Presently its all stock with 4.10 gears. Full floater dana rear, and dana 50 ttb front with a 4spd with granny.I am curious as to the max tonnage/pounds that I can tow with this. I will be towing it with a flat bed and gooseneck ball hitch. Holley 600 CFM 4160 with vac secondaries. I've heard these trucks are tow monsters so I am curious about what amount I can look to tow. For example with a double or triple axle gooseneck flatbed trailer how many tons of hay can I haul. BTW I understand the CDL rules so I should have that taken care of shortly, by earning my CDL A. Although 26,001 is just a bit over 13 tons I figure, I won't need to or really plan to tow that much.

 

Forgot to add, its a stock 460 motor.

 

I have no idea how much itll do with a gooseneck. But a few ideas on increasin towin capacity, Im goin to convert mine to a 350 with a d60 solid front, airbags in the back and be buildin the crap out of my 460 for low end torque. Just a thought for ya.

 

Clyde pulls my 10,000# fifthwheel quite nicely .... even at elevation in Colorado.



In June we do the trip again, every other year since 2001. Minding my speed, not fighting adverse winds, grades or ethanol fuels I can run about 7.5 mpg towing.

You may not want to hear this but your manual transmission actually reduces your maximum towing capacity. It has to do with starting out; the C6 multiplies torque by about 2.5 times giving you added pulling power and when downshifting allows you to downshift sooner letting you hold better speed on a grade.

Many years ago I worked for a seed company and one of my jobs was hauling grain from the research farm to the elevator. I had a 1979 F350 dually flatbed 460 C6 4.10's pulling a tri-axle Fruehauf GN with a 300 bu gravity box chained down on the deck. Over the many years I did this I averaged 52 loads per year with an average accurately scaled rolling gross of 29,700#. To get that average you gotta know that more than a few were over 30,000#.

 

With the 460 and 4.10 gears it will be capable of pulling more than it can handle.

What kind of a gvwr does it have just for reference? If I recall correctly my dads F350 dually is exactly 10,000 and my F100 is 5050.

Edit: I remember reading about your carb problems Clyde, the thread was like 2+ years old; but did you ever get it worked out?

 

Colorado to Minnesota. Wow Iv made that trip more times and ways then I can count. Cool to see someone else that makes the same journey.

 

Hey guys I appreciate the discussion here. Also I have also heard that thing regarding manuals and autos before. I went round and round with my uncle who swears that above a certain torque/hp range an auto will be necessary as the manual trans can't handle it. It does make sense seeing as how the new trucks are all coming out with 6spd autos. Anyone ever took apart a new auto trans? I'd bet they would be hard as heck to deal with. I think I'm gonna throw a trailer on and load it down with bales until it struggles. After I get my CDL of course until it doesn't bog down until I'm over my legal imit.

 

They don't make a 'new' auto transmission that fits a 385 series block, so it's a moot point.

Your brakes will be the limiting factor if you go with a slushbox.
Remember, it doesn't matter how much load you can get moving if you can't safely stop.

 

I will repeat that; Stopping is going to be your problem, not pulling it. Pretend someone pulls out in front of you during your first load test, and slam on the brakes. After that test, you will know what we are talking about.

 

A good brake controller and trailer brakes are your best frisend

 

Re the brake issue: definitely something to consider. I had the brakes on that Fruehauf set up so tight that after I unloaded if I didn't back off the controller completely it would lock up all six wheels on the trailer. Prior to harvest every year all the trailer drums were pulled, inspected and repacked. In addition to a brake check the truck got a tranny fluid change ... every year.

You don't handle a load like that casually. I'll also say that I carry a class A CDL with endorsements for doubles/triples and tankers and have been "heavy haulin' " for more than fourty years. I was in a position to say that NO ONE pulled that loaded grain hauler but me .... and no one else argued to do it.

Re the carb: Yeah, I went back to Pat, my carb guy (The Carburetor Shop in Maplewood, MN), and we talked about it. I was ready to buy a new one but he talked me out of it and insisted I bring it in for him. He went through the 4180 again, installed an original dual stage power valve and tweaked it. I ordered and added a powervalve protector (dead link at Powervalveshield.com) that he recommended and it's been working great ever since!

Another thing I changed was to use Stabil in both tanks when Clyde sits for any length of time. Todays crappy gas and ethanol starts breaking down in about two weeks. Verified by reps from John Deere, MTD and Briggs&Stratton at a seminar I attended. Since I started doing that I've pretty much eliminated carb problems on all my stuff. With the exception of the "Oh SH**!" can (as in Oh SH**! I forgot to get gas and I'm late!) no fuel sits around my place without fuel stabilizer.

 

What could I do to improve my brakes? New axles from like a dodge or ford one ton? What about installing like an overdrive unit or an 8spd trans from like a big rig. I think it would be a lot of fun.

 

Clyde,

Have not crossed paths with you in sometime. Glad to see you are doing OK. I sometimes which I would of kept my 4180 & done what you did. My 86 F250 4x4 just pulled my TT that with everything weighs in at around 10Gs to Arizona & averaged 5.97 mpg. Running between 55-65 mph. What has really made a power improvement was a Hughes HD Towing Converter & a TransGo shift kit with the 6 clutch forward pak in my C-6. Pulling in Nevada over a few 6000+ ft passes is where I really noticed a big improvement.
Craig

 

I disagree with the auto trans statement. Driven my fair share of semi's and dump trucks and there is a reason 95% of them are manual transmissions. They just handle the weight better in my book.

 

I would agree with you also, but if you look at the specs from the factory, the automatic equipped trucks are always rated for higher towing, everything else being equal. Most of it I think is in the extra torque generated the by the torque converter in the transmission.