towing upgrades

[Tom Welsch]

My searches yield no results so if this has been posted before my bad.
My truck is a 2002 2500 6 speed manual. Right now it has a smarty S03, intake, exhaust, fass drp (swapping in a titanium soon) intake horn, and gauges for the important things. Id like to throw some more power at the old girl for when i got a trailer full of beef behind me. I was thinking rv 275 injectors but lots of people say go bigger. So im looking at injector recommendations and down the road sometime a turbo upgrade to pair well with the injectors. Not looking to make crazy power.

 

[Road Dog]

I'm looking at upgrading my truck for towing and travel (slide-in camper plus trailer). Nothing big but I'd like better grunt going up the hills.

The takeaway on other sites -- from people who haul for a living -- is towing is about reliability and fuel economy. Adding a lot of HP is fun but doesn't help reliability or economy. It just moves the stress down the driveline. Add a lot of power and you'll be upgrading everything down the line. Modern trucks use torque management and detune the engine to protect the transmission. You don't get 400hp all the time.

Anyway, RV275s (or equivalent) add 40hp and have a better spray pattern for better economy. The Smarty (I have an Juice Edge) will let you turn up the power if you want it.

 

[petersonj]

It looks like we all have 2002 trucks. I have the Smarty S03 and RV275 injectors. For me this combination provides plenty of toque down low in engine rpm, which makes my manual 6 spd transmission perform well for all driving conditions including towing. I currently have 335,000 miles on the truck. I installed the Smarty S03 at about 240,000 miles and replaced the original injectors with the RV275 injectors at 303,000 miles. I wasn't looking for high horsepower, just wanted lots of smooth torque on the low end to get things moving. The combination of the Smarty S03 and RV275 injectors does the job nicely.

- John

 

[KATOOM]

I dont believe my signature shows up on this forum so just in case... I have an Edge EZ and RV275 injectors. With this moderate combo the engines ability to tow something now exceeds the trucks capacity. If my truck was a long bed dually then that would be a different situation. Nonetheless, I havent had a trailer behind this truck I couldnt easily move down the roadway or up the mountains...

That said, the HO motors respond much better to injectors than the SO motors, and SO motors respond better to tuners than the HO motors. This is due to the higher injection pressure and added timing of the HO motors.

Also, the SO clutch will hold about 70-80 HP over stock, but the HO clutch is actually a little less at 60-70 HP over stock. So mild tuners is all you can do before needing a stronger clutch in order to hold power while towing. That doesnt mean getting an overly aggressive high capacity clutch either but rather a clutch that is rated for just a little more than the trucks HP/TQ. Otherwise you over-clutch the truck and make it no fun to drive.

 

[Tom Welsch]

I see other forums people are happy with rv 275s but lots end up wanting more power down the road

 

[dblake]

I’ve got a 2001 HO 6 speed with a 2000 lb. slide in camper. A few years back I threw in a set of 275 RV injectors and a BD modified stock turbo. It really woke up the truck nicely and is almost all usable power without excessive egt’s. Of course I get a bit of smoke now. I never noticed an increase in mpg’s but it was about the same time they came out with ULSD.