Old school tow rigs

[JesseA]

Anybody still towing with an old school 3/4 or wonton with a small block and no overdrive?

Do you hate it?

 

[arse_sidewards]

Provience

 

[Provience]

Yup, still enjoy it.

1978 f250 400/c6. It does what I need. Would like to have a spare 2500$ for a 6spd swap and another grand for turbos, but otherwise it is more entertaining than a dumb practical rig

1978 F250 400 Dual Fuel

needed a thread title I could find and I'll also have questions and needs with direction and stuff, so hopefully it is click bait enough :flipoff2: also need a place I can take random notes and hold random pictures :rasta: I was always a 100% street legal, drive to the trails, drive it home...

irate4x4.com

edit: Overdrive would be neat because it is my daily, but the deep 4.xx first gear and the better splits up along the way would be more advantageous to towing. 6r80 has all those things

 

[AKnate]

Put tons of miles hauling ~10,000lbs on an 83 C30 with 160hp small block, 4 speed and 4.10 gears.
Was a great truck.

Once towed a ~12,000lb trailer as well as the 10k in the bed. That was pretty slow.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

For the last 8-9yrs I've used a 97 F250 7.3 truck as my daily driver/tow rig. Honestly, I was over it and bought a 22 F350 dually a few weeks ago.

 

[Provience]

For the last 8-9yrs I've used a 97 F250 7.3 truck as my daily driver/tow rig. Honestly, I was over it and bought a 22 F350 dually a few weeks ago.

wing windows > air conditioning

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

wing windows > air conditioning

My 97 has ice cold A/C too, but the radio sucks, the ride unloaded, loaded or with a trailer sucks 100X more than the radio, the seats suck, the interior noise sucks, the "supercab" is tiny, the trans doesn't enjoy pulling my 12k trailer, the engine doesn't like it either unless it's on flat ground, ect. It's a great truck and gets compliments everywhere I go in it but I've had my share of the cool factor and now I'm over it.

 

[M92PV4U]

454, th400, 4.10

 

[Provience]

My 97 has ice cold A/C too, but the radio sucks, the ride unloaded, loaded or with a trailer sucks 100X more than the radio, the seats suck, the interior noise sucks, the "supercab" is tiny, the trans doesn't enjoy pulling my 12k trailer, the engine doesn't like it either unless it's on flat ground, ect. It's a great truck and gets compliments everywhere I go in it but I've had my share of the cool factor and now I'm over it.

well, yeah. there is all that nonsense

 

[Crankylove]

‘86 F250, ECLB, 4x4. Factory 460 with about 200k miles, ZFS542, 3.55’s, 315/85-16’s

Pulls 8-10k once every 5 years or so, 2,000 lb camp trailer 5-6 times a year.

Shitty mileage, and slow on the hills, but it’s paid for, and gets the job done.

 

[JesseA]

Tow rig for me is doing truck stuff so I’m okay with poor fuel economy and a hard ride.

I have a car to get me around.

 

[DirtRoads]

For the last 8-9yrs I've used a 97 F250 7.3 truck as my daily driver/tow rig. Honestly, I was over it and bought a 22 F350 dually a few weeks ago.

That is exactly how I was with my 92 IDI turbo. It was a crew cab 350 with a 5 speed, so pretty badass in its own way. But it was just fawking exhausting to drive after a while

 

[Provience]

The tiresome aspect is why the pre 2000s gasses are better than the diesels. Far smoother, doesn't sound like a hammer fight all day long, super easy to make the exhaust note as loud or quiet as you want without concern and far cheaper in every regard. Sure, worse unloaded fuel mileage but gas is still 2/3 the price at the pump.

Back in the day when diesel was a good bit cheaper than gas it was worth all the noise and hassle. Nowadays with age and maint and such? Nope

 

[rockdog57]

454, th400, 4.10

I didn’t know they put th400’s in that era of gm.

 

[M92PV4U]

I didn’t know they put th400’s in that era of gm.

It's a 89.

 

[06h3]

It isnt a small block and it isnt a 3 speed but for what we did I think it fits the bill of old school tow rigs.

My buddy bought this truck in 2017 for $3500 and it had just under 100k miles on it. 454/4L80E/4.10s (I think)/2wd.

We used it to haul my H3 to Ultimate Adventure 2018 from Southern California to Pennsylvania and then back to So cal. It weighed in at 17,000lbs gross weight. We were told by many that it flat out wouldn't work, we wouldn't have enough TQ to get over the passes in Colorado and we would get 5 mpg if it did work. From So cal to PA we got 8.2mpg, we went the northern route through CO. I dont remember what he got on the way back but he went the southern route through Tennessee to see family, then through TX, NM and AZ. I wasnt there on the way back, I had to fly out for a wedding.

