Hello, new to the forum and I have been trying to research this for a few weeks now. I was thinking about putting a Efan kit from flex a lite, kit 294, on m 2002 2500hd 8.1L. I tow a 17' fish/ski boat and a cab over camper in the Arizona summer about once a month. Boat and camper combo weigh in at 5000-6000 pounds loaded for a weekend. has anyone tried this or do you think there will be problems with over heating? I'm also looking at adding a Bully Dog Triple dog GT tuner set on the mild 87 oct setting. thanks for any suggestion you may have.

 

Do not get a tunner / programer . have your truck tuned by blackbear , wheatly,ect.. if you want gauges get there watch dog. I have heard of overheating with e fans and towing but never tried it myself . if you looking for extra power you get that tune, cold air intake and a cat back exhaust . should help with your towing .

 

I'm mainly looking to get a little more performance with a bit better mileage the truck is also my daily driver. I like the idea of the bully dog because I can switch back to stock or the HP if I want and it has all the monitors. truck already has a magnaflo cat back and a KN filter. I was thinking at this ppoint the fans would free up the most power if they wont cause a over heating problem when I tow. this is the kit I'm looking at after talking to a rep @ flex-a-lite. it rated for towing up to 18000 GVWR. but I never trust what manufactures claim.
http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/universal.html

 

once your truck is tuned by black bear there will be no need to go back to stock tune you will get free retunes if you add mods later also . i just sold my superchips and my truck runs better on the stock tune compared to the superchips 87 tune its a real dog . those box tunes are all the same . as far as the fans lots of people are useing the stock truck fans on the 05+ trucks with good results .

 

Stock 05 efans will not work on an 8.1l. You will need to make modifications to get them to work. Do a search for the efans I installed on my truck for more info. I personally would not install efans on a tow rig......especially not one in the southwest part of the country.O

 

I have twin 16" fans. It tends to over heat on hot days when towing.

 

stock clutch fan will pull way more cfm than e-fans. your not going to gain any performance by swapping to e-fans either... at least not enough gain to really make a difference. a tune by blackbear, wheatly, or wait4meperformance will help out alot.

 

I did the fan swap on mine, there was no noticable hp gain. My fans are adjustiable as im am assuming the other are as well. I havent had a problem with heat and towing however i dont run in the climits your talking about.

Bully dog is a waste of money on a gas truck. Im sure the other custom tunes are better but im not sure its worth the money if it stock.

In the past on mine the best way i got better mileage was tire pressure, a quality company gas, ( not walmart stuff like that)... also try to find a station that doesnt have 10% ethnol. When our town switched to it i went from 11mpg to 8-9 mph.. i use to get 390-410 out of a tank ( 40gallon) now im getting 350-380.. On my impala it went from 24 mpg to 21..

If you havent done so latley run a can or two of sea foam threw the gas tank.. it will clean everything and he helps. Also a fuel filter if you have changed it.. there about $12 bucks. Also depending on your miles might look at some plugs and plug wires.. mine 8.1L eats a set of plugs about 20K miles... Brads 8.1L when it was bone stock eats a sets about 30K miles.. Plugs will run you about $55 bucks go ahead and get the wires too.. it seems that when you atempt plugs on a 8.1L the wires fall apart.

You might try a cold air intake. To be honest ive done it all and it doesnt help much..

Brad swiched to a K&N filter kit.. it came with the air box, filter, and intake tube. He went from 9.5 to 10.8 ... not a huge increase... but over time i guess it will work out. I think he has 75K miles on his now.. Im at 133K.. bottom line they like gas.. Good news is though at 9-10 mpg its not "bad" for 496ci.. my wife 6.2L denali is getting 10.0 on the dot ever tank

 

Thanks for all the inputs. I'm going to look into the blackbear tune and keep my core in case I need to back to stock. still torn on the fans but leaning toward throwing on headers instead. also cheap. I'm getting 10-11 mpg out of the truck now weather I'm towing or not. have you guys since a good change with the tune and stock motor opened up with cold air intake and exhaust? or should I just save my money all around.

 

Kerr truck is kept up on plugs wire and fuel filter per the manual just had them replaced at 70000. change trany fluid twice a year. before and after the towing season.