Over the years I've had to tow my vehicles to the track. These cars were finely tuned and were wearing their race tires so driving the car to the track was not a good idea. So, I had to have a vehicle that could tow the car on or in its trailer.
Well, a tow vehicle is a tow vehicle, right? NOT! Me being me, I quickly got bored driving a regular tow vehicle. I needed to make it a little more "drivable" by increasing the horsepower and torque, suspension tweaks, etc.
Mine is a 2002 Ford F-250, Super Duty with an International Turbocharged diesel. Well, I thought; why shouldn't my tow vehicle have plenty of power and be fun to drive too? So I put in an efficient ATS 4" dual exhaust and ported compressor housing, a Banks ported turbo housing, wheel and wastegate to release the gases and an AFE airflow box. I also added a Diesel Power 3 position chip (40, 70, 110 horse power) for the computer and a shift kit for the trans along with a pyrometer and boost gauges to monitor the exhaust temperature and turbo boost pressure. With that I needed to do modifications to clutches in the rear end to handle the additional power. Now at 7,100 pounds, this truck comes on like gangbusters and just wants to run in all gears. When I'm towing my Camaro in the enclosed trailer, this truck doesn't even know its back there.
I didn't intend to set this truck up to race, but after all the upgrades, it ran a 15:45 at 88mph. That's not too bad for a 7,100 pound truck.
The graphics on my truck were done by Bell Signs from Edison, New Jersey. These were the nicest people do deal with and they took the time with me to make it just right.
The '02 F250 Superduty on the dyno at the Ford diesel rally in Lake George, NY in 2003. It made 300 h-p and 700 foot pounds at the rear wheels. YESSSSS! And without any nitrous or propane.
