On Tuesday, August 19, 2003, at 11:45 AM, Michael Quigley wrote:
> I'd just be interested in possible ways to improve it.
the standard bolt-ons will help both performance and mileage. an
intake, exhaust and PCM upgrade would certainly help that out a bit.
Though beware of a PCM upgrade when towing, since it may advance the
spark too for for heavy loads. I've never tried running performance
tuning when towing, but I've heard of people who forgot to take out an
MP performance PCM having detonation problems when loaded down (and
I've heard of some who didn't, so YMMV).
>
>> I know mine (98 CC 318 4x4 3.55) has performed admirably. for heavy
>> loads (I wouldn't put your sailboat in that category), I'd really
>> prefer to have the 3.92s, and the 'soft' rear springs could use some
>> help when tongue weight is high (roadmaster? air bags? weight
>> distributing setup? overload springs?). I rarely tow anything wide,
>> but auxiliary mirrors are certainly a must with something more than
>> about 7'.
>
> What would you consider a heavy load for your truck? According to my
> owners
> manual my truck has a tow capacity of 5,700#.
well, I'd consider 4500-5000 the beginning of heavy for me, but I have
a 6400# rating (which I've at least bumped on one long trip, and I've
certainly exceeded my GCWR on two long trips, now...). I with your
rating, 4k would be 'heavy', then =)
>
> I've thought about putting some heavier springs on my truck. I don't
> know what
> you guys consider high tongue weight, but my current trailer is
> probably
> somewhere in the vacinity of 350#-550#.
heavy tongue weight as far as I'm concerned in this case (independent
of percentage of trailer weight) has only to do with how much your
truck is squatting under the weight and whether your steers get any
lighter with the weight on there. springs won't help rearward weight
transfer, though, so you'd have to go weight distributing if you were
having loose steering. it'd help high speed stability, too (which
would have been nice on my most recent trip)
>
> I hadn't thought about auxiliary mirrors, but that's definitely
> something to
> consider. The trailer I'm towing now is definitely wider than the
> truck.
>
> Anyone know of any auxiliary mirrors that work well with our trucks?
no clues here, but you can certainly check the archives, or wait for
one of the other towers to chime in. it's been discussed before....
>
> A couple of pictures of the trailer hooked up to my Dakota:
>
> http://intranet.quigley.com/gallery/
> view_photo.php?set_albumName=loadmaster&id=aac
> http://intranet.quigley.com/gallery/
> view_photo.php?set_albumName=loadmaster&id=aad
quite a fine looking rig (nice boat, too!) =)
I've got a few shots of me pulling tom's truck up here:
<http://mike.tepidcola.com/dmlphotos/leg1/>
I've got pictures of my other overload, but I don't think they're
online. they're some of MANY pictures waiting for the update of my
entire site that will probably never happen, so I should stop
waiting.... =) I also have some pictures of me in front of my family
pontoon boat here (as well as of my lonely, underused daysailor, among
others):
<http://mike.tepidcola.com/pics/home/>
> I really don't know what I would consider doing to my truck, yet. I've
> never
> been much of a "car person". I'm here to learn!
>
glad to have you, and I hope you pick up some useful bits along the way
=)
-- Michael Maskalans '98 Dakota SLT CC 4x4 318 details here: <http://mike.tepidcola.com/dak.html> mobile.612.618.4652 campus.585.274.2246 fax.954.697.0487
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