6.5 does not have power to pull trailers

[jam93]

I have a 1993 gmc 3500 crew cab 2 wheel drive standard trans 4:10 rears and every upgrade that walt has for this motor and it still will not pull my 36ft hitchhiker 5 th wheel 13,000lbs. can someone tell me what is wrong is this to big of a trailer my dads 95 dodge yanks this trailer like nothing and it is stock with 300,000 miles .only thing good is with the cooling upgrade it does not get hot how are some of ya'll pulling trailers up 7% grades 50 to 55 mph my truck pulls this 60mph on flat ground with the thing floored 15 to 16 psi 1200deg. please help????? i have spent tons of money and not happy at all...:(

[turbos10]

Sounds to me like a 6.5.... They are just not going to touch a late model cummins. I know folks say they will with upgrades, but I am still doubtful.

[jam93]

i think you are right on i know that my trailer is on the large side but my dads dodge is only a 3/4 ton with 3:55 gears i am just not convinced it can be done without repowering to another motor:mad: somebody please prove me wrong with videos because i love my truck but if it can't get the job done why have it!!:confused:

[1999GMC]

I don't know. I weighed my truck and trailer after a weekend out so most of food and drinks and ice were all gone and I weighed 16,0000 total. I pull 6% grades at 50-55 and I am doing 70-75 and less than 1/4 throttle with EGT's at about 650 and bosst at 6-8. Climbing the hills it gets to 1050 on EGT's and boost is at 15 Psi. Intercooler helped a lot. Before on 100 degree days I was about 40-45 MPH

[daustin]

Here's a post from another board that's towing HEAVY with a 2000 Chev. K3500 Crew Cab, Turbo Diesel, Dually, Manual Shifter (tow vehicle), EGT and Boost "A" pillar gauges, 4" SSDiesel exhaust (rocks!), 10k Pot Boost Fooler, Prodigy trailer brake controller.

I towed my 40' enclosed triple axle trailer out to AZ from No. VA. a couple of weeks ago. I went out with just my race car in there and spares. Ran a couple of races at Firebird in Phoenix then loaded up the trailer with race car, son's Jeep Wrangler and lots of college stuff from his apartment and headed back. I-40 east the whole way. A couple of hils had me slowed to 35 MPH but not slower than a couple of tractor-trailers. It was an uneventful trip except for 4 trailer tires that either gave up or were about to. I went over some scales at a truck stop and came in 23,750 lbs :eek: . I averaged about 65 MPH and was getting about 9-10 MPG. Stil got blown away up a couple of hills by some Dodge Mega Cabs (they are so cool sounding when they pass by), but for the money I spent on this truck, I am very pleased.

Don

[santafe]

I deliver RV's for a living with my 93 3500 two wheel drive crew cab. I put alittle more than 11,000 miles on it since tyhe 2nd of this month. Weight doesn't seem to make a lot of difference for my truck. It's the wind that kills. I pull at 58 MPH at about 2250 RPM and average about 10 MPG loaded and about 16 MPG empty @ 65 MPH. I have oil presure, boost, Pyrometer, and Tranny temp gages as well as Walts 4" exhaust. The rest of the truck is stock. If I pull at 65 MPH my mileage goes way down. Many of the other Owner-Operators in this buisiness have Cummins power in their Dodges and they swear by them. Many I have seen have hundreds of thousands of miles on them with no problems. They pull at 70 MPH and get 25% to 35% better mileage. I love my truck but the 6.5 Turbo and 4L80E were just not designed to be a work truck. Yes you can make them perform better however it costs lots of time and money and still doesn't get the MPG nor the longevity of the Cummins. I still love my truck tought.

SantaFe