the wanderer

I went from a 5 speed to an 8, and I worried about it being busy. That lasted all of 5 minutes. Nothing sounds better than a burly v8 rowing through the gears. It's all in the tuning. When slowing down to almost stop, my truck will downshift from 8th to 4th and then stay there until it's almost stopped. If I hit the gas before it stops, 4th is too tall so it downshifts immediately and smoothly into (say) second and takes off again. If I come to a complete stop it just drops one more time into first. Some trucks/cars might also start off in second gear if they're not in tow mode etc etc. I'd also hesitate to use the word "hunting", as that is a completely different thing. Hunting is when the transmission can't make up its mind what gear to use so it constantly swaps up and down. If you're pulling a load up a hill in a 6 speed, 4th might be too tall so it downshifts, but now its screaming and making too much power so 3 seconds later it upshifts... but now its too tall again so downshifting etc etc. With a 10 speed it can pick the exact gear it needs and stay there; or downshift once and stay there. It really comes down to the tuning. I know the ZF 8 speeds are tuned amazing, the Ford 10 speeds not so much. I've heard good things about the GM 10 speeds though and I'm sure that whoever buys these 10 speed gassers will be thrilled. This truck is definitely back on my radar now. No way I could move back down from 8 to 6 gears after living with mine for the past 4 years, I'd be so frustrated with how it tows.

Possibly. But Ford's 7.3 is quite a bit stronger yet than the 6.6, and all these 2500 gassers seem to be in the same rough hp/displacement so maybe it's less a carrot issue and more a simple engineering issue; it's just harder and harder to make more power with a N/A gas engine. If getting a stronger gas engine means less reliability than I don't think that tradeoff is worth it. Gas should always be the cheap/reliable option. I've always felt that the first brand which comes with a mid range diesel will take a lot of sales; something like 700 to 750 lb/ft of torque and focus on low end grunt with MPG savings and completely ignore high power outputs, save that for the HO diesels. Then we'd have a good option between entry gas and completely bonkers diesel. I don't need to pull 35K pounds, but I'd love to pull 15K pounds at 15 to 20 mpg (pipe dream, I know, just sayin.)

And I'm done here. Obviously you're incapable of getting the message. Horse ... water etc. Bye now.

Lovely strawman, did you prop it up all by yourself? I didn't say "anyone towing faster than 65 is a 'clueless drunken cowboy'". That's reserved for complete morons who tow at 80. I said the generally recommended towing range is 55 to 65.

You didn't google it did you? If you did, you'd quickly understand how completely stupid you sound right about now.

You should read what I wrote, not what you want me to have written. I said: "generally recommended". Towing a trailer at that speed means you're just clueless. It's a 10 second google search for any number of experts to enlighten you, but somehow I suspect googling is a little above your paygrade amirite? And it's why I refuse to provide sources because I've been down this road before, you guys are all cut from the same cloth and I can spot your arguments and "rebuttals" a million miles away.

Nobody made the claim that the legal limit was the deciding factor. Ya'll just cowboy on. If you're fortunate you'll learn before you take out someone's life.

No, lol, that hasn't changed. It's still 65 max. It's like you guys haven't done even a 10 second google search. For example, the legal speed limit in California while towing is 55. And if you've even spent a few seconds inside a "modern trailer" you'd be less inclined to travel at 65 mph. They're put together by high schooler's with staples and a prayer.

The generally recommended speed limit for towing travel trailers is 55 to 65 max.

You cowboys do what you want, you've obviously justified it in your own minds. As I said, some people just never learn.

What do drunk drivers, cowboys, and guys who tow trailers at 80mph have in common? Arrogance, "it happens to other guys but it will never happen to me". Condescension? That's putting it very mildly. I have zero respect or use for guys like that. Lets hope that when the damage starts they only take out themselves and not someone just innocently going about their day. And thanks for just proving my point, doesn't matter what brand of tire you're running, you can be doing everything correct and still get a blow out.

Like alcoholic drivers, you arrogant guys never learn.

Please let me know when you're driving so I can stay off the roads and avoid the show when you inevitably blow a china bomb.

How is your trailer suspension set up? I have a dual axle, but it's basically an inverted Y, meaning, both axles always get 100% identical load and the trailer weight just pivots front to back on top of a joined pivot point that sits on top of both axles.

This is the VOA I got for the oil I'm running (premium plus pcmo):