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I need more towing oomph.

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#21 ·
spshultz said:
Right now I have the 3.55's and so was thinking of maybe swapping in some 3.92's. But what I'm afraid of is destroying my highway mileage. At the posted 75mph speed limit I'm at about 2400+ RPM's.
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pretty sure i have the 3.92's. was this a stock option even if it wasnt and i have 3.55 you shouldnt have any issues. i town 4 dirtbikes and a wheeler in my bed before up masive mountains with out issues. hell when i tow to races i pass cars usaully. I can tow 20 foot boats and feel nothing back there. I live in the ADK mountains up in upstate NY and we have some gnarly fucking mountains. if i do have the 3.92, in over drive, if im doing 65 its right at 2000 rpm. in 3rd gear it is at 2800 if i run 80 mph - 90 mph (which i do alot) i run about 2500- 2600 rpm and do about 13- 13.5 mpg. i have a high flow cat, 3inch exhaust, jet performance chip, e3 plugs, and k&n intake. Im not sure if u haev any mods mayb thats why mine help. My second gear is a son of a bitch it pulls from 35-40 all the way to 68 mph its my power gear when eveyr i need torque when traveling under 55 mph. I hope i helped and didnt sounds like a fucking dumbass
 
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#22 ·
didnt read, where you from? the rockies? utah? towing at that high prob is a little diff but still dont know why iur having issues man. the 5.2 have ton pof torque, shit ive seen them pull full size campers and feel fine
 
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Discussion starter · #23 · (Edited)
It's odd but even if I tow just our big ATV and nothing else, I definitely know it's behind me. It feels like I'm dragging an anchor.

We sometimes tow it with our 2011 RAV4 V6 and that thing tows like a champ. You can't even tell it's behind you with that RAV. I am completely impressed by it. And the RAV only has about 40+ more HP and about 60 less TQ than the truck.

The towing difference between the two vehicles is night and day when towing the same load.

Here's the truck from my sig: 1997 Dakota Sport, 5.2L, 5-spd, 2wd, 3.55 Sure Grip, standard cab/short bed, Edelbrock TES Headers and y-pipe, 3" cat, 3" Wicked Flow muffler, 14" open element air filter, 52mm TB, Chevy HHR e-Fan w/DC Controller. The tune up was done about 10k miles ago. It's got NGK plugs, Taylor wires, brass cap and rotor, new coil and battery and I did the Hughes intake belly pan fix.

Oh and my 2nd gear is nuts too but there is no way I could even think about touching 50 let alone 60mph in that gear.
 
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Discussion starter · #25 · (Edited)
I'll try the compression test. The engine only has 89,500 miles on it but that doesn't mean it's still fresh. I wonder what a good reading is at 5000 feet altitude? (I live in the Denver area). I figure somewhere between 120 - 160.
 
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Discussion starter · #26 ·
Well crap. I've been letting my son borrow the truck while we wait for the insurance agency to deal with his deer hit and he decided to check the oil and there was none on the dipstick and the light wasn't on either. I just checked the oil a few weeks ago prior to going up into the mountains and had to add about a quart but I hadn't checked it since it's last oil change. It doesn't drip or leak and doesn't smoke on start up. I did the Hughes belly pan fix about 10,000 miles ago. Looks like I better pull the plugs to see what's going on. More powa! is on hold.
 
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Discussion starter · #29 ·
When he comes home tonight I'll check the coolant and the plugs. And I'll look down the TB throat to see if maybe the belly pan fix let go. Oh and I'll check the PCV too.
 
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Discussion starter · #30 · (Edited)
Well, the truck is done. I'll be turning it in to the insurance total loss unit by the end of this week. The truck took some hail damage but the cost to fix it is greater than the value of it and I'm ok with that.

But yesterday was the day that helped me make my decision. On the way home from the insurance inspection place the truck started popping and backfiring really bad. You could feel it through the floor boards. I got it over to the side of the road, pushed in the clutch and it died. Unluckily it was on the side of a busy highway in 92 degree heat with super dry grass and a small shoulder. I got out, opened the hood and out of the corner of my left eye I catch the sight of smoke coming from the grass from about an 1/8th of a mile or less back from where the truck was popping. I check my tail pipe and there were tiny little round balls of very shiny metal all around it inside.

So most likely what ever happened, it caused my catalytic converter to fail in a spectacular manner shooting hot pieces out of the tail pipe and into the super dry grass. Within about 3 minutes the grass was very much on fire and burning really fast. The flames were probably about 3 - 5 feet high. Within 5 minutes the fire department was there and it took them about 30 minutes to put it out.

During all of that I tried starting my truck but it would chuff and pop. While I was calling for help the truck cooled down and when I tried starting it again it would turn over fast but not start. I got out my trusty old Android phone and Torque app and looked for codes even though there was no check light. There were 4 codes, 3- cylinder misfires and 1-coil primary/secondary circuit failure. I had a buddy bring me out a new coil and it fired right up. But now the cat is shot and you can smell it.

I won't be doing a buy back. It needs a clutch, front end rebuild, lots of body work, engine is burning oil and now it needs a new cat and maybe muffler.
 
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Discussion starter · #32 ·
Actually, I was thinking maybe a WRX (I used to have a 1999 Impreza 2.5RS) or Legacy GT or something else that I haven't thought of. What ever it is, it needs to be 4wd or AWD and get semi-decent gas mileage (23mpg - 30mpg) and still feel fun to drive.
 
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#33 ·
spshultz said:
Actually, I was thinking maybe a WRX (I used to have a 1999 Impreza 2.5RS) or Legacy GT or something else that I haven't thought of. What ever it is, it needs to be 4wd or AWD and get semi-decent gas mileage (23mpg - 30mpg) and still feel fun to drive.
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My WRX made 320awhp and averaged 24mpg with a 50/50 highway/city driving. I loved that car and to this day wish I never sold it. The kid I sold it to rolled it on the highway a month later and totaled it.

The only real weak link in the WRX is the 5 speed tranny. People call them glass but believe it or not they can handle around 300awhp pretty well but launching an AWD car is hard on any tranny. The nice thing about the impreza line is nearly everything is interchangable. I know of a few guys with the late 90's impreza 2 door with STi motor and trans making 400+ at the wheels. If you are looking into a WRX check out http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
Haha....I've been a forum member there since well, I don't remember (maybe 1999 or 2000). My member # is 1415. I remember when it was the i-club. NASIOC is actually what got me thinking about a Subaru again.
 
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