John Wood wanted to build his '06 F-350 into a reliable tow rig that can be jumped in the sand dunes of Glamis and then pull all the toys home at the end of the weekend. He's happy with the Pro Comp Double XX dual coilover kit because it can take a pounding but has car-like manners on the highways.
John Wood of Holtville, California, is making a name for himself among Super Duty owners by building transmissions that hold up to the massive diesel power created by 6.0L and 7.3L Power Strokes. He also prides himself on building programming tunes that test the limits of these engines-and he knows the limits. The original 6.0L in this '06 F-350 had a meltdown with just a little more than 2,000 miles on the odometer.
6.0L Tow Power
After the original engine self destructed with some help from some ambitious modifications, John decided to make his tow rig reliable and powerful. He turned back the tuning and decided to save the dramatic upgrades for his race truck project that he hopes will break into the 10s this year. The program John designed with SCT programming for his tow truck is good for 410 hp at the rear wheels and 780 lb-ft of torque. A Bassani 3 1/2-inch downpipe dumps into the catalytic converter and then a 4-inch Bassani muffler and exhaust system. You may have already guessed the power is sent into a John Wood Automotive (www.jwtt.com) transmission.
6-Inch Lift Twin Coilovers and 35sJohn wanted a lift that could clear 35-inch tires but tows a fifth-wheel trailer, so he didn't want to go any higher than 6 inches. After riding around in a ProComp Super Duty and loving the ride, he signed up for one of the first Double XX 2.75 kits. It replaces the factory suspension with dual 2 3/4-inch remote-reservoir shocks and comes with new leaf springs and adjustable rear shocks that are aided by airbags. The kit also comes with plenty of steering stabilizing gear.
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We shouldn't call this 400-plus horsepower truck "mild," but it was built to survive towing this 39-foot Weekend Warrior full of toys, not win pink slips at the dragstrip. The towing duties affected the choice of lift size (no more than 6 inches since John uses a fifth-wheel trailer), tire size (35s fit this lift perfectly), and kept John from dialing in a tune that would be "too wild" (because he didn't want to pop his 6.0L while towing 15,000 pounds on a regular basis). |  |