Zz502/572 ?

[saxmo]

Hey guys, here's the situation. I am about to buy a boat and I NEED a good tow vehicle. I have convinced my wife that it would be better to invest the $30-40k in my 69 C10 panel truck vs buying a new dually. She understands that the panel will need to be bagged, for the extra tongue weight of the boat, and that the drivetrain will require tons of horsepower (hehe) to pull the boat... I wanna go with either a ZZ502 or 572 crate motor. Which one would work better? i.e which has more available accessories like headers, and stuff like that. My cursory look through the internet has yielded about $13k for the 572..and $7.5k for the 502... i figure with the price difference I could supercharge the 502, have more horses..and still pocket some $$$, but I am not locked in until I can figure out the details. I wanna go with an auto tranny with overdrive. Any advice on sources welcome also.

[72armyswbtruck]

Im thinking with that kind of money I would love to go with a 502, fuel injected and all the goodies... Good luck on your qwest

[saxmo]

I definitely am leaning toward the 502, it's kinda like buying the second newest computer.. a lot cheaper, bugs worked out, and performance difference doesn't justify the huge price difference.

[4x4Poet]

First things first. How big is the boat and what does the boat and trailer combo weigh? Maybe throw in a figure for all the stuff that goes along and number of expected passengers.

[saxmo]

Well, the NEED for HP is a tongue-in-cheek justification for my wife's piece of mind... The boat will be between 4171 pounds dry weight Bowrider with tandem trailer. We had 19 footer before, and it killed my F150 to pull it. The panel will have 3 rows of seats, and the usual passsenger load will be 2 adults & 4 kids. We will carry couple of ice chests, tackle,various goodies (wakeboards,skis). I am not sure what the panel truck weighs but the boat is 4171#, passengers 800#,gear 200#.. so looking at pulling around 5000# not including truck weight, which is increased quite a bit by the heavy 3 rows of Expedition power/leather seats, and A/V mods.

[Deuce]

502 Ramjet. Plug and play.

[Tim240Z]

Have you decided on a tranny yet? With that budget I would look at a 4L80E with a stand alone controller. TH400 would work, but the OD would be nice on the longer trips and those BB don't like to RPM too much.
Tim

[saxmo]

I was thinking TH400 with the gearvendors OD, seems like good setup... any advice?

[corn]

I say go with the 502. THEN if you decide to later, you can tell your wife "shoot, this thing doesnt have enough power to pull the boat" & you can get the new diesel truck for the boat hauls & have a wicked old toy for the more important things like BURNOUTS!...

[dougs69c10]

well check out napa, we sell about 6 different 502's and the prices are right there if not less than what youve prob seen. Hell we even offter 2 or 3 different 572's.

just a lil food for thought

[4x4Poet]

I'm in the RamJet 502 camp. They come closed loop, now. No more expensive than what you quoted. Tight fit, though. I also wonder if you will need 3/4 ton springs up front.

I do have some concern for the poor C-clip 12-bolt that has to handle all that weight. Texas is pretty flat, most places, so that helps some. Compared to real Western states, that is. (Texas is Southern.)
Any plans for an axle upgrade?

I also wonder if high perf trailing arms would be called for.

And your kids won't have side windows, but I guess the A/V system makes up for that some. I couldn't stand riding without a view to the side.

[saxmo]

Some of these trucks came with big blocks, so I guess there are provisions (springs,etc.) to handle that. I believe ECE has some stuff for that. I definitely gotta upgrade the rearend... this thing was 6cyl before..and is geared super low..really romps with my small block in it! There is an Xbox, and plasma tv's in the back... heck they won't even look out the windows in the house if the Xbox is on. The main weight concern I have is for the Rims,tires. I wanna go with something like the TT 2's with lotsa meat. I attached picture of project vehicle, so you have visual reference.

[saxmo]

Originally Posted by dougs69c10

well check out napa, we sell about 6 different 502's and the prices are right there if not less than what youve prob seen. Hell we even offter 2 or 3 different 572's.

just a lil food for thought

I had no clue there were so many options.