For $3500 there couldn't have been a cheaper way to do a cross country road trip hauling a rig safely and effectively. The trans got warm on the worst grades, but it was still running a stock trans cooler. After driving crew cab trucks that are much heavier, I think the added weight and wheelbase of the bigger trucks handle this exact load better but it wasn't unsafe or deadly. Again, I am nitpicking and it did the job safely and nicely. I could see the nitpicking being more legitimate if it was a brand new $50k truck but for $3500 it was a score and worked awesome.

 

[willis_racing]

Currently trying to fix some of the old-schoolness of it to be honest. The 62mph 3000rpm cruise was the very first thing about the truck that had to go. It had all the power in the world to do that without losing speed on hills though, bless its heart. 454/th350/4.56/37s

 

[simmons3067]

Currently trying to fix some of the old-schoolness of it to be honest. The 62mph 3000rpm cruise was the very first thing about the truck that had to go. It had all the power in the world to do that without losing speed on hills though, bless its heart. 454/th350/4.56/37s

I towed with an 84 K30 that had no overdrive and 4.56’s. Getting passed by Prius’s on the highway got old. I put a gear vendor on that truck and it was night and day difference getting overdrive. If I was to do it again I would not do a gear vendor and would go with a 4l80 or NV4500.

 

[willis_racing]

If I was to do it again I would not do a gear vendor and would go with a 4l80 or NV4500.

I have a build thread in the chevy section detailing my progress on putting a 4l80 in it(among other things). Great minds think alike!

 

[simmons3067]

I have a build thread in the chevy section detailing my progress on putting a 4l80 in it(among other things). Great minds think alike!

I am going through my old square body and a 4L80 is going to be a must.

 

[Provience]

I am going through my old square body and a 4L80 is going to be a must.

6l80e?

 

[simmons3067]

6l80e?

4L80 is advanced for me. I’ll try a 6L80 in 20 years. I am always way behind the technology. 😂😂

 

[Spudwrench]

69 F250, 390, NP435 with old school Double Torque gear splitter.

 

[JesseA]

The fact that there hasn’t been one “Don’t fawkin’ do it!” Gives me hope.

I have a clapped out 2008 Silverado that’s on its last legs, and I’m looking into older primitive trucks to replace it for moving my toolbox between job sites , firewood , steel, lumber runs and making 3 or 4 ~200-400 mile round trips a year.

90% local runs on the weekends and probably not even every weekend

 

[willis_racing]

The fact that there hasn’t been one “Don’t fawkin’ do it!” Gives me hope.

I think it depends on the person. I just legitimately like older trucks and the experience I get from running them. It's not for everybody and it can get expensive at the pump, but they can do nearly anything you ask of them if you mind their limitations and give half a thought to safety occasionally.

Something you need to haul the wife and kids to races in and gross 20k for 18 hours? I'll take a newer truck.
Pulling my boat or jet skis to the lake and launching on the beach? 454 and glasspacks with the wing windows open

I have a clapped out 2008 Silverado that’s on its last legs, and I’m looking into older primitive trucks to replace it for moving my toolbox between job sites , firewood , steel, lumber runs and making 3 or 4 ~200-400 mile round trips a year.

90% local runs on the weekends and probably not even every weekend

Sounds like an older truck is perfect for that job. Pretty similar to how I use mine. Just keep in mind that simplicity and reliability don't always 100% intermingle. A truck from anywhere south of the late 80s is probably going to need constant TLC and fixes for up to a year or so of driving. Undoing the neglect almost all cheap, older trucks have been subjected to takes time and money. Just food for thought.

Remember to have fun with it!

 

[Grendel]

I guess I have the oldest? (so far?)


Granted, mine is diesel and OD.

 

[TRINDU]

I’m looking into older primitive trucks to replace it for moving my toolbox between job sites , firewood , steel, lumber runs and making 3 or 4 ~200-400 mile round trips a year.

Most of us do that in Japanese sedans built last century.

 

[JesseA]

I should have been more specific regarding the 200-400 mile round trips those are:
200-400 mile round trips with the rock crawler on the trailer

The tool box is 30x30x48 and won’t go in a sedan without being in the BDL threads.
And it’s heavy.

I get a trailer for the car to move it but I already have a car hauling trailer, a pickup bed trailer for gravel and scrap, a trailer for the big portable welder, and the wife has a boat on a trailer.
Wife says we have enough trailers.

I understand that old “classic” trucks are all probably tired, beat down and needing lots of work and that’s probably going to be fine. And that they’re thirsty
I’m just tired of thin frame rails, transmissions that seem to last long enough to get out of the warranty, and ifs.

 

[rattle_snake]

Not helpful, but BBF & 6R80

 

[90supra]

I guess I have the oldest? (so far?)


Granted, mine is diesel and OD.

I always forget how sweet that truck is.