'71 Cheyenne

[Shon]

I got a 71 Cheyenne, been in the wife's family from the day is was bought new, got the sales papers on it.
Anyway, I want to see what I can do to get this thing to haul my car and trailer. (97Z28 and open trailer.)
It has the original 350/quadrajet with 105k miles on it. I have replaced the radiator and water pump and hoses. Had the trans rebuilt and the half shaft bearing replaced. It needs the heater core swapped out, which I got, just got to do it.

With all that, what will it take suspension wise to get this thing to tow the car and trailer and what kind of motor mods might I need. I have plans to pull the motor anyway, it is leaking pretty bad and the gaskets need replacing, but if I got it out, thinking I might need a little more grunt to haul with it.

it has 3.73s.

I have tossed around the idea of puttin an LT1 based motor in the thing since I am familiar with that motor and tuning of it...

What is the consensus here?

[Old Yeller 1970]

Here's what you can do to pull the car without having to modify the suspension of your truck. You can install a weight and distribution hitch with an anti-sway bar.

I used to work at an RV dealership and we installed these everyday on 1/2 ton trucks pulling 5000lb campers. They make a huge difference and I highly recommend them to anyone who is going to pull heavy loads. When one is installed correctly, the truck will only squat 1-2 inches no matter how much load you put on it. The anti sway bar keeps the trailer from wagging the back end of the truck when you hit bumps at interstate highway speeds or when you catch the head wind off approaching semi trucks.

You can call any RV dealer and they can quote you a price on parts and installation. Once they have you set up they're really easy to use.

As far as pulling goes a rebuilt 350 with a cam in the range of 250-260 degrees of advertised duration with 3.73:1 gears ought to do pretty well.

In the meantime, if you want more grunt without doing a lot of work, a properly tuned 600-650 Holley or 625 Road Demon will probably make a noticable improvement over the Q-jet.

[Skruffy]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller 1970

The anti sway bar keeps the trailer from wagging the back end of the truck when you hit bumps at interstate highway speeds or when you catch the head wind off approaching semi trucks.

I might have to look into one of those. I bought a 24' enclosed trailer in Indianapolis and had to bring it home about 2 hours. I didn't think I was going to make it - truck after truck went flying past me and the ass end of my truck was all over and I was afraid to overcorrect. I was sweating bullets and was thrilled to unhook when I got home.

It probably would have been better if it hadn't been empty, but DAMN that was nerve-wracking.

[al's71gmc]

I've got one of the load distribution hitches, and they help alot. Another suggestion would be the addition of trailer brakes. It's no fun when your trailer keeps pushing you when you're trying to stop. It's also very hard on your truck's brakes. Looking at a few threads on brakes, you might have a hard time finding replacement components, depending on which rear end you have. Also check the weight of the car and trailer. If you're too far past your max load rating, expect rear diff and tranny problems before long. Probably OK for short runs, but if you will be going distances....
Al

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by al's71gmc

Another suggestion would be the addition of trailer brakes. Al

If your trailer has electric brakes you need to have a brake controller installed.

Skruffy, I think you'll feel a lot better with an anti swaybar. I bet that trip home was pretty rough.
In addition, a 24' trailer has to have electric brakes. If you have a brake controller installed, then, when the back end starts to sway, keep your foot on the throttle and reach down and manually activate the electric trailer brakes. That will also straighten out the truck and trailer and stop the swaying.

[stllookn]

First off...WELCOME to the board from sunny Seatte, WA! You will find great information on here about your truck and great modifications, parts and other valuable info. Please post some pics of your truck and let us know what all the options are that came with it.

[stllookn]

I have used these before towing a big camping trailer with an old '62 Chevy wagon...the hitch made it tow like a dream. It would have been impossible without it. I have always wondered who made them and where I could get one.

[djracer]

those hitches do make a world of differance! I used to tow my race car in a 26 ft enclosed trailer with a half ton extended cab chevy.

if the 71 is a longbed(prefered for towing) and has coil springs I'd add the factory helper springs and I have a set if you need them!

As far as the motor goes build you up a late model one piece rear seal 383 with some vortec heads and a towing cam and you will love it!

[special-K]

Another thing to do for coils is add AirLift bags inside the coils.When I did this I put new 3/4t coils.It still rode nice,air the bags as needed.

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by stllookn

I have used these before towing a big camping trailer with an old '62 Chevy wagon...the hitch made it tow like a dream. It would have been impossible without it. I have always wondered who made them and where I could get one.

Just a quick point of reference, the head and bars on the right is a weight and distribution unit without the anti-sway bar. The anti-sway bar would mount just above the head and bars you see in the picture.

The one on the right combines both weight and distribution and anti-sway all in the same unit.

[tomatocity]

Welcome to the board from Sacramento CA.

Great to hear of another family truck.
With only 105K miles on it I would repair the oil leaks before I made final decisions. I would guess the valve covers are leaking and causing most of what you see. Tighten the valve cover and pan bolts, wash the engine and bay area, and see what you got.
A good trailer hitch (hidden maybe?), refresh your suspension (leaf or coil?), possible overload suspension (coil or leaf truck?), change the rearend fluids, make sure your brakes are good, check your shocks, make sure you have good U-joints, proper tire pressures, hook a trailer to it (make sure your trailer load is balanced with the proper tongue weight) and give it a test drive.

