My dad is looking at buying an 05/06 F-650 Wrecker/Rollback It comes with the 5.9 cummins but it says its only 230horse. I was wanting to know why is the horse power lower than what the 3rd gens is. Also does anyone know if you could put a box/programmer on it? Its a 6speed also thanks

Shaun

 

Because the electronics are cummins electronics not dodge's.

 

so could i put a box on it or something? I mean 230 horse is going to suck towing cars down the road lol

 

On the medium and heavy duty trucks, Cummins detunes the hell out of the motors simply for reliability & longevity. That F-650 you are talking about is intended to be driven all day, every day. Therefore when Cummins was asked to put motors in those trucks, they were shooting for reliabilty more than performance. And lets face it, that F-650 with a 230 horse cummins will tow anything you want just fine, yeah it may not be a 500RW horse twin turbo'd screamer, but that's not what they were shooting for. People buy these trucks and EXPECT 500,000 miles out of them, at least. So it would make sense that Cummins would give em a bare bones motor that's not all hopped up to meet those standards.

 

that 250 h.p. Cummins in that Ford will outpull anything that dodge put out stock , even thought is says 325 h.p. on the dodge , that 250 h.p. also puts out 660 ft.lbs. of torque, and it was built to pull that torque max the whole life of the engine.

 

it's all about the tq

 

well i just thought maybe adding a box you know to just give it a lil something to love on

 

It'll do fine. I'd leave it alone. It is not a race car.

 

We have 260k on a 1995 F800 with the 5.9 Cummins (190HP). We use it to pull 32 foot goosenecks with a dozer/backhoe ant up to 5 burial vaults.

When empty its not fast but you don't need to be going fast. Put the load behind it and its just a world of difference between this and the 1 ton. Its supposed to be different.

It's so nice we just bought another Medium truck.
11mpg towing so that's pretty decent too. I only get 10 in the Dodge and it's not as much wear and tear on it.

 

towing isnt all about numbers. It doesnt take much to get a heavy load moving. the real trick is being able to stop it. 240 hp and 660 ft/lbs of torque in an F650 will move a house.

 

My work truck (freighliner FL60) is well over 25,000 pounds and it pulls that truck just fine...

We also have a Ford Dump that hauls a 38' trailer and case 580.. When loaded with a 1 1/2 yards of dirt it is a little slow but it still chugs right up the hills!!...

they are both the CA emissions 230 HP engines..

 

I completely agree - This is more of a tractor - engine application for the 5.9L. 230 bhp/660 ft-lbs torque and is designed to be run at this all day every day. It's not for peak hp or tq.

If you think "230hp is going to suck towing cars..." Then you will NOT be towing my rig, anywhere.

 

shouldnt have to tow ur rig if it has a cummins in it

 

I appreciate that - it's actually been towed a few times...

Let's see, first was the fuel return line when it and the fuel sender both failed, (oops). The second was when the throwout bearing fully "threw out" and new clutch time. I very nearly had it towed when my brakes went to 30% all the sudden, rear brake cylinder cause failure of part of the brake system. Each time it's been on a flatbed the driver comments it's a "heavy pull."

 

Yeah - my '98 needed the Big Toe a few times... always told 'em to send something for a BIG truck, since I normally weigh @ 10K#
My son & I had several good watching the drivers trying to pick up either end of the Ram with their tow trucks - every time, our truck stayed glued to the ground while his front wheels went skyward.
The expressions on their faces almost made having a mechanical worth it...

Semi-truck tow rigs get the job done.