Question for all you 1-Ton owners...

[DieselSJ]

Originally Posted by Alex V.

My truck is an '85 C3500 with a bone stock 454, tired TH400, and 4.10 gears with the correct 235/85/16 tires. When pulling a decent load (i.e. car on a trailer) hitting a hill at less than 50 MPH takes a lot more pedal to keep speed over the hill than if I'm going at least 55 when I start up the grade. The transmission has a strange drag/mild vibration that it hasn't always had, but that being the case it feels best at about 60 but doesn't mind upwards of 65. It'll do 75+ if asked, but sustaining over about 65 puts a dent in gas mileage and I just don't care to push the truck that hard for long distances.

I had a weird vibration/surge at mid-rpm. Turns out my balancer was slipping and coming apart. I posted a pic on here a while ago. New balancer and vibration went away.

[aharper33]

I have an 86 with a 350 and a SM465. Tach says about 3000 RPMs at 70ish mph. It will cruise at that speed all day with no problems. Longest trip was a little over 1200 miles. Now I know from the guy I bought it from has a ticket in his shop being pulled over at 116 mph in this truck. Would I ever go that fast, no, but I know it will do it.

[5Tractorguy]

Originally Posted by cal30_sniper

I'd go with the stick trucks every time if I had the choice. Never have I had a stick that I wished was an auto. Can't say that about most of the autos I've owned. Personal preference, but the manual trans trucks certainly seem to be more sought after.

Sounds like you've got a good road trip ahead. You probably already know this, but pack a spare go-bag with extra fluids of all types, a basic tool kit, and a portable air pump if you've got one. Make sure at least one of the trucks has a good spare and working jack with the right size lug wrench. If you pack a spare distributor (for the coil, cap, rotor, and ignition module), and a spare fuel pump, there's not much really else that can go wrong with one of these old trucks. If you stick to the 2-lanes and backroads, you shouldn't feel like you aren't able to keep up with traffic while running 55-60. Once you get out of New England, you can actually make pretty decent time running secondary roads instead of the interstates and main highways. Perfect time of year to start looking into hitting the road too. This way you won't mind the A/C being discharged on whatever truck you buy, haha.

That's a good idea. I'll have the guy out in MO go through them before they make the trip back, but you never do know... always best to be prepared. AC!? don't need no stinkin' AC! Looking at the map it's not too bad a drive. I'm shooting to make this happen buy May at the latest.

Originally Posted by Alex V.

The transmission has a strange drag/mild vibration that it hasn't always had.

That's what mine has, an odd vibration at certain speeds. But I'm wound out at 45+/- depending how the trans is running that day. Slipping pretty bad.

Originally Posted by aharper33

I have an 86 with a 350 and a SM465. Tach says about 3000 RPMs at 70ish mph. It will cruise at that speed all day with no problems. Longest trip was a little over 1200 miles. Now I know from the guy I bought it from has a ticket in his shop being pulled over at 116 mph in this truck. Would I ever go that fast, no, but I know it will do it.

And being that I'm looking for a standard initially, that's not bad. When the TH400 in my '88 was still functioning I was about 2800-3000 at 65.

[abig84]

ive always wanted to do the 6.0 + 4l80 swap in my 86. it sucks on the highway with the th400 4.11s and 33 inch tires. at like 65 its almost at 3000rpms

so ill jump on the highway for 5 miles or something but it did survive the 40mile drive when i moved. my motor is from 73 so i always figured thats way to much stress for a 45 year old stock motor

[hatzie]

If you want to get overdrive gearing... the Gear Vendors unit with a re-built TH400 is the way to go.

The NV4500 and 4L80E swaps are more expensive and time-consuming than bolting a GV unit to the tail of your transfer case or transmission.

The other point to make is long trips are where you'll notice the difference. Around town and mildly local with a few long trips will not pay you back for the $2,000 - $4,000 cost of the overdrive.