I suppose most would consider my 97 a vintage tow vehicle
Been home today just pondering stuff.
I have always liked Vintage (I really mean old, so I can pay cash for it ) vehicles
I stumbled across a one owner 3+3 Chevrolet Dually with a 454 from about 1979 vintage.
Runs good... Etc. Etc.
Thought to myself.. "That would be a cool restored tow vehicle"
So, my question to the forum is.... Have you ever considered a vintage tow vehicle? If so, how would you build it?
I tend to like Fords a little more, but this 3+3 was pretty sweet.. for a project. (runs drives, etc)
Do you think that Vintage dually could handle the weights the newer fivers and TT weigh? I am not even sure how one would go about determining the tow rating for a vintage truck.
I do remember finding a 1979 Ford tow rating sheet at some point, and everything from a F100-F350 had a rating at 6000 lbs, and I know that many folks towed big fivers back then too. (just no slides)
In my minds eye, it would be awesome to have a nice, vintage, dually crew cab dedicated just for towing. Then me and the DW could both drive smaller cars for work everyday. lol
Thanks
TT: 1995 Layton 2910
Tow Vehicle: 1999 F-350, v10, 2wd, Crew Cab, Dually
Hitch: Draw-Tite Trunnion WD Hitch
Sway Control: Valley dual friction sway control
Brake Control: Tekonsha Voyager
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This sounds really interesting. Then I remembered what kind of gas milage I got with my former "vintage" tow vehicles when they were near new, versus what I'm getting now with my 6 year old truck that has less than 40K on the odometer. On the other hand, if you can afford the gas, this might be fun.
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I used to be amazed....now I'm just amused.
Used a 1979 Chevy dually 454 on the family farm in WV for years pulling gooseneck cattle trailers. Those things were all steel and heavy with heavy loads. Pulled 16k to 18k with them all the time. Chevy 454 of that vintage was considered the tow beast of the time.
8mpg was about it. 6 mpg if towing really heavy in the WV hills. You do have to remember that the speed limit back then was 55 mph and anything that could pull that load up a 7% grade at 40 mph was considered a beast. They won't compare to today's trucks for power but it will definitely move and carry a medium size Fiver.
How I'd do it is putting a vintage body of brand X on a newer Dodge Cummins chassis. You get all the modern safety and power in a vintage package. The Trucks TV show did something similar to a 79 F350 dually with a Cummins motor swap. You can find full episodes of Trucks online
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ArcticDodge wrote: How I'd do it is putting a vintage body of brand X on a newer Dodge Cummins chassis. You get all the modern safety and power in a vintage package. The Trucks TV show did something similar to a 79 F350 dually with a Cummins motor swap. You can find full episodes of Trucks online
Now that is a neat idea. Find a good Dodge long bed chassis, with a cummins, swap over a 79 Ford F350 crew cab and chop the bed as much as needed to fit the chassis.
My dad bought a '79 3+3 dually back in '79 brand new and ordered it just the way he wanted it. It had a 454 and turbo 400 trans. It was a 2wd, so living in the mountains was a bit of a chore. We pretty much chained it up and never got stuck that way. But without chains, you weren't going anywhere. That truck got HORRIBLE mileage, i'm talking 6 tops. But when gas was less than a buck a gallon, it didn't make that much difference to us. It had two 20 gallon tanks, man we never could pass by a gas station. The truck was built to haul and it did that well. You could basically fill the bed with whatever you want or pull whatever trailer you wanted, the truck would pull it with ease. I even remember having power to spare pulling a lot of heavy stuff. The crankshaft broke on it at around 100k miles. Just going down the freeway and POOF! Anyways, put a new engine in it and it ran until we gave it to a family member for their farm. I love the old school bench seats and the "camper special" option. This one had 4.11 gears too. I think it would be a great tow vehicle, and you'd catch a lot of looks in it too!
IIRC some specs from that era, ~190 hp and ~330 or so lb ft of torque! a few yrs later it was 235/385. Not a power demon compared to todays rigs. mind you. I have a SB 350 putting out more hp and the same or a slight amount more torque!
If you were to get that rig, if it needs a trans, get a built 700r4 to give you an OD, and a much lower 1st gear. Not sure a 4bbl 454 will ever get much more than 10 mg even empty....then again.
It will only have a 7500 GRAWR vs some of the 2000+ GMs with 8500 to most recent in the 9000+ range. FA IIRC is about 4200-4500. GVWR for that rig was typically 10K unless it has a C7P kg which gave you and extra 500 to 10500.
If it has a manual, even better yet. Swap out the munci 465 for an NV4500 or better yet an NV5600, and you have an OD and if you get an NV4500 out of a pre 94, which is a wide ratio version from GM, almost the same low, but you get the OD. You could drop to a 3.73 or 3.42, have as low a low as the muncie 4.10, but a taller tall gear, and probably an addtional 1-3 mpg on the freeway.
OR, keep it the same, dump a 12V B5.9, built 700r4 if it would fit behind, and away you go! An easy swap would be a pennisular diesel 6.5td Get the newest block, and you have 18 mpg on the freeway over 500 lb ft of torque and 225-250 hp.
marty
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If you do get an old one, be mindful of the specs on the oils you use. Older ones had flat tappet lifters in the engines and due to EPA, the zinc and phosphates have been greatly reduced in today's oils. Get an oil specifically made for the older engines.... I have a 73 Chev 3/4 RCLB 2WD with the 454 that I am putting the rebuild engine back in soon... gonna put some collector plates on it and drive it once in while for fun perhaps... we used to get around 12mpg highway, 10mpg city and 7mpg towing a 28' 10,000lb boat (boat trailer was another 2,400lbs). We also kept a pickup slide in camper on it... really drank the gas, but could run at speed limits with AC on and cruise control... One of my daughters wants it (with camper, no more boat).
6 to 8 MPG for a recreational vehicle could be the huge down side to the 454 TV idea. In this day and age the green police will be jumping all over that one.
A few years ago there was a guy in the campground who installed a diesel in a custom long wheelbased pickup. Being a car builder I had to go over a check it out. It was an interesting vehicle and I did appreciate the whole deal and craftsmanship. One downside (which the owner brought up) was the very load noise of the diesel. In all fairness to other campers he didn't feel right starting it up before 9AM in the morning.
About 15 years ago when we decided to get back into towing I got it in my head to find an older burb and build up a stout TV. I took my idea to our local towing guru. He said it could be done but saw that I was currently driving a well built mini van. He said the van would do fine for the trailers we were considering and the hopped up burb would have no advantage (and many disadvantages) except for a bit more cargo capacity. I thought about the work involved and the MPG hit with the Burb and quickly dismissed the idea.
In the end were were so satisfied towing and traveling with the economical, reliable, quiet, comfortable van/TT combination.
Airstreams.... the best towing trailers on the planet!
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