C3500HD Tow pig

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Rear tires will finally have some traction off the pavement and the truck has dropped a little over 100rpm now cruising on the highway. 245/70/19.5"s. Have a trip down to Texas next week to drop off some of my stuff at the property, which will require some dirt road driving. Old tires on the right.

 

[BIGR]

Those tires should get some grip....

 

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Those tires should get some grip....

They better, the old tires had issues with just a hint of a dirt road or snow haha. My property down in Texas only has dirt road access right now so the tires were a necessity. Bought some cheap offroad recovery boards as well in case I need them there.

 

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Made a mistake when mounting the base for the poles, it sits too high for the winch to be able to raise/lower the gin poles on it's own. So have to run a strap from the top of the poles to something solid (used the trailer as a anchor) in order to raise and safely lower the poles.

Once they are up though, it works as expected. Need to make a mount for the front of the bed (has mounts around the hitch rails but no further forward) since under a load you can see the front of the bed move up from the winch. Ended up lifting the bed/chassis/axle fully off the ground no problem.

 

[Husker6.5]

You were running steers on the rear instead of drives? No wonder why you had no traction off pavement.

 

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You were running steers on the rear instead of drives? No wonder why you had no traction off pavement.

Yea it had steer tires all around when I bought it (different sizes but all steers). The new rear tires provide enough traction for what amount of dirt this truck is expected to see.

Just got back from the first trip to Texas with the move, truck had 2 issues. Cruised at 60mph most of the time, with a combined weight of 24,000 pounds no surprise had to downshift to 4th on many hills, 3rd on a few long hills and the steep ones south of Moab. Temp got up to 210 on the longer hills and twice spiked to about 215 before I downshifted to 3rd. Usually if it couldn't maintain 2400rpm I'd downshift to keep it around 2600rpm.

Considering the truck is stock and the weight, not upset about that. Won't do anything with the gearing until it has some performance upgrades hahaha. Fuel economy on the return trip (empty) was 19-20mpg at 60mph.

The 2 problems with the truck were:
1. Fuel tank developed a rust hole in the bottom of it, patched it with some JB Weld while in Texas and no leaks since but will need replacement. Highway 491 in New Mexico was rough as hell, got the trailer airborne while putting at 50mph. Bet this is when the hole developed.
2. The clutch master/slave quit working and needs replacement again. Been maybe 4 months since it was last replaced so not happy about that. Became inconsistent soon after I left Lehi, Utah and completely failed just before I pulled back into the parking lot in Utah.

 

[Husker6.5]

US 491 used to be US 666. Rough as hell makes sense! LOL! That's a very scenic drive over from south of Moab through the Chaco Canyon/Mesa Verde/Four Corners region. Strange that the Master/Slave clutch cylinders failed so quickly. Did both fail, or only/which one? Remans? Could it be a pivot/fork/throw out bearing issue that you think is a cylinder issue because of their recent replacement (unless of course you're seeing fluid leakage from one of the cylinders)?

Remans seem to be shit quality in general today for anything, be it brake master cylinders, brake wheel cylinders, calipers, P/S pumps, steering gears, alternators, starters, clutch cylinders, etc. It's come down to either buy it new or rebuild it yourself.

 

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US 491 used to be US 666. Rough as hell makes sense! LOL! That's a very scenic drive over from south of Moab through the Chaco Canyon/Mesa Verde/Four Corners region. Strange that the Master/Slave clutch cylinders failed so quickly. Did both fail, or only/which one? Remans? Could it be a pivot/fork/throw out bearing issue that you think is a cylinder issue because of their recent replacement (unless of course you're seeing fluid leakage from one of the cylinders)?

Remans seem to be shit quality in general today for anything, be it brake master cylinders, brake wheel cylinders, calipers, P/S pumps, steering gears, alternators, starters, clutch cylinders, etc. It's come down to either buy it new or rebuild it yourself.

It's the master/slave assembly again, dumped all it's fluid out. During the drive it was fading out, became completely useless after the exhaust had built up some extra heat for awhile. Thinking the exhaust is overheating the slave assembly

 

[Will L.]

If not under warranty-Rip that sucker apart and look at the seal. If you can id thats the issue- get to exhaust wrapping and maybe heat shield for the cylinder and line to it.

I feel for ya- I HATE hydraulic clutches. Give me good old steel rod linkage any day. Yeah yeah, works the leg more- but works the wrenches far less.

 

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The exhaust crossover pipe keeps making contact with the metal part of the hose. Probably a hose clamp somewhere on the firewall to fix that problem but haven't found the clamp yet, and don't have my tools here to fix it right at the moment.

In other news, items for trip 2 and 3 are falling into place now. 20ft flatbed rental trailer is reserved for late next week/weekend, which is how the 82 crew cab is getting transported along with the last of the garage type stuff. Final trip will be with the in house stuff, and a toy hauler needed to be found for my temporary living arrangements down at the lake. Been looking for a fairly cheap one in both Texas and Utah, found this one in Utah for cheap enough that it's worth transporting it. That will be moved on the 3rd trip later this month. Actually in pretty good condition inside.

