81 Chevy 305

[four-eyed stang]

I am looking to buy an 81 Chevy LWB 1/2 ton with a 305 4bbl and a TH350. Does anyone know what the towing capacity is on one of these. I need it to pull 5000 - 6000 lbs about 60 miles twice a month.

[86 GMG]

i would take the trip easy and slow i would also install a hitch that bolts to the frame and not use the bumper. the 305 will pull it but not very fast and will use a lot of gas

[four-eyed stang]

I use to have an 82 shortwide many moons ago. It had a 305 with a 700R4 and 3.08 gears. a 17ft bass boat was about the biggest thing that I pulled with it. Would a gear swap help me a great deal? Are they relatively inexpensive?

[eagle23]

I think I would definitely add a trans cooler in front of the radiator. 350TH is reasonably strong, but what you're looking at is better than twice the weight of the truck by itself.

Brian

[piecesparts]

I would look at a set of deeper gears (around 3.73) and a tranny cooler. I would also add a set of overloads to help handle the tongue weight. Definitely go with the heavy duty frame mounted hitch. IF you are geared right the motor will not have to work hard to pull the trailer. I used a 1976 Chevy short bed with a six cylinder, four speed manual, and 3.73 gears to pull a car trailer loaded with the pickup truck home once. It handled the pull reasonably well, until I hit some hills, the truck went up the hills (at 40 MPH) while it gobbled gas like a big 454. There are limitations on pulling. If I were you, I would look at a good used old 1 ton dually. They are selling cheap these days.

[four-eyed stang]

Thanks for the info everyone. Just need the 305 to get me by for a little while until I can get a 350.