350 tbi towing build 10,000 lbs

[shovelbill]

Might not want to hear this but you would be money and effort ahead if you just bite the bullet and stick a 454 in with a rv cam and port polish heads. A tbi 454 is somewhere around the 385ft lb from the factory.

that'll get him the torque he wants on the cheap.....doesn't address the other issues though. hell, one of the best "pullin" mills GM had was the 292 stroker 6......

 

[Supercharged111]

Also, if it is the semi floater 14 bolt, those trucks were rated at 7200lb gvwr

Nope, 6 lug is 7200 8 lug is 8600. IIRC the tires were the limiting factor, 8 lug rear should be rated to 6000 even if it's a semi floater.

 

[shovelbill]

I noticed you mentioned a semi floater rear end?? If so that's not a 2500hd, you would need to have the full floater 14 bolt to be the HD.

As a comparison, I drive a 98 k2500 with the full floater, 454 and 5 speed. It's only rated for towing 10,000lbs

i didn't know the full floater was available on a 2500....what then would be the difference betwixt that an a 3500?

the gearing dictates the maximum tow rating(as per GM)....you could get 4.10 or 4.56 in the full floater....i "think" 3.42, 3.73 and 4.10 on the semi.....the engine and rear end combo give the trailer rating in regards to each chassis combination. the GVWR also dictates the tax stamp and or registration iirc.


one also has to think about the SAFETY factor of being able to accelerate onto an entrance or maintaining the federal minimum of 40mph on a public highway.....i'm not postive on those numbers, been too long and my brain is ****. not to mention stopping the combo.

the braking on the 1 ton is better than that of a 2500 because of the rear....i.'m thinking the HD got the 8 lug wheels. it's all about the "sticker" on the truck that determines the LEGALITY of what you can tow........in today's litigious society i sure as **** wouldn't want to be overweight and involved in an accident....your fault or not.

long wheel based vehicles are safer to tow with, PERIOD.....

go look at some of my other posts.....i don't like to open these "towing" threads because of what i KNOW i'm going to see......blablabla, i did this, i towed that with no problems.....yea...till they day you have the DID......and killed a family.

i've seen way too much **** during my tenure in the towing industry to condone being overweight.......weather the truck can do it or not, you will NOT get around the legality of it.

the Autocar roll-off that turned the driver of this car into a puddle HAD an overweight permit.....

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i have more picture but i'm not going to bother looking for them......the tow rig should ALWAYS be bigger than it NEEDS to be.

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[Caldwell]

i didn't know the full floater was available on a 2500....what then would be the difference betwixt that an a 3500?

the gearing dictates the maximum tow rating(as per GM)....you could get 4.10 or 4.56 in the full floater....i "think" 3.42, 3.73 and 4.10 on the semi.....the engine and rear end combo give the trailer rating in regards to each chassis combination. the GVWR also dictates the tax stamp and or registration iirc.


one also has to think about the SAFETY factor of being able to accelerate onto an entrance or maintaining the federal minimum of 40mph on a public highway.....i'm not postive on those numbers, been too long and my brain is ****. not to mention stopping the combo.

the braking on the 1 ton is better than that of a 2500 because of the rear....i.'m thinking the HD got the 8 lug wheels. it's all about the "sticker" on the truck that determines the LEGALITY of what you can tow........in today's litigious society i sure as **** wouldn't want to be overweight and involved in an accident....your fault or not.

long wheel based vehicles are safer to tow with, PERIOD.....

go look at some of my other posts.....i don't like to open these "towing" threads because of what i KNOW i'm going to see......blablabla, i did this, i towed that with no problems.....yea...till they day you have the DID......and killed a family.

i've seen way too much **** during my tenure in the towing industry to condone being overweight.......weather the truck can do it or not, you will NOT get around the legality of it.

the Autocar roll-off that turned the driver of this car into a puddle HAD an overweight permit.....

You must be registered for see images attach

i have more picture but i'm not going to bother looking for them......the tow rig should ALWAYS be bigger than it NEEDS to be.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Mine is a 14 bolt semi floater with 3.73 gears. And yes it is an 8 lug. And thanks for the info and pictures. I would be comfortable towing quite a bit of weight with that truck but if the ratings are that low, I might just get another diesel..

 

[shovelbill]

Mine is a 14 bolt semi floater with 3.73 gears. And yes it is an 8 lug. And thanks for the info and pictures. I would be comfortable towing quite a bit of weight with that truck but if the ratings are that low, I might just get another diesel..

there's a safety net in there for sure....but not legally. i've always loved the 1st Gen Dodge 12v's for what they are.......i really love my 2nd Gen K/5's......and i'm enamored with my "new-ta-me" '98 rcsb GMC 1500 Z71......

the guy that had my truck before me towed a lot.....and from what they said it was WAY over weight. he thought is was fine till he almost ran over i few kids. bought a 1 ton. that's why i ended up with mine.

keep your 2500, it has great sentimental value.....you 2 started together. give her a make-over and use it for other purposes.....get the right rig for the heavy lifting........just my $.03 man

last year my buddy got a '92 Dodge extra-cab 4x2 Cummins.....190K on the clock for $5,500.....was a VA truck.......and no, he wouldn't sell it to me!!

