Towing, chipping, upgrades, help!

[apgparts]

HI All,

I have an 06 sportsmobile, weights a good 8500# before anybody gets in it.

Well - wife says I can only have one powerstroke, so the F350 dually is on the blocks to be sold.

The van pulls fine - but not as fine, as I am sure you can imagine.

Questions / planned upgrades - I'd really apprecaite help here.

1) chips and guages - I tow a pretty heavy trailer, I do not want to burn this thing up - and I do want a little more power going up the hills - what do you recommend?

2) Exhaust brake - I think someone here recommended the BD - I will look into that and let you know.

3) exhaust upgrades - can one fit a bigger downpipe on these vans?? What do you recommend, where do I find it

4) sound insulation - baby is loud under a load, open up the exhaust and my wife won't sit next to me anymore. Any thoughts on how to sound-proof the beast?

5) Air intake - who/what/which one. Did the airbox/downpipe on my old truck, a 97 F250 - wow what a difference. Figure it has got to help here too.

Oh - and again, noise - any tips other than wearing earplugs will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Mike

[msnunes]

[ QUOTE ]
HI All,

I have an 06 sportsmobile, weights a good 8500# before anybody gets in it.

Well - wife says I can only have one powerstroke, so the F350 dually is on the blocks to be sold.

The van pulls fine - but not as fine, as I am sure you can imagine.

Questions / planned upgrades - I'd really apprecaite help here.

1) chips and guages - I tow a pretty heavy trailer, I do not want to burn this thing up - and I do want a little more power going up the hills - what do you recommend?

2) Exhaust brake - I think someone here recommended the BD - I will look into that and let you know.

3) exhaust upgrades - can one fit a bigger downpipe on these vans?? What do you recommend, where do I find it

4) sound insulation - baby is loud under a load, open up the exhaust and my wife won't sit next to me anymore. Any thoughts on how to sound-proof the beast?

5) Air intake - who/what/which one. Did the airbox/downpipe on my old truck, a 97 F250 - wow what a difference. Figure it has got to help here too.

Oh - and again, noise - any tips other than wearing earplugs will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

1) Get gauges first, just to see where you stand. As far as a chip, DP-Tuner is fairly popular here, and for good reason. You might want to stay mild with the 6.0, but they should be able to recommend the right thing for your rig.

3) Get exhaust done before the chip. I know at least Darth Surplus (here) has a custom exhaust done for his, there may be kits out there now, or others here who have done it to a 6.0.

4) You could try insulating the walls (if you haven't already), the inside of the doghouse, and/or wrapping the exhaust pipe. I'm sure others here can chime in about that too.

5) Everybody here wants an easy answer to this one. Intakes are much easier to change in trucks, we don't really have a good option without going crazy with mods.

Happy modding...

[apgparts]

Thanks for the organized answers! helps. Now for some organized follow up.

1) Totally agree - guages first. Only rub is some chips come with guages...

3) Naive question - Darth Surplus - a shop, a builder, or an owner? I guess having a custom built would not be the end of the world, eh?

4) Any tips, anyone - what do you use for insulation? It gets pretty hot down there, and space is, as you are fully aware, at a premium.

5)Crap.

Thanks much

Mike