Towing C10..... what do I need ?

[Tusky]

Hey guys I'm new here so please bear with me cause honestly all I know about is f-bodies.
I'm a owner of a 2000 Z28 that I will be towing to the track sometimes and up to bowling green to the LS fest. My car go be driven most of the time but om occasions I also want to go to down to Baton Rouge and run with some close friends of mine. Well Bowling Green is 6 hours north of me and Baton Rouge is 6 hours south from me. I live in Mississippi and it's tons of square body trucks all over the county roads begging for a new life and honestly I can't afford a 50k truck. I'm familiar with the LS motor as I am a LS guy. Looking into getting a 73-79 model cause i like those headlights over the square lights. My questions are:



How much of a motor I need to tow my car 6 hours away from home ? 6.0 or 5.3 ?
What mods will be best for towing?
What transmission would be best?
Long wheel base or short wheel base ?
What gear ratio in the rear I need to get the weight moving?

Remember guys I'm not towing a 50 ft trailer loaded with iron. My Camaro weight around 3400 and the trailer weigh around 1800 lbs. So 5500 lbs max is what I'll be towing. Thanks in advance and I'm sorry if I asked a "stupid" question.

[Keith Seymore]

5500 lbs is not very heavy. Make sure you have brakes on the trailer and you should be ok.

How much of a motor I need to tow my car 6 hours away from home ? 6.0 or 5.3 ? Either.
What mods will be best for towing? Platform hitch (not a bumper hitch)
What transmission would be best? THM400 would be heaviest duty, but a 700R4 would work (in D when towing, and then use the OD when not towing)
Long wheel base or short wheel base ? Either
What gear ratio in the rear I need to get the weight moving? 3.42 or higher; 3.73 preferred

Mass is your friend in a tow vehicle, so bigger is better for any of the characteristics listed.

Mine is a swb 4.3V6, manual overdrive trans, 3.73 axle and pulls my 4500 lb combo with ease. The 24' enclosed Haulmark trailer - not so much.

K

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Hey guys I'm new here so please bear with me cause honestly all I know about is f-bodies.
I'm a owner of a 2000 Z28 that I will be towing to the track sometimes and up to bowling green to the LS fest. My car go be driven most of the time but om occasions I also want to go to down to Baton Rouge and run with some close friends of mine. Well Bowling Green is 6 hours north of me and Baton Rouge is 6 hours south from me. I live in Mississippi and it's tons of square body trucks all over the county roads begging for a new life and honestly I can't afford a 50k truck. I'm familiar with the LS motor as I am a LS guy. Looking into getting a 73-79 model cause i like those headlights over the square lights. My questions are:



How much of a motor I need to tow my car 6 hours away from home ? 6.0 or 5.3 ?
What mods will be best for towing?
What transmission would be best?
Long wheel base or short wheel base ?
What gear ratio in the rear I need to get the weight moving?

Remember guys I'm not towing a 50 ft trailer loaded with iron. My Camaro weight around 3400 and the trailer weigh around 1800 lbs. So 5500 lbs max is what I'll be towing. Thanks in advance and I'm sorry if I asked a "stupid" question.

Not a stupid question....

Either the 5.3 or the 6.0 will get the job done but 5.3's will give you better mpgs.
I would do the 4l80e for the strength & to help efficiency.
Long wheel base would be better suited for pulling but the shorty can get the job done too.
Gearing will depend on tire sizes. I would do 28-29" tall rear tires & 3.73's. An OD trans will help w/the highway rpms.

[Tusky]

Thanks guys I'm trying to learn fast!! New to the ball game if you know what I mean.
I'm still learning about automatic transmissions as well. I just found out that the 4L60 and the 4L80 is geared different from each other. My car has a T56 so I never really payed that much attention to detail to the auto trans.
Would you guys do a stall or not ?
thinking about doing something simple I read in Hot Rod mag awhile back. They took a 6.0 motor added long tube headers and a tune and the motor produced 410hp/440ft at the crank.

[Tusky]

Love the pics Keith.

[greg64]

My C10 has a six cylinder that makes all of about 120 HP. I can pull trailers fine, I'm just slow on big uphill climbs. With 400 HP, I'd be worried about cooling that engine more then "will it pull the load?".

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Thanks guys I'm trying to learn fast!! New to the ball game if you know what I mean.
I'm still learning about automatic transmissions as well. I just found out that the 4L60 and the 4L80 is geared different from each other. My car has a T56 so I never really payed that much attention to detail to the auto trans.
Would you guys do a stall or not ?
thinking about doing something simple I read in Hot Rod mag awhile back. They took a 6.0 motor added long tube headers and a tune and the motor produced 410hp/440ft at the crank.

No stall for towing duty.

[Tusky]

Thanks guys!! Means a lot to me to from guys that tow already with these trucks!!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Thanks guys!! Means a lot to me to from guys that tow already with these trucks!!

No prob....

[Tom]

For what you want to tow, any trans and any v8 LS in any body style will do just fine. S10's can pull that much weight.

