Just came back from FL pulling a 14k tag a long, totaling just a hair over 10K, a wood stove in the bed and a Golf cart, 17KW Lister genset and a John Deere tractor on the trailer. Ol' Blue just chugged right along, even when I got into the rolling hills of SC on I-26. Transmission was in Tow haul mode, w/ cruise set on 65. The only way I could tell I was in a hill was because the turbo would start whinning from spooling up. Not once did the transmission down shift or come out of lock up. Is that normal? Some of the hills were pretty long, such that Semi's were pulled down to 55 at about the halfway point. and I would have to go around them.

The north is in the mountains. the southern end is in the foothill and the sand hills. Not to bad down on the south end.I gues I should pay more attenitionJohn. I did not realize you were from Charleston

The trucks were designed and spec'd to perform a task in a certain manner, without any help from the aftermarket. Just a statement, not throwing down the gauntlet for a discussion about the pros and cons of the aftermarket.

Understandable... But as for the gauge angle I tend to suggest them to owners as a protection your investment item. Like all the hotshots whe got here on the site they will tell you that anytime something fails it will typically show up in the form of heat.

As for voiding warranty if you discuss the option of pyro / boost with your dealer they might just write it there logs of a authorized modification like I did years ago with my custom crankcase vent. (Documented in Ontario, OR. Dodge Dealer).

But I was only trying to be helpful..

I gues I should pay more attenitionJohn. I did not realize you were from Charleston

I move around in my RV. Once I get the twins on and do a bit more fishing here - will head up north like boston adn then back down to the outer banks

Understandable... But as for the gauge angle I tend to suggest them to owners as a protection your investment item. Like all the hotshots whe got here on the site they will tell you that anytime something fails it will typically show up in the form of heat. As for voiding warranty if you discuss the option of pyro / boost with your dealer they might just write it there logs of a authorized modification like I did years ago with my custom crankcase vent. (Documented in Ontario, OR. Dodge Dealer). But I was only trying to be helpful..

No need to hide behind the couch. My bark is sometimes over rated. I've been down the mod road twice with the bikes, and enjoyed every minute working on it. But that dog don't hunt anymore. $$$$$ The truck is a tool, my toys get the attention, and the mods (tractor pulling tractor).

I just thought you were hanging out with Tammy Wynett and did'nt have any $$$$$$.

I just thought you were hanging out with Tammy Wynett and did'nt have any $$$$$$.

More like David Allen Coe. I'd love to put in a cam, and a smarty, but the gains in MPG will not give me a ROI before I'm dead. The truck has more power than I need, so I'm not going to fix it till it's broke. I've got the HD for when I feel the urge to go fast in the twisty turnies, or to commuin with nature. The tractors feed the need to tinker, and with the exception of the puller ( I'll make money on it too, cause I got it right), make me money when I go to sell one. I never mess with my DD, except to pull maintenance or fix something that broke. You wouldn't believe all the things I did to the Roadglide, but the drive train is now bullit proof putting out 110 ft-lb TQ and 102 HP from 103 C.I. It'll run on regular if I can't get Premium, and has a 10.2-1 static compression ratio. The 5 piece crank has been welded and rebalanced, the cases modified to use tapered bearings on both sides of the crank instead of just one, to controll the thrust. Flat top pistons set .001 proud of the cylinder, .030 head gasket for a .029 squish, heads and throttle body ported to increase flow, but not kill intake charge velocity. And about 30 hours tuning the map for the EFI. She has 90 ft-lb just off idle and 100 at cruise rpm (2600) and carries the 100 ft-lb curve till 5200 rpms. And still gets 50+mpg running 80mph on the interstate, with 2 people, saddle bags full and the trunk full as well. I'm all modded out . Almost forgot she has 15k on the clock since the build. Last trip was to Illinios for the big flat track race on the Springfield Mile.

I'd love to put in a cam, and a smarty, but the gains in MPG will not give me a ROI before I'm dead.

yeah me 2 Its quite suprising how these trucks dont come with more gauges or at least internal alarms on the dashboard like the tranny temp sensor - if EGT spikes for prolonged duration then alarm - I mean its only a 80 probe that could be built into the stock build to help protect the customer AND warranty claims.

ROI won't happen, and no the stock power is more than enough, but the ROS is great!!!Ridiculous Oversized Smile

At what temp do the EGT's start affecting the pistons and it there a duration for these high temps that make it worse?

I run my CR totally stock without gauges. It has 300k miles of heavy towing on it and nothing has ever broken.

At what temp do the EGT's start affecting the pistons and it there a duration for these high temps that make it worse?

It's far more than just EGT's, you have to consider timing as well. As cajflynn said he runs his CR heavy without gauges, and I bet his motor has been above 1500° more than once, without an issue. But at stock timing that's fine. Peak timing on a 04.5-06 at 2000 rpms is 6° ADC! That makes for a lot of exhaust heat and not much cylinder heat. I run about 20° more timing than that at those rpms, and 1500° would window my piston! So, long story short... stock or modified?

It's far more than just EGT's, you have to consider timing as well. As cajflynn said he runs his CR heavy without gauges, and I bet his motor has been above 1500° more than once, without an issue. But at stock timing that's fine. Peak timing on a 04.5-06 at 2000 rpms is 6° ADC! That makes for a lot of exhaust heat and not much cylinder heat. I run about 20° more timing than that at those rpms, and 1500° would window my piston! So, long story short... stock or modified?

I just looked at your build page. That thing is sick.

I'm pretty happy with how it runs!

With my "tone wheel mod", and my Smarty Revo, I very rarely even see 1000*F towing unless I "lug" the Cummins down under the torque curve.

With UDC it takes a bit more work to hit 1000° than it did before. I did add quite a bit of timing to the lower load settings, which is similar to the tone ring mod. Now I cruise with a 17.5K GCW at 65 in 6th at 800° on the flats, before UDC with a smaller trailer it was about 900-950°. Heck at 55 up some of the 6-7% grades I can hold 1050° at 17.5K, not too bad!