[saxmo]

Originally Posted by cornfed63

I say go with the 502. THEN if you decide to later, you can tell your wife "shoot, this thing doesnt have enough power to pull the boat" & you can get the new diesel truck for the boat hauls & have a wicked old toy for the more important things like BURNOUTS!...

Hey that's a good idea. My wife IS really smart, but as long as I can come up with a viable excuse, she pretends that she doesn't know any better.

[dougs69c10]

Originally Posted by saxmo

I had no clue there were so many options.

our baddest 572 kicks out 800 hp and 775 ft lbs of torque. its a real monster


I believe thast more than any gm 572, unless they have released new ones

[saxmo]

how do I find the info...on the NAPA site you gotta enter vehicle info to find engines?

[dougs69c10]

Originally Posted by saxmo

how do I find the info...on the NAPA site you gotta enter vehicle info to find engines?

probably need to stop by a store, they are still fairly new, as in a month or two old. They should have pamplets with all the info you would need. Ill snag one at work tomorrow and give you all the info you will want/need

[saxmo]

thanks dude

[Chevrolet4x4s]

#1 What IS the NAPA site napa.com yields vineyards if my meory is correct
#2 If you are willing to shell oul about 17k for a motor it will buy you a 632BBC 900HP
#3 Does NAPA still sell CherryBomb glasspacks?
Thanks
Shane

[dougs69c10]

napaonline.com is the website

for 12.5 you can have 800 hp 572, I know its 100hp more but its 5k less.

Napa sells anything and everything automotive. Tools, machines, parts. You name it we can get it.

[dwaite72lnghrn]

This is my personal opinion, So take it or forget it.
You have to decide what you really want with the panel. 502's are not all the same and more horse power is not everything. You get a ramjet 502 and it will sound good and burn the tires real well but will tow like a dog from the startup. The horsepower comes in to late in the RPMs to help get the whole thing moving and you will never be in the sweet spot of the ramjet of about 4200-4700rpm.
The HO502 sweet spot is around 3000-3400rpm, And the HT502 is around 2700-3300rpm.
Brakes are the next thing make sure your brakes are up to snuff. While the 12 bolt is not the ultimate it can handle that load with no problems if thing is gone over. You are looking at 450lb on the hitch plus the kids and you and the misses plus gear so you are running at the top of the GVW for your truck and the top of factory c10 GCVW. After market can help you do it safely (weight distributing hitch, air shocks/airbags for the weight) but hope your DMV doesn't do spot weight checks.
Don't want to rain on your parade but you wife sound understanding get the 383/502 and a new truck to haul the boat.

[saxmo]

I guess what I may need to do is compare the differences. I already have a built Vortec 383. It has Vortec performer heads,1.6 rockers,comp cams 270 magnum,scat crank,speed pro .030 over hypereutectic pistons,clevite bearings,melling double timing chain,MSD red top HEI, all balanced. I have no idea what kind of torque/hp numbers this thing will have.. figured compression at 9.6:1, if the 502 isn't gonna have much torque until higher rpm's, then that isn't very good. Any ideas on numbers for the 383? Plus I already have it, new.

[saxmo]

Originally Posted by dwaite72lnghrn

This is my personal opinion, So take it or forget it.
air shocks/airbags for the weight) but hope your DMV doesn't do spot weight checks.
Don't want to rain on your parade but you wife sound understanding get the 383/502 and a new truck to haul the boat.

I live in Texas, and do not know of weight checks on passenger vehicles. Maybe someone else does, but I only see them pulling over the big rigs for that. My main goal is to remain safe, while having the coolest tow vehicle on the planet!

[gregfull]

Hey saxmo, I like the Ramjet 502, although mine has yet to be cranked. Here's what it looks like installed, maybe this will make your mind up. Later.

[saxmo]

WOW! that looks sweet! Is that the copperhead color? I thought of doing my panel in a silver based theme, and calling it "project diamondback", since copperhead was taken...