ford v10 and 11000 feet

cmitcham · 07-07-2020, 12:04 PM

planning a big trip next april to some great jeeping in moab. my wife questions how well the 2015 gtown 351ds will do going over the rockies pulling the jeep. we pull as a toad now, but hope to have a nice light aluminum trailer by then.

anybody have thoughts about how we will fare?

thanks.

Dodge Guy · 07-07-2020, 12:53 PM

You won’t win any races! Just put it in tow haul and go at it. Let it rev!
Now if you get a tune from 5star tuning it will help you out even more! I had one in my 02 V-10 Excursion and 35 ft TT GCW at 17,500lbs and it had no problem pulling any of the grades out west.
Going to be getting one for our Georgetown.

dontay · 07-07-2020, 12:57 PM

You will do just fine. Not at all like the old carburetor days. There will be some loss of power but you have way more than you need now so it won't be missed as much.
As for your trailer could I pass along another slant on an aluminum model. Yes, they are lighter but you really pay for that up front. My 16' steel trailer weighs 2020# on a certified scale but when I haul our Cherokee (3550#) it feels the same. It might have something to do with running 60# in the trailer tires vs about 32# on the Jeep. But I can have welding done on it anywhere and twice had to stop in small towns in Alaska to get the fenders tack welded. Just another note to self: if you build a kayak rack on the trailer over the Jeep and by the time you get to Alaska you notice it swaying don't run straps from the rack to the fenders. Stop and have someone weld anchor points on the trailer frame BEFORE the fenders rip loose at the original tack welds.
Anyway, enjoy your trip.

bubbles · 07-07-2020, 01:01 PM

You don't need any addon's, 5 star or otherwise. You'll be fine.

markb422 · 07-07-2020, 03:39 PM

Did it a couple years ago and did not seem to make a diff. Now the LP appliances is another story.

McCormickJim · 07-07-2020, 04:00 PM

I live in Colorado at 5000 feet. I sometimes take I-70 over the mountains to go into Utah.

My 31L5 Georgetown with the v10 does just fine. I don't tow a toad, so you'll use a little more fuel, but just go. I pass the semi truck on the steep uphill grades. They pass me on the downhill.

Be sure to use your tow-haul and down-shifting when going down the long grades.

aircommuter · 07-07-2020, 05:11 PM

At 11000’ you will lose approximately 30% of your power. Question is how much do you need?

UT_Grandpa · 07-07-2020, 06:42 PM

Another thing about elevation (my house is at 4800 feet) and I live in Utah, is that the air is thinner and doesn't cool as well. So make sure your radiator is in good shape, has the fins cleaned and your fan clutch is verified as working OK. Find a gear that you can hold the speed and get in the right lane with the blinkers on. In Utah, you can't pull a trailer in the inside lane if there are three or more lanes. None of the pulls are more than 15 miles long and you normally get a flat drive or a downhill when passing the summit.

cmitcham · 07-08-2020, 05:46 AM

thanks guys. trip is a go

The Evil Twin · 07-08-2020, 06:56 AM

A fresh air filter won't hurt. Especially if it has not been done in a while.

Dc8mdtmech · 07-16-2020, 06:50 AM

I found a transmission gear. In the tow haul mode, at 50+mph, gas peddle half way, it goes in a gear that just pulls the hills in New England.

markb422 · 07-16-2020, 07:24 AM

First a question. How did you produce the road profile that is attached to your original post. I have done that before but do not remember how I did it.
I assume that a 2015 would have the 5 speed tranny.
Something I had more trouble with when going through the mountains wasn't going up but going down. When in tow haul, touching the brakes will downshift the transmission. With a lot of the switchbacks I was having to brake a lot and at times the transmission would down shift and I was almost red lining the tach. A couple times I had to take it out of tow haul and manually downshift and use the brakes to keep the engine from over revving.

BehindBars · 07-16-2020, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markb422

First a question. How did you produce the road profile that is attached to your original post. I have done that before but do not remember how I did it.
I assume that a 2015 would have the 5 speed tranny.
Something I had more trouble with when going through the mountains wasn't going up but going down. When in tow haul, touching the brakes will downshift the transmission. With a lot of the switchbacks I was having to brake a lot and at times the transmission would down shift and I was almost red lining the tach. A couple times I had to take it out of tow haul and manually downshift and use the brakes to keep the engine from over revving.

You said it was “almost redlining the tach”. Did the transmission allow the RPM to go beyond redline, or just almost to redline?

markb422 · 07-16-2020, 07:38 AM

I don't think it ever got past redline but I know it was close a couple times before I decided to take it out of t/h.

cmitcham · 07-16-2020, 08:16 AM

thanks again for more info. now just hoping the virus doesn't shut this trip down.

the elevation profile comes from gaia gps when i create a route.

i pull my jeep as a toad now with no brake controller. as i mentioned, i hope to have a trailer by next year with axle brakes. i wouldn't attempt that trip with no brakes on the trailer/toad.

lbrjet · 07-16-2020, 06:34 PM

The computer won't allow over revving whether T/H is down shifting or when you are down shifting.

Iggy · 07-17-2020, 10:21 AM

If you don't feel confident at 11,000 ft then just disconnect the toad and drive it awhile then hook it back up when you are below 6,000 ft

With my GT and toad I've pulled a max mountain pass at 10,000 ft and 10 % grade and made it ok.
45 mph

The drive west of Denver is a lot more stretched out

Dodge Guy · 07-17-2020, 03:32 PM

Finishing up my trip to the Rockies now. I’ve come to the conclusion that Ford has crippled the V-10 with poor ECM programming! I can tell that the engine doesn’t get full throttle opening. You can hear it when you floor it. Even going up a grade you can hear the throttle close a bit when the engine winds up. I also think the these things are very under geared. You can really feel it struggle to get up to speed (it may be because of the program) but my 2012 F53 with its 24klb GCWR is saddled with only a 4.30 ratio. Now the same V-10 and 5 speed in an F250 can be had with a 4.30.....however the F250 has a smaller diameter tire compared to the ones on the F53.
There is definitely an issue when I lose 15mph on a slight grade going over small hills.

My next investment will be a 5star tune.

ADOR · 07-17-2020, 03:51 PM

We just finished a week trip from Vegas to Colorado Springs last week (2015 Forest River Forester with V10, pulling a 2020 Mini Cooper Clubman on a Tow Dolly. Drove through I-50, to I-70. Multiple steep mountain passes. Did OK. Used Tow-Haul Mode. But the engine really worked hard. Highest elevation I remembered was around 8K+ feet.

Iggy · 07-17-2020, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

Finishing up my trip to the Rockies now. I’ve come to the conclusion that Ford has crippled the V-10 with poor ECM programming! I can tell that the engine doesn’t get full throttle opening. You can hear it when you floor it. Even going up a grade you can hear the throttle close a bit when the engine winds up. I also think the these things are very under geared. You can really feel it struggle to get up to speed (it may be because of the program) but my 2012 F53 with its 24klb GCWR is saddled with only a 4.30 ratio. Now the same V-10 and 5 speed in an F250 can be had with a 4.30.....however the F250 has a smaller diameter tire compared to the ones on the F53.
There is definitely an issue when I lose 15mph on a slight grade going over small hills.

My next investment will be a 5star tune.

I have a 2012 378TS with 5 Star installed and has more torque and like how it holds gears in high climbs. Over 75,000 miles so far.

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