Talk me out of it!

[Jettech1]

26 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

I don't know how these half tons with a tow package can max out their 13000 lb rating and not be grossly overweight in the process or otherwise unsafe due to handling issues from too soft a suspension or lack of braking ability. 

They don't.  That's the lie they believe.  All they are looking at is how much it can tow.  Not capacity.  We have friends that bought an AT4 that was over capacity with their camper but just shrugged their shoulders and bragged about how much it can tow.  I was like, ok....whatever.  Not getting into that numbers game with you all...be safe.  And all the guy did was complain about trailer sway and how he couldn't get his sway bars adjusted right.  I wish I could have told him, your sway bars are not the issue dude.  It's your truck that is severely overloaded capacity wise.  Oh well...sometimes for me it's best to not get into that conversation because people get really offended real quickly after bragging about their tow package.

[Chuck FB]

8 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

They don't.  That's the lie they believe.  All they are looking at is how much it can tow.  Not capacity.  We have friends that bought an AT4 that was over capacity with their camper but just shrugged their shoulders and bragged about how much it can tow.  I was like, ok....whatever.  Not getting into that numbers game with you all...be safe.  And all the guy did was complain about trailer sway and how he couldn't get his sway bars adjusted right.  I wish I could have told him, your sway bars are not the issue dude.  It's your truck that is severely overloaded capacity wise.  Oh well...sometimes for me it's best to not get into that conversation because people get really offended real quickly after bragging about their tow package.

 

They have their eye on the commission and any way they can talk their way into getting that said commission, that's why some sales people just rub me the wrong way because they don't have the "what's best for the customers requirements" thought in mind. Your friends AT4, is that a half ton ? 

[asilverblazer]

On 2/2/2026 at 1:17 PM, Chuck FB said:

The sensor I didn't mention by name before is the MAP sensor and I don't know how far the typical truck goes before its so clogged up that it throws a code but that sure has been talked about along with many videos and photo of nasty looking sensors so choked off with thick black soot, and Banks as one company making a relocating kit to try and slow down the plugging effect but that isn't a cure all either.

Mine has at least 80000 miles on its sensor. Never even looked at it.

 

Service information claims the coating of soot doesn't alter its performance and my experience tends to agree. 

[Jettech1]

7 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

 

They have their eye on the commission and any way they can talk their way into getting that said commission, that's why some sales people just rub me the wrong way because they don't have the "what's best for the customers requirements" thought in mind. Your friends AT4, is that a half ton ? 

Yes it is a half ton.  And all he did was complain about sway.  I looked out when they took off and his bars were way too high.  But at the end of the day, what did I do?  Say nothing....lol...I mean why?  He's proud of his truck, the last thing he needs is me to tell him he's majorly screwing up.  Right?

Edited February 18 by Jettech1

[Jettech1]

13 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

Mine has at least 80000 miles on its sensor. Never even looked at it.

 

Service information claims the coating of soot doesn't alter its performance and my experience tends to agree. 

I somewhat agree.  I did clean my MAF sensor with MAF sensor spray and believe it or not, it made a difference in mpg.  Not much but notable.  I sprayed my MAP sensor as well and it didn't do crap.  So who knows....

[Chuck FB]

20 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

Mine has at least 80000 miles on its sensor. Never even looked at it.

 

Service information claims the coating of soot doesn't alter its performance and my experience tends to agree. 

 

Interesting, I don't know how a sensor can function with the amount of build up that I've seen some guys show in photos or video but also I have a suspicion that in some cases its because of adding a pedal monster or some other item that boosts the power more, that would add more soot to the system if driven aggressively in the least bit. Still though, at that high a mileage it might be interesting to pull yours and see what it looks like and if cleaning it would be a plan and see if it makes any difference after the fact.  

[Jettech1]

1 minute ago, Chuck FB said:

 

Interesting, I don't know how a sensor can function with the amount of build up that I've seen some guys show in photos or video but also I have a suspicion that in some cases its because of adding a pedal monster or some other item that boosts the power more, that would add more soot to the system if driven aggressively in the least bit. Still though, at that high a mileage it might be interesting to pull yours and see what it looks like and if cleaning it would be a plan and see if it makes any difference after the fact.  

