C3500 diesel vs 454… towing

[someotherguy]

Absolutely unknown amount of weight. 3500HD's are heavy (nearly stripped and with no wrecker unit it scaled over 5K). Added framework for wrecker unit and the unit itself are heavy. 20' car hauler trailer, C2500LD ECSB, Snappy roll box loaded with tools, and a Snappy top box in the bed of the truck with tools as well as misc. other stuff. The HD had a well-worn, stock Vortec 7.4 and NV4500. Couple key drivetrain differences between this truck and a regular 3500 would be 4.63 gears and 33"ish tires (245/70/19.5). A 454-equipped HD would normally have 5.13's btw, but this one was originally a 6.5td truck so it had 4.63's.

Ran 70-75 mph from TX to FL barely broke a sweat until near the end of the trip, I ran straight through so I can't recall exactly where it was but I want to say some kind of tunnel action had me on a steep uphill climb and I had to downshift and lost a good bit of speed.

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I tow all the time with different trucks but rarely is it an amount that might be equivalent to pulling around a loaded race car trailer; this example is probably closest I would imagine.

Richard

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Absolutely unknown amount of weight. 3500HD's are heavy (nearly stripped and with no wrecker unit it scaled over 5K). Added framework for wrecker unit and the unit itself are heavy. 20' car hauler trailer, C2500LD ECSB, Snappy roll box loaded with tools, and a Snappy top box in the bed of the truck with tools as well as misc. other stuff. The HD had a well-worn, stock Vortec 7.4 and NV4500. Couple key drivetrain differences between this truck and a regular 3500 would be 4.63 gears and 33"ish tires (245/70/19.5). A 454-equipped HD would normally have 5.13's btw, but this one was originally a 6.5td truck so it had 4.63's.

Ran 70-75 mph from TX to FL barely broke a sweat until near the end of the trip, I ran straight through so I can't recall exactly where it was but I want to say some kind of tunnel action had me on a steep uphill climb and I had to downshift and lost a good bit of speed.

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I tow all the time with different trucks but rarely is it an amount that might be equivalent to pulling around a loaded race car trailer; this example is probably closest I would imagine.

Richard

Probably in or around Mobile, Alabama; I remember the tunnels being pretty steep in and out. Made that trip many years ago with a relative; took us 3 days each way to go from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia. We took time to visit a few national parks and so forth too, and didn't doo much night driving. It was a fun trip though, we had several great meals ( and not just in Louisiana!).

 

[someotherguy]

Probably in or around Mobile, Alabama; I remember the tunnels being pretty steep in and out. Made that trip many years ago with a relative; took us 3 days each way to go from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia. We took time to visit a few national parks and so forth too, and didn't doo much night driving. It was a fun trip though, we had several great meals ( and not just in Louisiana!).

Was actually somewhere in FL. I was headed just South of Tampa. I recall being surprised by it as the truck had done so well for so long. Then the A/C quit, and the cruise quit, and... yeah. I was tired and the truck was, too.

Richard

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Was actually somewhere in FL. I was headed just South of Tampa. I recall being surprised by it as the truck had done so well for so long. Then the A/C quit, and the cruise quit, and... yeah. I was tired and the truck was, too.

Richard

We just went across the top of Florida. To Jacksonville,from the Carolinas and Georgia ( loved Savannah and Tybee Island) around Jacksonville on the Loop ( lots of bridges) and then west. Florida panhandle was kinda boring as I recall, not much change in the scenery for hundreds of miles.

 

[BBslider001]

You lost me at "keep the miles off of it". This is never the good choice for mechanical things. Ask me how I know. I have purchased a few "babied creampuffs" that were an absolute **** show to make them right. I kinda believe in driving what you own and not letting them sit. If it's just gonna sit, what's the point? And yes, diesels are overrated these days. In my current situation, I run a 7.3 PSD for towing my 13k# toyhauler. I have owned diesels most of my life, so I am very comfortable working on them and maintaining them and both of mine get driven quite a bit. For your application, a decent used 454 that is in good repair would be just fine.

 

[TCBRacer77]

You lost me at "keep the miles off of it". This is never the good choice for mechanical things. Ask me how I know. I have purchased a few "babied creampuffs" that were an absolute **** show to make them right. I kinda believe in driving what you own and not letting them sit. If it's just gonna sit, what's the point? And yes, diesels are overrated these days. In my current situation, I run a 7.3 PSD for towing my 13k# toyhauler. I have owned diesels most of my life, so I am very comfortable working on them and maintaining them and both of mine get driven quite a bit. For your application, a decent used 454 that is in good repair would be just fine.

One can argue daily driving a 454 dually might be impractical, I myself have experienced this. If I’m not going to tow anything all week why not drive something that gets better mileage. Then I’m also not having to replace 6 tires more frequently or tending to brakes and what not. Having a nice rig that I’ll use for play often but not daily is what I meant and I assume everyone understood lol. I don’t think I sounded like “never going to drive it”
People that have an obs have them because they love driving them, but it’s having the right tool for the job that separates the men from the boys and this is me pre planning the next “tool” in my collection haha
Thank you all for the input! This is how I learn

 

[Doctor Diesel]

So, with the way things have been looking the past several years, I’m starting to lean towards a C3500 454 4x4 truck for a future build, and slowly starting to dislike the idea of a duramax swap or even a stock 6.5 diesel truck. A big reason is for the price of diesel sky-rocketing as well as the common consensus that the 454s were awesome if you didn’t mind the gas mileage. I would like to have one of these trucks simply for towing a race car trailer, not frequent use and definitely not a daily. Keeping it put away and keeping miles off of it. I was also looking at Chevrolet performance HT502 crate engine and wondered if it would be an easy drop in to a tired 454 truck?

Just curious what you guys think if a diesel is worth the hype if the 454 is sufficient? Even compared to a duramax swap??

Screw it. Stuff a baby DDTwo stroke in heryoull get an undestroyable engine, roll big coal, use cheap straight weight, rattle windows for a half mile and get to pita sweet Dirty Idle sticker on it. Oh, and a TS DD will burn literally anyone oil you feed it for fuel. Waster motor oil? Filter with a 10 micron filter, add oxiidation neutralizer and fill er up. I know a guy who heavily modified a C3500 with a 653 Detroit and added tank heaters so he could get Number 4 Bunker for near nothing and burn it.

 

[TCBRacer77]

Screw it. Stuff a baby DDTwo stroke in heryoull get an undestroyable engine, roll big coal, use cheap straight weight, rattle windows for a half mile and get to pita sweet Dirty Idle sticker on it. Oh, and a TS DD will burn literally anyone oil you feed it for fuel. Waster motor oil? Filter with a 10 micron filter, add oxiidation neutralizer and fill er up. I know a guy who heavily modified a C3500 with a 653 Detroit and added tank heaters so he could get Number 4 Bunker for near nothing and burn it.

I apologize but I don’t have any idea what your trying to tell me lol, can you dumb it down for me

 

[BNielsen]

I apologize but I don’t have any idea what your trying to tell me lol, can you dumb it down for me

He's saying to swap in an older Detroit Diesel 2-stroke; I.e; 453T, 653. You can then run used motor oil and all that kind of stuff.
Interesting swap idea, not very practical, but interesting.

 

[Supercharged111]

He's saying to swap in an older Detroit Diesel 2-stroke; I.e; 453T, 653. You can then run used motor oil and all that kind of stuff.
Interesting swap idea, not very practical, but interesting.

But they sound awesome!