Its not so much if it can pull the load, but how about stopping it? 26K with the brakes of that time is a lot and if you get in a wreck and they find out your overloaded they my not pay.
Greg
see answer below.....
I want to say the 3500HD he has runs 15in disc all around, much better than the 2500-3500 trucks of that era
correct joey... iirc the only truck that currently come from the factory with 14" disc are 10? and 11 and newer the 01 newer run 13" disc everything else was disc13"/drum setup 13x2.5 or 13x3"
as for the trailer it has 8k axles and 215/75/17.5 wheels with 12x2 7/8"vs your common 7k ith 235/85/17 and 12x 2.25 brakes.
i am runs ~80% of axle capacity all the way around full axle cap is 32,000lb... handling wise you dont notice the wieght as in lane change stoping turning.. mirrors and accell and hills, and a smoother ride let you know its back there...
the ferm is out of this after i refused to accept his valued opinion as final say on running a dmax fan clutch from hayden and lb7 blade... which i have yet been able to get ect past 210*... havent even heard it rawr yet on this truck ....
i got loaded with plastic fence 11,500lb and is 7.5'x8.5' wide making my over all hieght just under 11' and i have a delivery in spotsilvaina(sp) VA (I95 by VA/NC state line).
as for the 4l80 build imo would be foolish not to upgrade the convertor that includes TCC upgrades as well either big single or tripple disc
as a professional semi driver and current Class A holder i know about speed.. ran out west in a truck that was governer to 65 were everyone else was runing 75-80... my biggest worries wasnt hills, or the 65mph sustained cross winds it was runing ~10-15mph slower then everyone else and is a risk for getting rear ended by a distracted driver... only good thing is there is 1/4 the traffic out there then in the midd west.. reguardless whos fault it is it will cost me money in down time and the customer for late produst. your current fleet 450hp semi at 80,000lb avg 60mph when gov at 65mph. that is all i am asking.
tanman yes then 3500HD was stoped in 02 both 01 and 02 cam with either 6.5td/4l80 or a 8.1/allison with still the same gear set of 4.63/5.13 options... those truck would be the best option for dmax swap... mainly the 8.1 due to is sares alot of the harnes stuff.. but your talking 13k truck instead of a 6k truck.
ideally the swap would include LBZ with 4088 or stock with towing tiwns stock cp3 and efilive... and a solid 400hp tune. bump the gear to 4.30 from the oem setup. that would setup would let me being able to run 5% grads in the low-mid 5Xmph and still hit 15mpg vs 9mpg i seam to be avg