Boosting Performance for towing

Towing and headers are just not a good combination - maybe for short trips but not long distances.
They will be almost glowing after a bit - unless the 5.7 is a lot different than my 5.9 was, the underhood heat was incredible when I had ceramic coated (wrapped in places) headers on my 5.9 dakota, so much so I went back to cast manifolds.

You will never get back the money spent on a tune and most will require 91 or higher octane for any real boost. Again costing more so you aren't saving any $$.

Setting up the truck to maintain the stock rake (front down rear up) while loaded will help on the mpg some, and are the most economical mods to do. This with some underbelly mods gained me 2-3 mpg when towing.
If you have a chrome bumper, at highway speed the black air dam under the bumper will fold back and up at the center of the air dam and let air just ram into the frame under the motor - killing some aerodynamics. Don't believe me, just look at any chrome bumper 4th gen 1500 doing 70 mph coming the other direction and look at the center under the bumper - the vast majority will be folded up in the center. You can also see it if you crawl under the truck and look at the air dam - you will see the crease.

3.92's can help but honestly aren't needed with the 8 speed in most cases as the 3.21 is basically just one gear off of the 3.92's. Ie. - 8th (3.92's) = 7th(3.21's) and this stays true down to about 5th gear.
Just use tow/haul and the ERS buttons.

Ridgerunner665 said:

The fight is wind.... not weight.

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^^^ this exactly when towing

ScLeCo said:

Apples to Oranges.
We're talking about the 5.7 gas trucks.
Performance and towing of these to what you're talking about aren't in the same ballpark, they aren't even in the same sport.

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If you think towing is a sport, please don't ever hook a trailer to your vehicle and head out on the public roads.
Ridgerunner has it right about the wind and it applies even all trucks towing. I can pull a 28' enclosed trailer weighing 8K lbs and get in the 14-15 mpg range yet in high wind conditions be towing a 24' enclosed that is only 3K lbs and barely squeak out 12mpg.
Adding HP to a gasser isn't going yield miraculous better fuel economy. It's the spark plug penalty while towing, loose those and add a turbo...lol

@erickpl aside from topper to help push the wind up and over the trailer, keeps the speeds down while towing. As noted above the wind is your enemy on fuel efficiency.

Ridgerunner665 said:

In other words... geared right.... the stock 5.7 could quite handily power a medium duty dump truck, and do so far better than any 396, 427, 454 or 460 ever did in the past.

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WINNER WINNER WINNER
You have earned an all expense paid trip to the Ignore List.

The Forum equivalent of the "You cease to Exist" button.
Think of it as moving into a long sought after and desired Neighborhood and watching Everyone else move away.
So simple to use and, in my opinion, the single greatest Forum feature.

If only the Zoo had such a thing for those annoying ************ Monkeys.
Not that those Monkey's equate to the Ignore list, as such.
The Monkeys do not know any better.

gofishn said:

WINNER WINNER WINNER
You have earned an all expense paid trip to the Ignore List.

The Forum equivalent of the "You cease to Exist" button.
Think of it as moving into a long sought after and desired Neighborhood and watching Everyone else move away.
So simple to use and, in my opinion, the single greatest Forum feature.

If only the Zoo had such a thing for those annoying ************ Monkeys.
Not that those Monkey's equate to the Ignore list, as such.
The Monkeys do not know any better.

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Whatever floats your boat.... I'm not sure why you feel that way...but OK.


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Ridgerunner665 said:

Whatever floats your boat.... I'm not sure why you feel that way...but OK.

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Don't feed the trolls...and I think he was explaining that you should put him on your ignore list... #justsaying [emoji16]

crash68 said:

Don't feed the trolls...and I think he was explaining that you should put him on your ignore list... #justsaying [emoji16]

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I still don't get why he said it though..... not that I'll lose any sleep over it... but I didn't even say anything to him, lol.

I've ticked off a lot of people in my life, but I've always had to at least speak to them first....I must be getting better at it or something.



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Opinions are worth exactly what you pay for them, but there is a grain of truth in each one. Being a gasser or diesel makes little difference in mpg when towing as stated before.. I have towed a 9000# fifth wheel with a '05 Duramax and my '19 1500 limited, and both got 10mpg towing. The diesel was chipped, had a larger exhaust and CAI installed. All kinds of power, but wind resistance only allowed for 10mpg. I also pulled 16000# fiver with it, and it got the same mpg. Wind resistance and speed are your biggest points to consider for mpg. That's my 2 cents, but then again, it's free to ya'll, so take it as you will.

