Our Ford Super Club Wagon is powered by the V-10 Triton
engine. This engine is 6.8 liters (415 cubic inch displacement) and
develops 265 horsepower at 4250 rpm and 410 ft-lbs of torque at 2750
rpm. Peak power at the rear wheels is closer to 171 horsepower and
rear wheel peak torque is closer to 302 ft-lbs (source
Gale Banks Engineering). While those are not bad numbers, you can
always use more power when towing a heavy load. (The 2000 and later
Triton engines produces more horsepower per Ford.)
Exhaust System
To increase the power generated by the engine, I had a Banks
Power Pack (Gale Banks Engineering)
installed by Eric's RV Performance Center
in Sequim, Washington. The Banks Power Pack for the V-10 includes
improved air intake through the use of a Banks (actually K&N) high flow
air filter, and improved exhaust performance though custom designed exhaust
headers, low restriction muffler, use of 3 1/2" mandrel bent exhaust
pipe and cross-over pipe, heat shields, and a 4 inch polished stainless
tailpipe tip. (Note: the Power Pack for the V-10 Class A motor home
also includes a Ram-Air air intake system with custom air inlet and
ducting.) The kit is available as a Stinger which does not include the
exhaust headers, or cross-over pipe. However, the benefit of the
exhaust headers is significant. Banks claims the Power Pack will
increase power at the rear wheels by 50 horsepower and increase torque at
the rear wheels by 65 ft-lbs. That's a 32% increase in horsepower and
a 27% increase in torque.
How does it work? The engine pulls more
effortlessly and the Club Wagon climbs hills with less stress and
heat. You will probably notice an increase in gas mileage, I saw mine
increase by 15%. However, you will have trouble keeping your foot off
the accelerator and utilizing the extra power thus reducing or even negating
this gas mileage increase. The system also increases the depth and
volume of the exhaust note. This is typically a good thing as it is
not overly loud. Unfortunately, from 1,700-1,900 rpm under heavy load,
it does get loud. Loud enough that you want to either speed up, slow
down, or shift into another gear. It is significantly quieter in 3rd
gear with the engine speed above 2,000 rpm than at 1,700 rpm in 4th.
(Headers from underneath drivers side, front of vehicle to right of photo)
Transmission Modification
To go along with the extra power, I added a Banks
TransCommand. The TransCommand unit reprograms the automatic
transmission to tighten up the shifts and reduce slippage. If you are
looking for silky smooth shifts, this is NOT the answer. If you tow
heavy loads, this will reduce the transmission slipping and thus reduce the
transmission temperature which can be a killer. To keep a better eye
on the transmission, I also installed a transmission temperature
gauge. It is much better to pull over to the side of the road on a
hill than fry a transmission. Unfortunately, most vehicles don't warn
you that you are cooking the transmission.
Tachometer
A significant oversight on the part of Ford is the lack of a
tachometer on the V-10 vans, Club Wagons, and even the Class C cut-away
chassis. This is not an easy problem to solve. Virtually every
tach made works on 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines. Just try to find a
tach on the shelf that works with a V-10. On top of that, Ford uses a
coil on plug ignition system (that's right, 10 ignition coils) that
complicates connecting a tach. However, all is not lost. Auto
Meter (815) 895-8141, can calibrate most of the tachometers in their line
for 10 cylinder engines.
I found a tach which will work on the V-10 out of the
box, the VDO Xtreme Recording Tach. The Xtreme is a delight but has
two major drawbacks: size and price. The tach is 5" in diameter
which almost overpowers the dash. It requires some effort to find a
location where it doesn't block your view of either the instrument panel or
the road. The retail price of the Xtreme is $500 (although they can be
ordered on the internet for under $300 see www.egauges.com).
The Xtreme allows you to set up to 4 shift points. A red light will be
triggered when you hit each of the 4 settings. The Xtreme comes in
either a 9000 rpm or 11000 rpm version. Get the 9000 rpm. 6000
rpm would be even better but is not available in the Xtreme (I have my shift
points set for 4750 rpm since that is the highest I have ever been able to
get the engine to run up with the automatic transmission shifting
itself). The recording function, while cute, is of little benefit to
most RVers. You can set it to record up to 6 minutes of engine speeds
for playback at a later time. This is great for boy racers but I have
not found a need to use the recording feature so far. I located my
tach on the left upper edge of the dash angled toward the driver. That
location is one of the few that is readily visible to the driver without
blocking the view of the road or the instruments. Several
manufacturers, including AutoMeter will calibrate a tach for the V-10 by
special request.
To solve the tach hook up problem, you locate the
powertrain control module under the hood (on the drivers side firewall on my
van) and find the white wire with a pink or red stripe that is attached to
pin # 48 on the plug into the module (there are several white wires with
pink or red stripe in the bundle so make sure you have the correct
one). If you have any concerns ask your Ford dealer to let you look at
the EVTM (Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual) for your specific
vehicle to determine the correct wire (or order one from Helm).
Splice the green wire from the tach into this wire, set the jumpers on the
tach for 10 cylinders, and you are in business. According to the VDO
rep, if you attach the green wire to one of the coils, you have to set the
tach for 2 cylinders to get a correct reading (weird!).
(Tach far left, electric brake controller and transmission temp gauge to
right)
Gearing
The gear ratio of the rear end is extremely important in
towing. Especially with the V-10 since the engine reaches peak torque
and horsepower at a higher rpm than the big block 460 V-8.
Unfortunately, most Club Wagons come with a 3.73 rear end. This is
great for hauling people around town but is not adequate for towing a heavy
trailer. I had Oregon Drive Axle replace the 3.73 gears with 4.10
gears. Ford lists the GCWR of the Super Club Wagon with the V-10 as
15,000 pounds with the 3.73 rear end and 18,500 with the 4.10 rear
end. Of course, the speedometer gear (located on the left side of the
transmission) has to be replaced when the gearing is changed. This is
especially important since this gear feeds information to the computer to
help determine when the transmission should shift gears. The change in
gearing reduced my gas mileage by about 10% (no surprise with a 10% gear
change). This wiped out about 2/3 of the increased gas mileage I got
with the Banks PowerPack. However, the van pulls it's near maximum
load much better. The transmission still up shifts too soon under all
but maximum acceleration. It also down shifts to late unless the
accelerator is floored. I am sure that gas mileage is improved (I am
averaging about 10.3 miles per gallon with over 52% of the miles towing) but
performance would be significantly better if the transmission shifted
sooner. The major downside to the 4.10 gearing is solo driving in stop
and go traffic. Gas mileage drops to 9 mpg, sometimes slightly less,
when driving from stop light to stop light without the opportunity to use
the higher gears very much.
