Thinking GMT400 3500 Dually for Track Day Towing, Thoughts?

[Erik the Awful]

A half ton will tow a bimmer easy enough,

With no other loading. We put a tool chest on the trailer with the car, and then load another thousand pounds of gear in the back of the truck. Then we tow halfway across the country. That's not a recipe for keeping a 4L60E happy. My team captain's GMT900 C1500 Suburban is on its second 4L60E.

If the purpose is for towing to track days, and you're only taking a handheld tool case and maybe a pop-up tent, then yes, a half-ton is fine. But that quickly changes. One of my teammates towed his Mustang to Barber from Dallas with a 4.6 F150. We made it there and back, but it was struggling, and the heater core cracked in the last few hours. He got the heater core fixed and flipped the truck to buy a F250.

If you can start with a larger truck, do it.

 

[the_elegant_fox]

With no other loading. We put a tool chest on the trailer with the car, and then load another thousand pounds of gear in the back of the truck. Then we tow halfway across the country. That's not a recipe for keeping a 4L60E happy. My team captain's GMT900 C1500 Suburban is on its second 4L60E.

If the purpose is for towing to track days, and you're only taking a handheld tool case and maybe a pop-up tent, then yes, a half-ton is fine. But that quickly changes. One of my teammates towed his Mustang to Barber from Dallas with a 4.6 F150. We made it there and back, but it was struggling, and the heater core cracked in the last few hours. He got the heater core fixed and flipped the truck to buy a F250.

If you can start with a larger truck, do it.

Yeah, this is a good point. It's not long before I'll have a tool chest, quick jacks, another set of rims and tires, etc.

 

[RichLo]

That last one you posted, the blue/white 91 single cab is a 1/2 ton with a dually axle and bed flares added. It looks like 5-lug front wheels! No pics of the engine either... it may be a 4.3 under there, lol.

 

[RichLo]

And to answer your question, YES go out and get a real 3500 dually with a 454. It is built stronger, you can upgrade your trailer and not worry about also buy a new truck and selling a 1500. Like others have said a long box 454 dually isnt something somebody wants as an all-around truck. They want a 1500 for daily driving and going to get some 2x4s once in a while. For your case a long, wide 1-ton is a great option. I have a 97 454 for that same reason. I have room to store it and I dont need to drive it if I'm not hauling something.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

With no other loading. We put a tool chest on the trailer with the car, and then load another thousand pounds of gear in the back of the truck. Then we tow halfway across the country. That's not a recipe for keeping a 4L60E happy. My team captain's GMT900 C1500 Suburban is on its second 4L60E.

If the purpose is for towing to track days, and you're only taking a handheld tool case and maybe a pop-up tent, then yes, a half-ton is fine. But that quickly changes. One of my teammates towed his Mustang to Barber from Dallas with a 4.6 F150. We made it there and back, but it was struggling, and the heater core cracked in the last few hours. He got the heater core fixed and flipped the truck to buy a F250.

If you can start with a larger truck, do it.

Ford truck heaters suck, that's one of many things that needed fixing on the POS one I had....
And most of the parts are unobtainable....

 

[the_elegant_fox]

Thanks all for the insights, I think I'm settled on the 3500 cclb now. I'm going to spend some more time on the forums reading about the platform and hopefully close on one this year.

 

[Off Grid Access]

I just bought a 1990 K3500 454 for hauling Jeeps. Mine is a bit of a basket case at the moment though. However, I got it anyways because it is one tough truck that is meant for hauling. Once I have it done, it should last me a long time. Up until now I used the family 2011 Tahoe. While it did work for that, it wasn't happy doing it. I didn't want to ruin the Tahoe hauling vehicles when we really need that for hauling kids.

 

[Scruffy]

I bought a 99 K3500 cab and chassis dually for $7500 in January. Got tired of breaking 1/2 tons. Truck had 136,000 miles on it. Freshly built Vortec 350, new clutch, new NV4500, BW4470 t-case, ff 14 bolt, 4.10s on LT265/75r16E highway tires.
I went for a standard cab, they don’t seem to get the cab corner issues my extended cab K1500 has. Came with a 9’ flated already set up for a gooseneck. Runs a front (only) license plate like a semi.
Stock it shipped with LT215/85r16E A/Ts, giving it a 12,000# gvwr as finished. I haul a 20’ flatbed bumper pull, 7,000# trailer weight rating, can’t even tell it is back there. Hooking to a 30’ gooseneck cattle trailer, and fully loading it, makes me long for a 12v 6bt, early 7.3, or early Dmax. With a 20’ gooseneck loaded stock trailer, it’s slow off the line but pulls fine.
If you can find a clean one, get a dually. Costs a hair more to operate, but so worth it. Switching to LT235/85r16E A/T steer tires, and LT265/75r16E A/T or M/T drive tires.
I have a mini truck for a daily, 26mpg vs the 10.6 the dually averages.

 

[Keeper]

Switching to LT235/85r16E A/T steer tires, and LT265/75r16E A/T or M/T drive tires.

And here I am about to pull the trigger on the exact opposite, downsizing to 235/85r16 on rears with 265/75r16 up front. Are you using a spacer for the 265's in back?

 

[Scruffy]

2” rear spacers. Steel inner wheels, American Eagle bullet hole alloy outers and steers. I can’t figure out how to post pics from my phone…