Engine swap for towing

[letitsnow]

I tow a 24' toy hauler camper all over with a 350/4l80e/4.10's. Being a toy hauler, the camper seems heavier than most.

I added jba shorty headers, it has true duals, BB tune. It actually does really well if you keep it in the 2700-4500 rpm range. I have seen 100 mph while towing that camper. Boost would be nice, but not sure it is needed. I tow the same camper with an f150 Ecoboost, and am familiar with the concept.

I've never had a 6.5, and we don't know what camper you are pulling, but only being able to do 45 mph seems wrong.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Have you tried sourcing an engine from non-automotive sources? There's cummins engines everywhere, if you want em bad enough. I'm looking for an engine myself. The old 12v are getting more difficult to find... in my price range.

My mom drove a 71 passenger Freightliner school bus for years with a 5.9 12V and 4spd Allison. She always had a hair on fire route as well. In the late 90s and early 2000s that thing would out accelerate most cars empty. The coaches buses with the 366 and 427s would out accelerate the 12V though. I had coaches that would pin them into the secondaries until the RPM limiter kicked in at speed in 4th gear. Those had like a 60-80 gallon tank and I remember watching the gas gauge go down once on an away game. The big blocks were thirsty but they would run and with the leaky manifolds, 4bbl singing on that big block turning ~4,000 rpm and the allison playing a beautiful tune unforgetable sounds.

 

[RacerM95]

My honest opinion, put a well thought out 383 Stroker into it, lots of torque. All else fails 454. Up your gears to 4:10 you should do fine....

 

[RDF1]

I have a 1996 C2500 6.5L 4L80E 14 bolt 3.73 gears. It has most of the popular upgrades/updates. We have a camper we want to tow. It is not happy above 45 mph. I am done messing with the 6.5. Does anyone here have experience with a turbo gas burner for towing? All advice appreciated.

Ive towed for many years with a Turbo 6.0 LQ4. No complaints at all and had plenty of torque to keep the torque converter locked in 4th gear pulling heavy loads.

 

[Schurkey]

I'm not one to go enthusiastic over Diesels, in particular the 6.2/6.5. My Father-in-Law has had both 6.2 and 6.5; he pulls a surprising amount with them.

Something is wrong with your 6.5. Once you fix it, I bet it'll pull your trailer just fine. Problem being, how much cost in terms of time and money is it going to take to "fix" the 6.5.

IF I were "done with" the diesel and keeping the truck, I'd be looking for a 454 or 8.1L.

Some guys report really good results with a BOP-C 455, 472, or 500. And I can imagine that...but I don't have any interest in actually doing that swap.