RE: What causes the black cloud of death? UPDATE 6/29
If an injector sticks open it will KNOCK really LOUD and will smoke gray.
Black smoke and low power is probably not enough air like a turbo problem or an air restriction.
RE: How about this engine for a new TV?
It makes a lot MORE sense to eliminate the pick up truck in it's current form and concentrate improvements on the high mileage smaller family people movers PLUS eliminate the excesses of pick up trucks as transportation alternatives. It is NOT a given that for a couple of old geezers like DW and me want to go somewhere we HAVE to take 20,000 lb. of personal stuff with us.
LOL... You have a choice right now, no waiting. You could get a popup or superlightweight and pull it with an econcobox and leave the pickups to the people that want/need them.
It is NOT a given that I want to leave all my toys at home. I might be old but I haven't reached geezerhood yet, evidently.
RE: easiest diesel maitenence?
Adjusting engine valves? What century is this?
Doesn't matter, they are still the most reliable, hence that is why they are used in Cummins engines. Only has to be done every 120,000/150,000 miles or so. That would mean 6 or 7 times in the engines life.
Powerstrokes are fine with hydraulic because the engine itself won't last long enough to warrant solid lifters.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Yes, times are a changing. I have been soul seaching, and I don't see any way out.
If I can't take my 5th wheel camper and the toys I just won't go, no need to. My camper is support for doing other activities. My toys are too heavy for most small TV's and my camper is too. I can pull both with my truck.
Until I can come up with a better alternative I will just keep the status quo. But I will still keep looking.
Like Caddywhompus said, I suspect the RV business will change drastically in the next few years.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
From a strictly engineering point of view, a unibody vehicle that is properly designed (strong welds and good material profiles) has the upper hand in rigidity vs. a frame. A ladder frame has only about 6" of web cross section height to control all the torsional forces placed on them
Yes, they are stiffer, and a unibody can be built as strong as a ladder frame, but a unibody car is not as strong as a ladder frame 1/2 ton pickup. Truck frames flex under shock loads to dissipate stress that would crack a unibody car. Sure it can be reinforced or built stronger initially but to gain the strength you also gain the weight. Compare the GVW of your car to the GVW of a truck. The truck comes equipped from the factory to tow 4000 pounds without a WD hitch. WD is mandatory on your car to tow that weight.
I bet the GVW on a Ridgeline is lots higher than on your car, right?
Frame section height on my truck is 7.5 inches.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
I've seen them running 9's in the 1/4 mile without a problem...they work just fine.
Are you using any subframe reinforcement? Maybe a rollcage?
I guess you have never seen a twisted up unibody drag car?
Also consider vehicles like the Honda Ridgeline, which have already been used successfully to tow significant trailers by lots of people, yet Ridgelines come in only ONE configuration.
Honda designed this as a truck, not a car, so it is designed to tow and haul heavier loads than a car.
Of course the challenge is still on, if you can show me something new I would LOVE to see it.
Nope, never heard of a problem. Of course there are probably ten thousand trucks towing a trailer to every unibody car towing a heavy trailer so I could go a whole lifetime without seeing ever seeing one, twisted up or not.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Get a clue pal, my 41ft TT w/Hensley Arrow towed like it was on rails and the PSD Excursion weighs more than any Dodge pickup.
Yes, my Dodge truck tows my Gn like it is on rails too, and I bet my Gn trailer weighs more than your 41'TT too, or you wouldn't have it hanging off the back.
But I think you missed the point too. :)
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
I guess one plus is that I don't worry about my non unibody vehicle coming apart from the stress of mile after mile of bump and grind towing my trailer.
LOL, I think that happened once. A guy had a 25 year old, rusted out Chevette and he was towing a tow hauler. He hit a huge pot hole at 80MPH and got a slight ripple in the rear quarter. Other wise all was well.
LOL. You still don't get it. Read my post.
non unibody NON....unibody, which would be 'built with a separate frame'.
Cute response though. :)
Did you mean toy hauler? :)
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
W/the price of gas going to over $6 a gallon in the near future, I think attitudes will change when it come to "bigger is better": when it comes to TVs
Yes, I am sure it will. But I already own my truck and it gets better fuel mileage towing 8000 pounds than your charger does towing 4000 pounds, has 4WD to tow my trailer places your car won't go, plus it has room to haul 6 people, firewood, chairs, BBQ grill, coolers, helmets, tools, gas cans, etc.
I would like to have a charger, but not to tow a trailer.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
...I don't worry about my non unibody vehicle coming apart from the stress of mile after mile of bump and grind towing my trailer.
Neither do I, it just doesn't happen.
Yes, those trucks with a real frame are pretty tough.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
I towed my 41ft TT up to 80mph with only a 235HP 7.3 PSD Excursion
I have also towed my 12,000 pound Gn at over 85 once by mistake passing a slower vehicle, with my 300 HP CTD. I didn't even use all 300.
I know that towing with an underpowered and unstable SUV or truck is not near as good as a more powerful, low and lightweight car, but since we have a large load I guess we just have to do what we can to get by.
