rconkin

We are selling our 24' 5er and pick up the new to us 30' 5er Friday. Old one grossed at about 7,000#, new one grosses at 11,000#. My truck is a 97 12 valve automatic. Am I going to have to crank up the horsepower a little or should it pull it ok.

dan239

You should have no problem at all pulling the new trailer. You may not notice any difference. I suggest leaving a truck as it was made. Many problems are a result of people boosting the horsepower.

Daniel

CoastalDav

I think it would be a good idea to get a bigger tranny pan with fins built into the bottom of the pan. 4 more quarts in the pan will help with heat and durability.

I would also check to see what the GCVW for your truck is. (truck and trailer weight) My 96 is around 17,500 GCVW if I remember right. It could be less or more.

Dave

rconkin

Thanks for the advice, we pick the new camper up Friday. It is 200 miles away so I should know very well how it is going to pull by the time I get home with it on Friday night. It is a high profile and our current one is a low profile so I would guess the extra wind resistance will make some difference. My truck came with the tow package and camper package so I should be fine with the increased pin weight I would think. With the current 5er the rear only goes down 1-1/2" when it is hooked up.

supr

I think eventually you will need to beef up your tranny. I think you are at your max, at least rating wise, with that new trailer. A tranny temp gauge might be good too. Does your rig have an external tranny cooler?

rconkin

Yes, I do have the tranny cooler. I am currently looking at putting egt, trans temp and boost guages. Any advice on decent guages that don't cost an arm and a leg? From what I understand, having the camper and tow package I have the tranny cooler, larger alternator, heavier duty batteries, hitch and two overload springs instead of one.

JuzPlaneKrazy

Congrats on the new trailer.

Bill1374

You should be ok with that set up. My old rig was a 95 with a 30 foot Kountry Star which ran about the same weight. I did finally succumb to the I need more disease pulling our Adirondack mountains and went for intake, exhaust and a small plate. IIRC, I did add another tranny cooler just to be on the safe side.

Bill

offroad

I bought this package and had them swap the fuel pressure gauge for a trans temp. I reccomend the Black-red pointer-temp color pyro versions. http://www.vulcanperformance.com/ser...m-Gauge/Detail

Great kit and nice people to work with. You can get the boost gauge in 0-30, 0-40 and 0-60psi models. I have the 0-40 gauge, even if you mod later its enough as your stock turbo is only designed for boost of 35psi or less. You really should have at least a pyro and trans temp gauge towing that much weight whether stock or not.

I tow a 10K 5th wheel, your truck will tow your new RV ok but some mild upgrades would make a big difference in the truck's performance. I consider the mods in my signature to be mild but together they made a huge difference in the trucks power. The engine mods are cheap, $225 for a #10 plate from eBay, the 3K GSK and AFC spring kits. The real money has to be spent on the transmission however, I spent about $1800 for a triple disc TC, Valve body and other mods including a transmission jack and my time to do the work.

That said I am extremely happy with the results and would do the same again.
Just don't let anyone talk you into engine upgrades without making the transmission ready first.

dan239

If you are going to leave your engine stock, then you do not need the EGT or Boost gauges. In stock condition they will not exceed acceptable limits. However a transmission temperature gauge is a good idea because it can get too hot.

Daniel

rconkin

offroad,

Do I need to get the tapped banjo bolts? If so, how many and for what guages are they used?

rconkin

Towed the new camper home Friday afternoon and it pulls much easier than the smaller one. I couldn't believe that it actually pulls that good. It could be that this camper pulls better because of the shocks on it or it could be that there is more pin weight and it actually gets my truck down to where both ends of the overloads are touching the brackets. My mom and step-dad bought my old one to put on a lot in Savannah to stay out when they go down there to visit his daughter and i am supposed to take it down there for them and actually really dreading pulling the old one again. I am going to leave my truck just like it is for now except for adding guages just to make me feel more comfortable.

dan239

The banjo bolts are for fuel pressure gauges on a 24 valve. 12 valve engines do not seem to ever have fuel pressure problems.

Daniel

offroad

The kit from Vulcan has everything you will need. You remove a bolt from the intake manifold and install an included boost fitting. There is a thermocouple that goes in the exhaust manifold just ahead of the turbocharger (you drill and tap the manifold). There is a sensor for the tranny temp that you install somewhere where it can get to the tranny fluid. I used this one and it works very well and is easy to install: http://www.vulcanperformance.com/ser...-dsh-02/Detail

davelinde

I've got a banjo bolt for my boost and another banjo for fuel pressure.
Boost was easy, just replace the bolt and push the tube onto the fitting.
Fuel was not as easy - you should replace the crush washers when you pull that banjo. Also, after trial/error I found that a grease line was the best way to fit the banjo to an isolator. If you are going with an electric sensor you can skip the isolator.

Congrads on the new rig - glad it tows well.

If you are who I suspect you are... tell your sister-in-law what a great new FW you have please