 

[90halfton]

Why not just one of your 2 power strokes or Duramax?

 

[cool_as_crap]

Not sure on the mileage of the motor because the odometer is broke but I do know it is strong (because of driving 5 of them) And I live in Oklahoma so I'm not too worried about hills. Some hills but not big hills anyway. Trailer weighs around 6,500 lbs. so it'd probably be towing more than 10,000 lbs. I know the truck can pull it, it just won't like it. And I know y'all are probably going to tell me to get another diesel or put in a 454, but I don't want too if I don't have too. If I do, I'll probably get the dreaded dodge truck.. Ugh... With a cummins and a 5-6 speed. Nothing against a cummins and a nv4500/nv5600 just the dodge truck is sh** IMHO. Just love this old Chevy and want to make it work without putting 4-5k in it. And I don't want to put a cummins in it. Not right now anyways...

Have you thought about getting a lighter trailer?
Is it the size of your loads that requires something so large?

 

[Brother Al]

Shovelbill makes some good points, but stating anything about buying a Dodge on this forum... ."GASP!" (LOL, My buddy built a nice 2wd 89 Dodge with the Magnum 5.9L 360, nice power over the original 360, but it'll couldnt haul 10,000lbs over an ant hill in a stiff breeze.

That said;
10K is A LOT of Weight for any pickup originally rated under 1 Ton, but if yours is already an 8 lug 2500HD, as said above, you have a lot of the parts already needed to get there.
(FYI, If its a 6 lug, you dont have a HD 2500). At minimum, I strongly recommend going to a Full Float 14 Bolt, 4.10's, and Duallies for that kind of weight on the back of any GM truck. A Semi-Float 14 Bolt is a damn good axle, but its a Medium Duty GM Truck Axle. Its 9.5" ring gear and C-Clips will definately fail under that kind of weight torture...

Find a C3500 Dually, grab the rear leafs, axle, rear wheels, rear wheel flares, and pick off any bits you'll need for an engine swap to a 454 or 502, because the 350 wont live very long towing +10K lbs
That is well-beyond the capabilities of any relatively-stock SBC.... especially a late-80's, thin-cast, smogger-block 350. Im sure people will chime in that you could do it, but as us New Englanders say; "You cahnt get thah from he-ah". Realistically, you really cant, not without stripping it down to a bare block, & spending a pile of cash, for a less than spectacular result... Dont get me wrong, I love the SBC 350, but to make that engine pull that much happily, you'd be spending about $1000 per 1000lbs to get it to be where you want it, and itd run hotter than Obama's temper watching Trump bulldoze the "Legacy".

As you seem to already know, the 2500 came in 2 flavors,
"Light Duty 2500": really just a 1/2 Ton with some beefier parts.
"Heavy 2500", Full 3/4 Ton shared some 1 Ton parts.

Here's some info that I recall from my own experiences, (these were trucks I drove for a friend/employer):
1994 C3500 (2WD), Reg Cab/ Longbed, 7.4L (TBI 454), TH400, & 4.10:1 Dually Axle 5th Wheel had a towing capacity max GVWR of about 9000lbs.

1997 C3500 (2WD), Reg Cab/ Longbed, 7.4L (Vortec 454), 4L80E, & 4.10:1 Dually Axle 5th Wheel had a towing capacity max GVWR of about 10,000lbs.

Both were Very Reliable, but the '94 TBI 454 was pretty doggy towing uphill... a Q-Jet, aluminum intake, headers, dual exhaust, a real cam profile, & some good heads, would have been MUCH better for power and mileage... (Im not a fan of TBI anyway). The '97 was noticably more responsive to the throttle, better on mileage, and wasnt as quick to start lugging up a hill... but it felt like it needed a better exhaust system and cam profile to capitalize on its power. I know the '96-'00 454's Vortec heads, much like the L31 Vortec 350 heads, were a big improvement over the 80's "swirl ports". IIRC, the crate 502 uses the same/similar Vortec head design as the stock Vortec 454. Having direct injection is another huge step up from the TBI... More reliable & excellent fuel ratio, vs the TBI's unequal, rich-to-lean fuel distribution amongst all 8 cylinders. Certainly a 3" dual exhaust, headers, and healthy cam profile (502 cam?), would give it a nice bump in power. I recall quite a few guys liking the Vortec 454 in its day. The 4L80E did need a rebuild around 120K... (4L80E is essentially a modified TH400 w/ an Overdrive Gear & electronics).

Essentially, what Ive written above is a more complicated way of saying, you cant get that out of your truck for $2500.

 

[Brother Al]

PS.
Shovelbill, yep, lotta mixing of parts in the GM line-up. 2500's were available with the 10 Bolt, SF & FF 14 Bolts.... as were 1500's with 6 lug SF 14 Bolts.

 

[shovelbill]

PS.
Shovelbill, yep, lotta mixing of parts in the GM line-up. 2500's were available with the 10 Bolt, SF & FF 14 Bolts.... as were 1500's with 6 lug SF 14 Bolts.

that's the one i'm putting in my short bed 1500....with the comp valve for genuine J6B LD 3/4 ton brakes.