I guess one plus is that I don't worry about my non unibody vehicle coming apart from the stress of mile after mile of bump and grind towing my trailer.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Well 1st of all, hauling "dead frieght", regardless of the payload is a far cry from hauling cattle & 2nd, that ain't you pal!
Don't know what your mean with the "that ain't you pal" wisecrack.
My most important payload is the wife and three children.
Not "dead frieght(sp)".
That is why I have a large safe tow vehicle.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Great, post a link where I can get me one of those set ups for my Charger & I will give it a whirl.
Ahhh, the whole idea of the "high performance sedan TV" is really not to break the land speed record towwing (Remember, the title was posted as a question?) but to haul a "real load" of 3500# or so that is perfectly adequete & comfortable for wifey & me & then, when unhooked, have an enjoyable fast, great handling sedan to ENJOY some spirited driving on some twisty mountain roads or getting up to 27 MPG just cruising around if I choose to. DUH!
I'll bet that beheamoth you use to tow your 12,000# "toy load" (see my last post) is a real hoot to drive "enthusiasticly" when it ain't hitched up.. Or do you just sit in the campground & drink beer when you're not towing your "manly" 12000# trailer.
Actually, it is fun to drive, but in a different way than your car. I grew out of the boy racer stage a few years back.
When I am not in the camper I am usually on one of our five 4 wheelers or in my rock crawling jeep, which is more fun to me to drive than a high performance car, by the way. Done both during my lifetime. Even did several years of 500+ HP Jeep sand drags. Sold my 10 second 135+ mph quarter ZZR a year or so back. Too much liability to go fast on the highways anymore.
This is an RV site and a 12,000 load pound would be a "real" load for the audience that generally participates. I imagine that OTR truckers, and UKE drivers that haul much more than your puny 80,000 pounds would have their sites as well.
My "real load" is my camper and my trailer that hauls either my Jeep or 4 wheelers.
Can't drink beer because of medical reasons.
Oh yeah, how about when you have to leave your trailer @ the campground & make a trip to the grocery store when it raining like PI$$ pouring out of a boot & all you can find are some cramped parking spaces that you can't get you "big rig" into? I can park near the store while you are relegated to the back 40.
Never been a problem. I am usually far sighted enough that I don't have to go to the grocery in the rain. But parking hasn't been a problem.
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Then 99.99% of them are flat dumb when it comes to their own safety and that of others. There is no rig on the highway as incompetent as a conventionally-sprung, high center of gravity truck and similar trailer. Trucks and most SUV's are NOT stable towing heavy loads, they are inherently unstable. The stopping power is only reasonably good, far from very good or excellent. Running at the speed limit means only that they lack, one, proper information about the accident-avoidance capability of their rig, and, two, that there is no real law enforcement regarding safety.
LOL
RE: World's Fastest Tow Vehicle?
Once again let me say this. Hook a 12000 pound 5th wheel or GN up to that car and see how much better it performs than a truck.
Most people on this forum tow real loads, not a toy load.
That is the reason most people are not going to take cars as tow vehicles seriously.
You can preach the merits of a car over a truck till #@!! freezes over but you still can't tow a real load with a car.
And stressing the idea that having the fastest tow vehicle in the world would be a great leap in towing ability over a slower vehicle that will tow a real load doesn't help in the credibility department either.
99.99% of the tow vehicles owned by the people on this forum will tow their load at the speed limit, most of them much above the speed limit, and they don't do too badly in the acceleration department either, and they are quite stable towing heavy loads, and they stop quite well towing heavy loads too.
I think most people on this thread, including me,appreciate what has been accomplished with a car as a tow vehicle, but you probably won't get many converts here.
Very interesting sales pitch though.
IMHO of course :B
RE: 2250 lbs. ft. (revised upward) of towing torque-beat that !
No, it is not based on a Ford, it is a redesign of the current Chrysler DODGE Hemi design.
"This project has been a technical exercise for our engineers and the Force team to take the current motor, redesign it and make it
a Ford."
http://www.newcougar.org/forums/garage-talk/118100-ford-debuts-boss-500-nhra-top-fuel.html
Davis and Medlen looked at the current nitro engine, discussed where they felt it had weaknesses, and decided to design and build a new engine to address them.
The BOSS 500 is the first nitro drag racing motor designed with analytical tools. It has a strengthened block for better durability and new cylinder heads developed by Ford and Force engineers. The basic design will favor areas such as the main caps register and the main webs in the block. Its engine block also is anodized blue after machining, helping ensure fans and competitors alike know when they’re seeing a Ford nitro engine under the hood.
Most of the external surface areas on the new 500-cubic-inch engine have been redesigned; a new belly pan was designed for better sealing; and the valve covers purposely call back the old Ford BOSS motors. The engine also features Ford main bearings with actual parts numbers in the Ford performance catalog.
“We had three things in mind when we set out on this project,” Davis said. “First, for marketing purposes, we wanted to say that we were putting reality behind the term ‘Powered by Ford.’
“Second, on the technical side, we have always helped out with aero, chassis development and now safety, but we always stopped short of the engine. This project has been a technical exercise for our engineers and the Force team to take the current motor, redesign it and make it
a Ford.