[Tusky]

You guys sure do have nice rigs here!! I have heard the before Tom about a S10 but I'm a tall guy LOL!! I need my leg room. Scoti... thanks for that pic!! I'm glad to hear any LS motor will get the job done. That takes a load off my shoulders. I don't want to be asking to use no one else truck... I rather have my own.

[Tusky]

Hate to bump this thread but I have another annoying question......
Which typically tows better a 4wd or a 2wd?
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[SCOTI]

Can't provide an unbiased answer here..... I've never owned a 4x4 so all my towing was w/old school 2wd's.

[gasmn1620]

how tall is tall???? square bodies aren't exactly big trucks. I get a little cramped in mine some times and I'm only 6'3"

[Tusky]

Originally Posted by gasmn1620

how tall is tall???? square bodies aren't exactly big trucks. I get a little cramped in mine some times and I'm only 6'3"

Well I'm 6ft myself..... I really considering a nice fuel wheel setup on a 4wd but before I buy anything I want to know what I'm getting into......
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[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Well I'm 6ft myself..... I really considering a nice fuel wheel setup on a 4wd but before I buy anything I want to know what I'm getting into......
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88-98's have better legroom.

[andrewmp6]

Look for a long bed 3/4 ton,They are cheap enough can pull more then you need and the longer wheel base helps when towing.2wd vs 4x4 depends if you just want a tow pig or a all around truck to use.Unless you want to go off road in it stick to 2wd its cheaper to buy and a engine and trans swap will be cheaper also.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Hate to bump this thread but I have another annoying question......
Which typically tows better a 4wd or a 2wd?
Posted via Mobile Device

4wd; heavier is better, plus - if you want - you can shift into 4L for backing, which allows you to go very slowly and without throttle input (one less thing to think about in tight situations).

K

[wilkin250r]

If it's strictly towing, a 2wd is just fine. I prefer a 4wd because it just gives you options. You're not likely to see snow in Mississippi, but 4wd gives you that added security if you ever travel to any area with snow.

I had a trailer parked at a friends house, and the path out was an uphill gravel road. Having 4wd really helped pulling the trailer up to the pavement, where I could switch to 2wd and be on my way.

Personally, I see lots of minor benefits to 4wd, and no downside.

[bmchevy1979]

In my opinion it all depends on what you plan on doing if you are only going to tow your Camaro I would just get a swb 2wd now I have driven both 2 and 4wheel drive and it takes a vehicle at least as heavy as the truck itself to make a short bed 2wd have any issues steering wise that is were a 4wd has the advantage it has the extra weight out front so it makes the vehicle act like it is a longer wheel base making for a more positive steering input but this is only noticeable when you have around 8000lbs behind you which is more than should be back there anyways on a 1/2 ton. When it comes down to 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton for what you are doing as long as you have trailer brakes a 1/2 ton will work fine.

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

4wd; heavier is better, plus - if you want - you can shift into 4L for backing, which allows you to go very slowly and without throttle input (one less thing to think about in tight situations).

K

this^^ i use 4lo in the bush with my trailer all the time, usually never need 4by, but way more control, saves huge on the brakes as well.
personally i prefer a longbox for towing. my quad trailer is 17 feet end to end, give or take around 4000lbs. with my LB you dont notice very much, with the stepper though, it's like the tail wagging the dog....
good brakes & tranny cooler are pretty much must-haves...

[Tusky]

Interesting posts!!
I like the way a 4wd and 2wd both can look sweet with a good proper taste for each.
As far as snow goes I might see 4 inches of snow a year. Not much snow here. All I plan on towing ever is my Camaro which again weigh around 3400 lbs and a trailer which would be around 1800-2000 lbs.

If I bought a 4wd I would like a nice lift kit and put the truck on 22 inch fuel wheels with 40 inch tires.....
If I bought a 2wd it would be more factory height type with torque thrust type wheels.
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[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Interesting posts!!
I like the way a 4wd and 2wd both can look sweet with a good proper taste for each.
As far as snow goes I might see 4 inches of snow a year. Not much snow here. All I plan on towing ever is my Camaro which again weigh around 3400 lbs and a trailer which would be around 1800-2000 lbs.

If I bought a 4wd I would like a nice lift kit and put the truck on 22 inch fuel wheels with 40 inch tires.....
If I bought a 2wd it would be more factory height type with torque thrust type wheels.
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Option 2 = better for 'towing'.

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by Tusky

Interesting posts!!
If I bought a 4wd I would like a nice lift kit and put the truck on 22 inch fuel wheels with 40 inch tires.....
Posted via Mobile Device

there ya go!
if your going that big, you'll want to step up to a 1 ton. a long wheelbase crew would be even better at them heights.... (39 incher's...)
you also want a SOLID HD drop hitch, or put a brace in, unless you lift your trailer. i flipped my trailer axle underneath, thinking of putting a 2" block in it, add some 33's & less of a drop hitch....

[Tusky]

Was trying to find a way to post pics simply but it's not that easy as a copy/paste.......

Wanted to show my Camaro to you guys.
The I wanted to share 2 square bodies I absolutely love. One is a 2wd and the other one is a 4wd.....

I'm about to head into work and make some ammo so I can't have my phone in the plant but I'll chime back in at 11:30 tonight.
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