Not being condescending here but do you know what the pedal monster does?

[Chuck FB]

25 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

I somewhat agree.  I did clean my MAF sensor with MAF sensor spray and believe it or not, it made a difference in mpg.  Not much but notable.  I sprayed my MAP sensor as well and it didn't do crap.  So who knows....

 

I haven't touched any of that yet on my truck but with the miles on it so far, it probably shouldn't have issues yet but at some point will have to dig into that and go through the motions and clean them. I assume the same MAF sensor cleaner works for both MAF and MAP ?. As to performing the task, were you disconnecting the battery or leaving that alone and just unplugging the sensors. I get the idea that if the battery was disconnected that may reset some parameters as a starting point but its nothing I've had anything to do with in the past, I guess the main thing is not to go and damage the sensors. 

 

Is there any rule of thumb as to how often is best practice to be cleaning them ?  

[Chuck FB]

18 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

Not being condescending here but do you know what the pedal monster does?

 

All its doing from what I gather is allowing a small throttle pedal input to output a greater reaction to the ECU and therefore increase fuel volume for the amount of pedal input. While in itself it can't add more fuel than the stock setting, it allows a small movement of your foot to cause a higher fuel rate. Another words doing like an aggressive driver would do by mashing the throttle pedal. When set sensitive like that, its quite likely that anyone behind the wheel will inadvertently be more aggressive with fuel input even if they don't mean to and pouring on the fuel typically means soot because the turbo has not spun up to burn the fuel as well as slowly laying into the throttle. Of course the DPF and all the other crap prevent the driver from seeing any soot come out the tail pipe so it doesn't seem like your doing anything harmful but in reality, well its not really beneficial for the engine as more than likely more soot load will come around through the EGR. I've just heard over the last few years since such products came out that there are some complains of more emissions issues and more frequent DPF regeneration cycles which makes sense if more soot is being created. Hopefully that makes some sense the way I explained it. 

[Chuck FB]

46 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

Yes it is a half ton.  And all he did was complain about sway.  I looked out when they took off and his bars were way too high.  But at the end of the day, what did I do?  Say nothing....lol...

 

Reminds me of what I had mentioned on the RV/slide in camper thread of a neighbor that started out using an older 3/4 ton Duramax crew cab and then kept that truck but bought a newer used baby duramax with the tow package as it comes with the better geared 3.73 rear end and I think it might be up in that 13000 towing rating range. So this half ton theme was new to him as he was so used to his HD truck but the 3.0 duramax gets such fantastic fuel mileage empty and they use it a lot for that as long distance transportation for their family. So he hooks onto the same ball hitch travel trailer and was in for a surprise as no the half ton does not handle like the HD truck, the springs are far wimpier ( he put timbrens in to help carry the hitch weight as well as an equalizer hitch ) but still its just not the same as the HD truck that he used no equalizer/stabilizer hitch with. An HD truck has 10 ply tires, his half ton still has some P rated tires on it yet although that could be changed over. A half ton just doesn't have as stiff a suspension, can't carry as much, isn't as heavy. He got into a side wind situation with the half ton last year and said oh boy, that was stressful !. Power wise it tows it pretty good and still gets not bad fuel mileage considering, but his trailer is I think around 25+ feet long and I am speculating that its over 8000 lb ( its 7200 lb empty ). So how where these companies get 13000 lb trailer weights from, its not from a world of less than ideal roads or adverse weather conditions. Another friend has a 1/2 chev and his trailer is 21 feet or something like that and he said around 5000 lb or under and he has weight distribution but still added some sort of aftermarket spring assist to the rear axle, it does ok he said for the times they go out with camping but he too has this 13000 towing package although its a 6.2 engine and motors right along. He makes out ok with the 1/2 ton for that and also wanting a more economical truck to run back and forth to work and that will fit into his garage in town. 