I feel bad for you, because with a CAI, and Diablo Sport tuner with a custom tune, I'm fast when I want to be and need to be. I haven't even got to the cam yet! But yes it's a big heavy truck and not intended for speed. It's not a Scat or a Hellcat, but it can damn sure get in the 11's at the track! Oh yeah don't forget about the 85mm true bored throttle body

Ridgerunner665 said:

#1 thing to always remember, or it will kill you...

If you enable to pull it faster, you must also enable stopping it faster.

Power without brakes is bad.

Proper weight distribution.

Proper gearing.

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And the winner is>. Good answer, As a old farm boy, I see city guys sitting on the side of the road with a trailer lots , that should never be behind a 1/2 ton. you a 20ft er should be fine

I'm not sure whatall the OP's after, but if it's towing ease on his truck and he's good with suspensions and the like, what comes to mind with me is an old-school over&under add-on transmission. "Gearvendors.com" is one source as an example. This might be a good solution for others out there too, especially for bigger, blunter trailers.
Now with all the computer-sensed and operated gadgets on the newer trucks, that installation might be tricky, and I don't know any prices for those trannys. If he has the "auto" on his 4WD, I doubt this is a viable option because obviously he won't want to engage the fronts if the extra tranny is engaged and changing the overall rear ratio so caution needs to be observed.
Just a random thought.

I wouldn't touch the engine or trans.

Here's what I do and recommend. Swap the tires on the travel trailer for some load range D Goodyear Endurance and keep them inflated to 65 PSI. Not only will the trailer track better it'll be less rolling resistance.

Also, take the setup to a CAT scale and make sure the weight distribution is set up correctly. Even a smaller 20' trailer can be a bear to tow if the WDH isn't setup properly.

The truck is more than capable of pulling that trailer anywhere in the country. Setup is going to determine how much it beats the driver up doing it.

Nothing is going to improve fuel efficiency. You're towing a large sail. Head, tail or cross winds are really the only thing that make a difference.

Ridgerunner665 said:

Whatever floats your boat.... I'm not sure why you feel that way...but OK.


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Because he is a **** maybe?

The biggest thing that I have received from this thread is that wind resistance and aerodynamics are very important concepts. The other day I saw a ram truck that had a nice looking color-coordinated topper and it makes sense to me that directing the wind up and over the top of the camper will help. I did order my new truck (soon to be delivered) with a tonneau cover. I imagine that will help somewhat but it certainly makes sense the topper would do better. Perhaps I can sell that tonneau cover and use the proceeds toward a nice topper. I imagine that using both of them simultaneously is a nonstarter.

alexcomp said:

The biggest thing that I have received from this thread is that wind resistance and aerodynamics are very important concepts. The other day I saw a ram truck that had a nice looking color-coordinated topper and it makes sense to me that directing the wind up and over the top of the camper will help. I did order my new truck (soon to be delivered) with a tonneau cover. I imagine that will help somewhat but it certainly makes sense the topper would do better. Perhaps I can sell that tonneau cover and use the proceeds toward a nice topper. I imagine that using both of them simultaneously is a nonstarter.

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Tonneau covers really dont have any effect as far as wind or fuel efficiency. The best thing that will help is a regular topper to help with aerodynamics between the truck and trailer. Plus itll keep the **** in the bed dry and safe from thief's too.

Blue Mule

Like a few of the other guys who have commented, I have a fair bit of heavy towing (commercial, big trucks) as well as towing with my gas 1500 & smaller gas SUV's.

First my opinion on engine power - I think the 5.7 produces sufficient power for anything a 1500 has business towing. I've done a couple pretty good interstate hauls with mine & many in-states (6 speed trans, 3.55 gears) and never felt like I was coming up to the end of what the engine had to offer. Letting the engine do its job does mean managing the gears a bit, like always use the tow/haul mode when you're pulling and don't be afraid to manually select the right gear for a grade. You can let that engine yodel away at 4k rpm to the top of the grade it really does not mind - that's the whole point of the variable cam and intake manifold runners.

You're never going to outdo the factory tuning for fuel efficiency and longevity, those are key targets and nobody gets a job as a powertrain engineer fresh out of taco folding class.

Keep an eye on transmission temps and if they're over 200F on a regular basis consider adding some quality cooling capacity to that.

