I have a 97' 7.3 automatic trans, with 3" downpipe into 5" straight pipe and k&n filter what else should I do to help my doggy 7.3 in between shifts? I have about 2,000 dollars right now to dump in to her. I pull a 30' fifth wheel trailer about 9000 lbs and also a 21' open bow boat. I don't pull them together (yet)

 

Ts 6 position chip

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What about like a shift kit? What are your thoughts

 

End transmission is junk for towing a lot. I would look at a heavy duty rebuild for it.

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End 4 o d

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Dan auto correct on phone. You know your transmission


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Get a custom tuned TS and some gauges and see how you like that.

 

+1 w/ Joe.

First thing would be the gauges, mainly to watch EGT and trans temp.

Next would be tunes. I am partial to my Hydra. I like having a chip I can get tunes via email and re-flash myself. If you get a TS and decide you want to go with other mods that are going to require tune adjustments, then with a TS, you end up pulling the chip to ship to a tuner to re-flash it there (requires a J-2534 to do that).

No other improvements will feel like they are doing anything better until you get tunes that are going to take advantage of them. That includes Turbo and injection mods. I like mine having a few tow tunes to choose from. If my EGT's are getting too hot, I just switch down to a milder tow tune.

Our trans (E40D) is electronically controlled. Tunes will change how it feels when it shifts. Although not really thought of as a performance mod, a good external trans cooler would be a good investment for towing.

The next thing to plan for after tunes (or along with tunes) is turbo mods and injection. You don't really have enough in your budget to think about injection mods. But you would be surprized what you get get out a a few simple turbo mods-- a billet compressor wheel and a 1.0 A/R turbine housing. With mine, adding the 1.0 A/R housing lowered the torque band where is was better for towing. It starts spinning up and digging in at 1400 rpm instead of 1800 rpm. Of course that also depends on your gearing. I'm running 3.55:1's if you are running 4.10's you might not want to go that way, because you will run out of top end before you reach your speed ceiling. And a good compressor wheel? You would be surprised to see your EGT's up, shift down, let the turbo spin up and watch those EGT's drop right down.

I have a K&N... though it's no longer on my truck. That big "spendy' K&N 4" ID filter that required taking out the housing to use. I thought it was doing well. It had no restriction, but over the years and many miles later, even though I religiously kept up with cleaning and re-oiling that filter, I found out later, that it wasn't filtering as well as I thought it was. While rebuilding my turbo... Well, I was surprised and let down. I switched over to a NAPA 6637 filter and have not regretted that change since. My lifetime K&N filter will likely spend the rest of it's lifetime on a shelf in my garage.

Another thing you might look at, towing and trying to kept EGT's down, is a good IC kit.

Anything down the road will built upon that basic foundation. But starts adding up fast after that foundation. (efuel, injectors, HPOP and custom tunes).

With the above mods, on the road I run 20-22 mpg empty and between 17-19 mpg pulling 16k between 3500' and 5500' elevations. On the average, I'd say I average around 19 mpg.

 

Awesome! Thanks for all the info I can't wait to start getting some mods. I am ordering the napa filter now