My new tow rig...

hlb3 · Feb 27, 2015

I did and it seems fine. I was debating with myself on swapping it out, since there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, I decided to save the money and skip it. With my luck I'm sure I will end up regretting that decision in a few thousand miles. :redneck:

hlb3 · Feb 27, 2015

When I was changing the belt I noticed that the hex in the fan clutch was a bit rounded, so it has been off some point. The truck had an aftermarket thermostat in it also, so someone has been in there. About the only reason to pull to fan clutch (aisde from replacing it) would be to replace the water pump, so I'm wondering if the pump has been swapped out before.

WA-Wheeler · Feb 27, 2015

Or to paint the fan......I went with red for mine. It's pretty dope.

Anthony1 · Feb 27, 2015

Mines hot pink because it's faster. :awesomework:

hlb3 · Feb 27, 2015

Now I wish I would have taken mine off to to paint it...

zukkev · Feb 27, 2015

Smurf Blue? :redneck: Blueish ForD towing a smurf Blue 4D on 4D's...

zukkev · Feb 27, 2015

All makes sense in my head...:haha:

hlb3 · Feb 27, 2015

zukkev said:
Smurf Blue?

Of course!

hlb3 · May 8, 2015

Took the 5th wheel down to Seaside last weekend. I noticed the trans temp creeping over 200* on some of the steeper grades down on Hwy 30. Since I put the gauges in I haven't had any issues with trans temp yet, empty the it usually runs around 140* and it stays around 170* when towing the trailer at hwy/freeway speeds.

Since we are planning a trip east of the mountains later in the summer, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to throw a cooler on it. I ended up pulling the big ass Tru-Cool Max 40k gvw cooler and the Derale remote filter off the OBS and put them on the new truck, so I should be good to go now.

I also found out that apparently the 550's do not route the trans fluid through a heat exchanger in the radiator, it just ran straight to the factory cooler.

ain'tstuckjustresting · May 8, 2015

On our F450's with a 7.3 I swap in coolers from 6.0 trucks. They're much bigger and bolt in the same spot.

hlb3 · May 8, 2015

That's the way I would have gone if I didn't already have the Tru-Cool.

CarnationSensation · May 8, 2015

200* really aint that bad. above 230 is where you need to be careful as the oil will start to burn a bit.

But sounds like you wont even have to worry bout it any more.

hlb3 · May 8, 2015

Yeah, I wasn't immediately worried about it, but since it jumped that quickly when it was only 60* outside and the hills were not that long, I figured I would probably be running into issues east of the mountains going up the pass or pulling the hill at Vantage when it is 90*+ outside.

hlb3 · Jul 2, 2015

Tranny cooler is working well. I towed the trailer down the Oregon coast last week and never got above 180*, even pulling some long hills in 90* heat it was good.

I ordered a Water/Meth injection kit the other day also. It should help keep the EGTs down on those long grades.

Fordzuki · Jul 3, 2015

Glad you brought this up, Les. I've had mine hit 195 a couple times and had wondered if that was normal.

zukkev · Jul 3, 2015

Since I had my trans built, I have a hard time getting it to 170 on the longest of grades, pulling the wheeler, with the camper on...Used to be fairly easy to hit 200-215 range when pulling the same hills..

hlb3 · Jul 25, 2015

I just got done installing my water/methanol injection.I went with a Cooling Mist Stage 1 kit.

I bought a 7 gallon tank and mounted it under the bed.

I used a RV tank flush kit as a fill point for the tank. I mounted it up inside the bed.

I can fill it with a chunk of hose and a funnel.

I drilled and tapped the spider to mount the injector.

It is set to come on when the truck is making 10psi of boost. I don't want it to be on all the time, I just want to be able to switch it on when I am towing hills, so I mounted a switch on the dash. I put an indicator light on to show when the pump is actually running.