[phlegm]

to the board from NC, I have a 71 as well, all I haul is mulch though. How about some Pics of the ride, we are all pic hords here.

[Yellow Cheyenne]

If you decide to freshen the original motor, be sure to have hardened valve seats installed. Mine had sunk quite a bit (72 350) by the time it was rebuilt. I don't do a lot of towing and the engine had about 160,000 miles on it when the rebuild was done.

Randy

[Shon]

Thanks!
I will post pix from work, I dont have any here at home.
As for options, it has front disc brakes, no a/c, power steering, and all vinyl bench seat.
I hate myself for this but my wife's grandfather kept it in a garage and when I got it had 70k miles on it and the paint was perfect, just needed a buff for oxidation. I cleaned it inside and out, put chevy rally wheels on it (15x8 F, 15x10 R) and drove it alot while my 94Z28 was being raced/broke alot. Well, thru the years (7+) it obviously has had to be outside and you can tell and I hate it, should have at least got a cover for it but too late. The body is perfect! It needs some attention now and I have to give it to it....now we have 2 kids and another family car and this 97Z28 I race. anyway...
The truck is a Longbed. Has coil springs in the rear. And trailer does have electric brakes!

These weight and distribution hitches and A/S bar, are these removable from the trailer pretty easily? This is a 'community' trialer, my brother, a buddy, and myself went in together and bought it and they have nice tow rigs, which is what I usually use but can see that availability in the future might be an issue.

djracer: can you give me a part number so I can look at what you are talking about? I know what you are talking about but before I got and start gathering parts I want to be sure I get the best thing for it, you know!?!? If it looks like these are the ticket, I'll PM ya.

I figured new springs would be needed in the rear and had thought about the air bags to help out too, did not think of the helper springs but that makes sense.

And motor is still under consideration. I just want it to have the grunt to pull this thing and not hurt itself.

[OhioChevy]

The hitch stlookn has shown is the equal-lizer hitch. Have one , would
not leave home without it if pulling trailer. I'm talking about the one on the
right with built in anti-sway bars.

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by Shon

These weight and distribution hitches and A/S bar, are these removable from the trailer pretty easily?

Yeah, they're as user friendly as you could ask for. The Equalizer hitch is more difficult to install properly (I'd say let the dealer do it) but once it's done it's the easiest and fastest to hook up or take off. It's also the most idiot proof too.

[Skruffy]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller 1970

If your trailer has electric brakes you need to have a brake controller installed.

Skruffy, I think you'll feel a lot better with an anti swaybar. I bet that trip home was pretty rough.
In addition, a 24' trailer has to have electric brakes. If you have a brake controller installed, then, when the back end starts to sway, keep your foot on the throttle and reach down and manually activate the electric trailer brakes. That will also straighten out the truck and trailer and stop the swaying.

I agree completely! It has electric brakes but I don't have a controller. I really bought it for some temporary storage but will get the brakes set up if I haul it again - I don't need any more white knuckle trips.

When it started swaying I floored the truck and it helped, but only if I got a stretch where no trucks were passing.

[Shon]

I have attached some pix.

[Joe67]

Originally Posted by stllookn

I have used these before towing a big camping trailer with an old '62 Chevy wagon...the hitch made it tow like a dream. It would have been impossible without it. I have always wondered who made them and where I could get one.

My buddy just installed that setup on his enclose car trailer. He said it made a HUGE difference as well

[special-K]

That`s a great survivor!!

[Shon]

Originally Posted by special-K

That`s a great survivor!!

Yes it is!! Thanks!! Very proud of the truck, not proud of its current owner (me).

[tomatocity]

Originally Posted by Shon

Yes it is!! Thanks!! Very proud of the truck, not proud of its current owner (me).

Very Nice Family Truck! and yes you should be proud of yourself. Who else in your family would have shown interest in saving this truck. This truck now become a generations vehicle.
Do you have the original wheels? Is there anything else that has been replaced or modified?

[Shon]

I do not have the stock/original wheels, when we moved to our new home I let them go b/c I had not place to store them, I did retain the hubcaps though, figured steel wheels could be had pretty easy.

The only things that I have replaced are the hoses/belts/shocks/rims/tires/radiator and water pump. It needs a heater core replacement now. OH, I did have to replace one of the lower A-arms, got bent. And I also put an HEI distributor in it.
It still has the original exhaust all the way back, it is all rusted out but it is still there with all of it's holes.

So really the only 'mods' are the wheels/rims and the HEI.

[Old Yeller 1970]

That's a great looking truck. I suspect there will be more than a few folks that will envy an original '71 in that good of shape.

[stllookn]

Sweeet looking truck! I love the color...I just pulled an engine from the exact color 1972 Super Cheyenne today...it was a total wreck though. It is nice to end the day seeing one that survived!