[asilverblazer]

20 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

I somewhat agree.  I did clean my MAF sensor with MAF sensor spray and believe it or not, it made a difference in mpg.  Not much but notable.  I sprayed my MAP sensor as well and it didn't do crap.  So who knows....

 

20 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

 

Interesting, I don't know how a sensor can function with the amount of build up that I've seen some guys show in photos or video but also I have a suspicion that in some cases its because of adding a pedal monster or some other item that boosts the power more, that would add more soot to the system if driven aggressively in the least bit. Still though, at that high a mileage it might be interesting to pull yours and see what it looks like and if cleaning it would be a plan and see if it makes any difference after the fact.  

I would agree that the buildup I've seen on them and what I expect to be on mine are concerning.

 

I'm sure at some point I will pull it and clean it. Depending on those results will determine if I do anything different in the future. 

 

Mine 'should' be 'bad' enough that if there are benefits to cleaning it they will be readily apparent.

[asilverblazer]

19 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

...his trailer is I think around 25+ feet long and I am speculating that its over 8000 lb (its 7200 lb empty). So how where these companies get 13000 lb trailer weights from, its not from a world of less than ideal roads or adverse weather conditions. Another friend has a 1/2 chev and his trailer is 21 feet or something like that and he said around 5000 lb or under and he has weight distribution but still added some sort of aftermarket spring assist to the rear axle, it does ok he said for the times they go out with camping but he too has this 13000 towing package although its a 6.2 engine and motors right along...

There is a HUGE difference between a 20' 5000 lb travel trailer and a 20' utility trailer hauling 10000 lbs of steel plate.

[Chuck FB]

29 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

 

I would agree that the buildup I've seen on them and what I expect to be on mine are concerning.

 

I'm sure at some point I will pull it and clean it. Depending on those results will determine if I do anything different in the future. 

 

Mine 'should' be 'bad' enough that if there are benefits to cleaning it they will be readily apparent.

 

If you did happen to think about it when you do pull out your sensor, take a photo of it and if it made sense to post it on here to give others a visual as to what it looks like at that mileage and am guessing your truck has stock emissions with no aftermarket items added ?.

[Chuck FB]

29 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

There is a HUGE difference between a 20' 5000 lb travel trailer and a 20' utility trailer hauling 10000 lbs of steel plate.

 

I wouldn't want to be the one towing the utility trailer with a half ton, not if its the weight of the trailer AND 10000 lb of steel being packed on it or worse yet if its an enclosed trailer pushing the wind and loaded up like that. I've pulled ball hitch open deck 20 foot utility trailer with very little load on it, or a light load in I think its a 20 or 22 foot enclosed and that's fine with a half ton as long as its got a brake controller and the brakes work on the trailer. I will never wrap my head around a half ton being able to safely handle a 13000 lb trailer even if the manufacture claims it can at speed on a road. 

[Jettech1]

4 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

If you did happen to think about it when you do pull out your sensor, take a photo of it and if it made sense to post it on here to give others a visual as to what it looks like at that mileage and am guessing your truck has stock emissions with no aftermarket items added ?.

Chuck I run the S&B cold air intake and was expecting some visual dirtiness to the sensor.  Nothing, looked brand new.  But I did spray it down of which I said earlier did make a tiny difference in mpg.  How I don't know.  Perhaps there was a bit of microbial build up... I really don't know.  If I took a picture of it and posted here, it would look brand new!  The MAP sensor as well.  What I need to do is take off the intake tube going to my throttle body and see what's going on there.  Everything else is clean as a whistle so I'm kind of expecting it to look new as well.  I honestly did expect some kind of build up in the intake tube and on the sensors due to my filter being an oil coated filter...ZERO!  Even running my fingers in the intake tube.  ZERO of anything.  At the end of the day I'm impressed with the S&B intake.  After 40k plus miles, it's still keeping everything nice and clean on the inside and I have to admit sounds pretty darn good too.  It should at least do that for the money they get for them.