs.



Naturally, you *really* need boost and EGT gauges once you start doing performance stuff.



Mike