Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Free flowing air filters are a trade off I'm not willing to make. Less filtering for no noticeable increase, I'm lazy today but there should be an easy to find video of a dyno run.

The battery swap works because it removes several feet of tube, a debatable power increase, and more so because it doesn't run across the hot engine bay while in direct contact with the radiator. All the airboxes are designed to have the fresh air tube that runs to the grill. You would have to recreate the battery support and box like everyone else, your battery tray makes that cost prohibitive but it's certainly movable

schil01-camper

Ahh, I see - I thought for some reason this camper set up was different, but I found images of the stock boxes and I see what you mean. I've got exactly what everyone else has. I found a few write-ups comparing stock to K&N on a dyno (nothing specifically for the 22re though), and they all had differences, but relatively small (few percent HP increase) and only at higher RPMs where more air is flowing.

EFI85

I just read this whole thread and I think full exhaust system and a cam designed for torque would help you the most .

schil01-camper

That is pretty much exactly what I did!

I was holding off doing a reply to this thread, but I've basically completed the engine fiddling now and I'll summarize.
I determined my headgasket was leaking somewhere in the process of trying to increase power so I just replaced the whole head with a new stock Engnbldr head and 261 cam. While I was in there I did the whole front end too.
I put a shorty Hedman header and 2.25" exhaust with high flow cat, a resonator and a magnaflow 50 muffler and it works great (and is not too loud). Along with some clean remanned fuel injectors and cleaning up stuff like the EGR, new plugs and wires and such, that's pretty much all I did. It is timed to stock specs.
SO now the engine runs great and is about as good as stock is going to get, but it didn't fix the real problem. yea, I have more power, but I still couldn't keep it going up a modest hill. What gives!?

In the end I have determined that this comment was actually the key to the "power" I was after - it isn't the engine that is the weak point, it's the transmission, Which is what Terrys87 suggested:

I did some tests on the A43D auto transmission and it turns out that I was driving it wrong. It's an auto with 3 speeds and an overdrive gear. 3rd is 1:1 input:output on the shafts (efficient) while OD is like 1:0.67. I was using over drive (OD) ALL of the time, which is bad for this camper because it's so heavy. It was slipping in OD at ~2200 RPM but was not slipping at all in 3rd. It is either the torque converter or the OD clutch that is slipping.
In the end if I simply drive it in 3rd gear at 3600 RPM I can do 64 MPH and go up the hills and she stays steady and has power. Its Loud and spinning fast, but it doesn't seem to bother the engine.

I posted the info I pasted into the end of this post in another forum specifically for these campers to see if my conclusion was correct that the engine was fine and the transmission was the problem. They seemed to confirm that: 1) OD is useless in these campers and 2) I should just figure out how to make it work in three gears with no OD, and 3) if I want it to be better I will have to swap in a manual trans.

I have not really been able to try it much on the highway because I found out that my back axle needs attention (new rear brakes, grease wheel bearings) and so I have to complete that task before I can do a longer trip to find out if (finally) I'm basically able to wrestle this beast down the road at ~60 to 65 mph without any problems at 3600 rpm in 3rd (OD OFF). I think I'm there now. I'll find out soon enough.
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Here is a brief table of data I collected recently after I installed a tach. (example typical/average data shown, I collected >40 data points)

Gear RPM MPH/GPS MPH/calc. Grade %slip
1 3000 22 22 flat 0%
2 3000 36 37 flat 3%
3 3600 63 65 flat 3%
3 3700 63 66 uphill 5%
4 2600 60 68 flat 10-14%
4 2500 56 65 uphill 15%
4 2500 62 65 downhill 5%

How I determined slippage percent:
I use an online calculator at http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html using the stock gear info for the A43D. I have 25.5” diameter tires (Thunderer 8-ply) but I measured the actual radius from the ground to the center of the axle and the ‘tire squash' at 65 PSI is ¾” and thus the radius I used to determine speed and RPM in the calculator is based on a 24.75” ‘effective radius’ rather than the 25.5” ‘theory’ radius. FYI, my speedometer is off by about 4 mph at highway speeds (too high); I’m not sure why. I used GPS to determine the speed. I’ll order a compensating gear to correct it unless someone knows why it’s off.
Data summary:
The transmission works well in gears 1, 2, and 3 where slippage is minimal. Even up a hill in 3rd the max slippage is only 5%. However, 4th/OD is a disaster. The slippage is high (10 to 15% typical) and it “feels” terrible on the road. No power, no torque. The data in the table is biased towards higher RPM for gears 1-3, but it performed about the same at RPMs in the range of 2500 to 3000 too.
In short, everything ‘feels’ fine in gears 1-3, but OD just has zero to give and just don’t see the point of even using it. I'll stick to gear 3 on the highway and see how it all works.
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Harold Of The Rocks

Hey wyoming, has anyone done a chart of the cost benefit analysis of 22re improvements for horsepower vs cost? Seems so many folks want more power for their engines, but as far as the 22re's go, small gains are, in the end, quite expensive. I always thought a chart showing marginal horsepower upgrades for a lot of money would encourage people to tolerate the engine performance that they have.

anndel

It's a 4 cylinder pushing ~120 HP when new. If you want more power you'll need to swap it with a V6 or small block Chevy V8 engine.

ketaberux

The new injector should work especially with the way you planned everything. Don't forget you will be needing tube notcher and bending tools to make your work easier and faster.

Blueman

So...are any of these changes allowed (safe) in California without running the risk of failing SMOG testing? My truck shudders with fear every two years when test time comes up....

swampedout

This thread is 4 yrs old...

Im not in Cali but my understanding is you need to pass the sniff test and have all the oem emissions components your vehicle came with.
you could swap injectors, as long as you can get the motor running clean with them in.
im not sure where the air filter delete falls here but i dont see the point in that one, or most of these mods. People have been trying to crank these engines up for decades....As this thread mentions, its expensive and doesnt get you much.