 

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Second load of stuff moved down to Texas. Rented the trailer which reminded me part of why I prefer gooseneck/5th wheels. Fuel economy is currently 8-10mpg loaded heavy, 11-12mpg with just the trailer, 19mpg empty. All cruising at 60mph, 2400rpm. Improving that is a future goal.

The HD handles itself well at 60mph with these weights (24k last trip, estimate 22-25k with the wrecker). If the truck can be modified to handle the same way at 70mph I'll be happy with it. Figure hx35, intake, exhaust, tune, and regear to around 4.10's should take care of it.

 

[btfarm]

That's a substantial load Red.

 

[Will L.]

Yup. Couple more pounds than I want on my back!
Are you thinking straight hx35 or 35/40?

 

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That's a substantial load Red.

The biggest reason why I bought the HD for a tow rig, wanted something that could safely handle this kind of weight. Usually these were plated for 32,000 gcwr, so my needs of up to 26,000 lbs combined is in a great spot for it. Yes people (myself included) have pulled similar weights with 3/4-1 tons before (newer and old), but towing that same weight with the HD is a night and day difference.

Yup. Couple more pounds than I want on my back!
Are you thinking straight hx35 or 35/40?

Not sure on that, but since I tend to tow is this weight range I'd guess the 35/40 or something similar. Being a tow rig the goal is realistic, usable torque #'s. Right now at around 24k when I hit a 4% grade the speed drops from 60mph down to 50mph. 6% grade it's down to 35mph with enough power to go faster, but not enough to deal with the hole between 3rd/4th gear.

One thing that I REALLY would like to keep though with a turbo swap is exhaust brake capabilities. I know, 6.5 isn't a big fan of that but the safety/control that it provides is worth the risk in my opinion. If there's a way to get a VGT to work that's another option. The stock GMx are crap turbos however it does make for a decent exhaust brake. It's killin the fuel economy and restricting power, but it does that one task quite well.

 

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Gearing options in mind are:
4.10
4.30
4.65

A gear vendors or swap to a trans with better ratios would be perfect, it's also more than I have in the truck hahaha.

 

[MrMarty51]

Dang, to bad we couldn't be closer. My K3500 single has 4:10s and I`d like to gear a little taller. Now that My son went and bought that new Dodge diesel, I doubt I will be doing any more towing or pulling with My truck. I would like to drop the 80 MPH RPMs considerably to around 2,000 to 2,200 at that speed.

 

[Husker6.5]

To get down to 2000+ rpm range with LT245/75-16 tires you'd need a 3.21 ring and pinion gear set and go with about 3" taller tires. The 3.21 is scarcer than hen's teeth for the 10.5" 14 bolt rear. You can occasionally find that set aftermarket through one of the big suspension retailers like Randy's, Pacific, Yukon or US Gears. Unfortunately, if you have a 4x4 you're SOL, as 3.42 is the tallest ratio available anywhere for the IFS diff.

Been through all the research for dropping the RPMs on my 98 K2500 Burb with 3.73's in it down to 2000 rpm or less at 80mph out on the Interstate without lifting it way up and sticking 35" tires and 3.42's front and rear in the differentials, as lifting it pretty much defeats the max mpg with really increased wind resistance. Looks like keep my 3.73s and go Gear Vendors O/D ($$$$$) or go 3.42s and LT265/75-17 and drop it down to about 2200 rpm at 80 mph.

 

[ak diesel driver]

You need that 6l80 swap

 

[Husker6.5]

No I don't. Not unless you're paying for all of it and it's a built 6L90E!

 

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Dang, to bad we couldn't be closer. My K3500 single has 4:10s and I`d like to gear a little taller. Now that My son went and bought that new Dodge diesel, I doubt I will be doing any more towing or pulling with My truck. I would like to drop the 80 MPH RPMs considerably to around 2,000 to 2,200 at that speed.

Different rear axle, HD's have a dana 80.

Did some gear ratio math. First chart is current 5.13's, 245/70/19.5 and nv4500 with gear vendors.

Gear	2000 RPM	2200 RPM	2400 RPM
1	7	8	8
2	9	9	10
3	13	14	15
4	16	17	19
5	23	25	28
6	29	32	34
7	38	42	46
8	48	53	57
9	51	56	61
10	64	70	77

Chart 2 is 4.30 axle gears, 245/70/19.5, nv4500.

Gear	2000 RPM	2200 RPM	2400 RPM
1	8	9	10
2	15	17	18
3	27	30	33
4	46	50	55
5	61	67	73

The gear vendors would be a great 9 speed upgrade on the tow rig with the current 5.13's, other than it's price tag.