Best Mods for Towing, Lowering EGT?
 

Greetings. Which mods work well to lower EGT while towing 10-14k lbs GN?

going off your sig, I'd say all your missing is a SMARTY Jr. Edge boxes tends to make trucks run hot in the EGT dept...

new intake horn helps too, you get more usable torque in the mid-range and EGT's are lowered a little bit say about 200 degrees or so.

It's a bit more than that.

Getting your intake temps down help. If you can get rid of the Catylitic converter, that will have an impact. Cold air filter, suggest the S & B. A grid heater delete will do both wonders for the temps and performance. Larger intercoolers

I cruise with 8000 pounds at 700*. I can hit 1200 on the long hills unless I step up the speed. Just kick it out of overdrive if it's a long hill

Most tuners will work well. But getting rid of the converter and getting the intake temps down will do more. Not sure what's available for the 5.9's, but I sure drove the EGT's down on my 6.7. That thing would hit 1200 on hills empty before I dumped all the precious metals. It's all in what you want to spend.

Thank you for your help. What is a "A grid heater delete " ?

And regarding the previous reply, is an intake horn something like the CFM+ intake?

What I am sensing is that if you replace the stock components everywhere along the gas flow path (air filter, intercooler, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, exhaust system), then EGT goes down. If that is true, where do you get the most benefit for the cost, ie what order? and are there any disadvantages of these mods for everyday towing? I drive like a grandmother when towing horses: slow starts, gentle stops as the horses are not strapped in and you do not want them to become afraid of riding in a trailer, or worse yet, get hurt bouncing around. Throttle response is not important at all. Low EGT and good gas mileage is most important. Stock has plenty of power, so any additional power is only something you have to manage so you do not burn up your stock 48RE transmission.

Thank you again.

You don't have to go over board. . . the colder the intake air, the better. The less back pressure, the better. Anything you do will improve the performance as well.

Take a look at my Mod list. Works for me and very well. I have a smog machine! Well it was. . . [laugh]

I had an 04.5 which had a converter. That was the first thing that went. Dropped 200 right there. But in a cold air filter, and modified it to get even cooler air. Right now, with the AC on, I am running about 15 to 18 above ambient. That all equates to lower EGT's. And to a better running truck

The grid heater is the cold start heater. It's under the air horn. Pretty restrictive. It took the place of glow plugs. I am not sure if anyone makes something different for the 5.9's for a heater in high flow. We have them for the 6.7

pull that afe junk off and trash can it, go back stock with a psm kit and a 49946 filter. if it is pre 04.5 you can leave the tube on if it is 04.5 leve the stock elbo on with the nylon baffles in it and replace the center tube section. can the edge and get a smarty jr. i hate and would never drive or own a auto but the ones who do say the bd torque converter lockup works the best. i like quiet and use fbd turbo back straight pipe 5" kit with m090072 donaldson resonator and m101181 muffler. you can pick up about 2 mpg and lower egt further by replacing the cam with a pdr or colt.

Hi Carl, thank you for your reply. I know you have done a lot of testing for mpg and EGT. Are you saying that the stock air box with psm mod will give better gas mileage than the AFE open stage II? I mean, I already own the AFE and I already own the Edge Attitude (came with the truck), so unless these are decreasing gas mileage, not sure I should spend more money to take these out and replace them. Having said that, I completely understand your point that if you are starting fresh, these may not be the best choices.

Thanks for the clarification.

I have done many mods to my truck in stages over the last few years, nothing had that EGT reduction that the Smarty Jr did.

Intake Horn, no noticeable EGT reduction.. based on the difference in IAT's the max EGT drop is about 10-15°.. show me that on an analog gauge. This mod does allow the boost to build better in the low-mid range, I hit 30 psi about 100 rpms sooner with the GDP horn, but it still doesn't make a noticeable difference in EGT's.

Cat Converter, only difference was in cool down EGT's. If you remove a cat and see a big drop either you wanted to see it, or it was plugged and faulty. The OEM cat in good condition is only robbing 2-4 rwhp and precious little exhaust flow.. But they are designed for stock soot/fueling so added power can cause them to fail/plug prematurely.

My list of mods that will effect EGT's and flow is as follows... Smarty Jr (SW3), Garrett Turbo, Colt Cam, GDP intake horn, Airaid MIT, Home Depot CAI, ATS 2-piece manifold, and exhaust manifold blankets... As it sits currently I can be pulling a 6% grade at 80%+ throttle in 6th at 67 mph and not break 1200°, not too bad if you ask me! Drop to 60-65 in 5th and 1100° is hard to break...

The AFE Stage II is no better than stock under 450rwhp, and the stock 06 setup actually has some better parts, and some worse.. Will you see much of a difference going back to stock with a modified intake tube, prob not.. but for others who are still stock you can do better for less.

Honestly the biggest thing effecting EGT's is your Edge, 06's run HOT, up to 1450°+ stock, the Edge modules don't really do anything to reduce that.

A boost fooler will also lower exhaust temps by 200-300*. It lets you build more boost sooner. It made a noticeable difference on my rig towing 14,000lbs.

200-300*?? That's a bit of an exaggeration! But they will do a little on a stock truck, but the Edge boost fools already.

I had different results. I used my digital Black Maxx to verify my analog. The Maxx dropped about 100.

I've been cruising flats with 8500# at 650*. If i increase speed by 10 MPH. going up hills is 900*. Same hill at 65 it get's to 1100. Or I down shift.

I did my CAF and BD intercooler and had insignificant drops. Maybe 100* in EGT's. Remember, I have a smog machine, 6.7. Once I pulled all the precious metals, then the EGT's plummeted. Added a new air horn, did the Grid Heater delete, boost tube, and then it really started to drop.

Bad DPF Bad [laugh]

The 6.7 is a very different beast when it comes to intake/exhaust and can't be correlated to a 5.9.

The 08+ 6.7 intercoolers were undersized to improve fuel economy, and on a deleted truck are too small where the 5.9 intercooler is well sized for stock and over stock applications.

ah64id gave a more detailed explanation than i did. there are a lot of people removing the stock boxes and tubes from the 04.5 up. place a wanted to buy add for stock box and tube, and do a home depot mod to it and replace the center section of the tube with parts from the one you have now, the nylon baffles in the stock elbow is what you are needing to put back in, they are straightening vanes to reduce side shear in the turbo. the exhaust change is more important for you when towing the stock muffler is more restrictive than the cat. you can get 2 more mpg and reduce egt further by getting ddp 50 hp nozzles. you will have to leave the smarty set on economy because the effect of the nozzles is what is wanted not the extra hp. the stock turbo nor that tranny can take that much fueling or hp. with the jr on economy the he351 will be just right for the fuel and the jr has boost programing in it.

I followed the advice given here and have made the following mods:
- removed the AFE cold air intake
- installed the stock box with PSM Diesel airbox mod and cool hose
- installed the M090544 Donaldson muffer
- set the Edge Attitude to STOCK and then set up a Smarty Jr. on Tow mode
- installed a Mag-Trans double deep trany pan

The truck is running so much better. I will be towing over the the next week and expect to see lower EGT and lower trany temps.

Thank you everyone for your advice on this topic.