Aero and rolling resistance are the big deals like others have said.

Make sure your truck's sitting with adequate rake. If you're pitched up at all while towing be assured that's going to cost you major MPG - speaking from direct and repeated experience. An obvious first step is centralizing your trailer load to make sure the trailer axles are bearing most of the weight. Don't accomplish this by moving anything behind the axles of course. If your trailer tongue weight and distribution is good (and assuming we're talking about bumper pull) a weight distribuing hitch, airbags, Timbrens, load bearing shocks.. whatever's appropriate for your individual combination to get a little rake in your truck while towing. Doesn't have to be a lot.

Tires and tire pressure matter; a set of highway tires is obvious as the name implies or if you need all-terrains try to stick with something on the milder side like Nitto Dura-Grappler or Continental TerrainContact. Run the appropriate pressure for your load, sometimes that means going higher psi in the rear tires than the front both for lowering rolling resistance and for improving lateral stability so you can keep better control of the trailer. On a mile-by-mile basis, effort you put into stabilizing your combination adds up to a big part of your fuel expense. In other words if you have to make a million little corrections every time a bit of wind pushes the trailer or a tire hits a patch in the asphalt, those million little corrections fatigue you as a driver and they take a sip from your fuel tank. Take stability seriously there are no downsides to making your rig more stable.

That also means if your trailer doesn't have dampers (shock absorbers) consider fitting a set. If you can budget for it, get centramatics or at least balance beads in the tires. This will save you a fraction of fuel and also make your tires last longer, make your trailer last longer, make everything you haul inside your trailer last longer.

Last but not least my advice on aero: ultimately there's not a ton you can do about the parachute itself so you will simply be getting poor MPG. The two big ones you can affect are the rake of the truck (previously described) and the stability of the trailer. I have done enough A/B comparison to be sold on airtabs but I consider them more a stability improvement than "pure" reduction of drag. A set of airtabs along the back of the box doesn't seem to have much effect on ease of coasting (down a hill or flat, minimal crosswind, etc) but as soon as there's choppy wind, opposing traffic, adjacent lane big rigs, anything of that sort you'd absolutely notice the difference with/without them. I'm not saying you need to get them because people push all sorts of weird snake oil like it came from Jesus Himself... I'm just some guy on the internet. I have them on my trailer, had them on my last trailer, will put them on future boxes. Take that how you will.

Great topic.
I've been a weekend warrior with my truck for years. Typically tow a 25' travel trailer with 2 dirt bikes in the box of the truck every weekend throughout the summer/fall months. I've got a photo of it somewhere I swear....

Anyway, over the years I've added parts with towing in mind.
The top items that have helped with towing the most was suspension. Please note I am lowered 3/3 on a 4x4.
The Airlift helper bags, panhard bar and upgraded rear sway bar made all the difference.

When it comes to performance I found the Hemifever tune and LT headers were the best benefit. Living in western Canada I tug this setup up some serious mountains/hills. My Fastman TB, E-Fan, T-Stat and S&B have helped support mods. (Not installed in that order- see signature for full list)

My next mod will be a cam that provides more low end torque.

I forgot to mention that. I installed AirLift 1000 helper bags and a Helwig rear sway bar. Really stabilized the rear of my truck. I'm also towing a considerably larger trailer at 27' and 8000#. The right tires on both TT and TV, suspension and having your WDH dialed in make all the difference in the world.

You'll always experience some sway. There's no getting around fluid dynamics of air pushing you around. You'll know your setup correctly when you don't have to correct for it.

All good input. MUCH appreciated!

I DO have the 3.92 gearing - that's how I wanted it. So I'm good there.
I DO have weight distribution hitch and there is no discernbile rake to the truck.
I have a Ram box bed so a topper isn't something I've had luck finding, but totally understand the aero benefits of something like that. Does anybody even MAKE a bed topper for a Rambox bed? I haven't had luck finding any.

Living with the mileage is fine if it is what it is. I don't get beat up driving it. The combination tracks VERY well in all wind directions. I was just hoping to improve the efficiency. On our trips to Arizona, I generally keep it between 60-65 instead of 70 to try to maintain as decent a mileage as I can. I also try to ride behind bigger vehicles and get SOME wind shadow when I can. But I can't follow TOO close just so I don't eat it if they have to hit THEIR brakes.

Again, your input is appreciated! Now I just have a 'fuel sensor fail' issue to go and resolve.