Towing

If it is a manual tranny, it does not use a tranny cooler. Also be advised, some of those trucks like that are geared pretty tall and it may not tow well

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What are you going to tow? A pop up or something heavy?

No, but a AAA membership may be advisable. And a mechanic who is good at clutch replacement.

Lena

I want to tow a 20' boat about 10 miles to ramp and back. Weight is a little over 2000lbs. (boat, motor,trailer) Is this truck capable of doing this? I'm clueless about this stuff. Thanks in advance. Rich

It is not the getting it there that I am concernd about, it is the ramp and getting the boat out of the water. You could easily fry the clutch if the rear axle is too tall with a manual. Unless you have a real granny gear and good with a clutch, manuals are not a good choice for boat ramps. In my time I have seen a few with sticks roll into the water. Sorry to be a downer but it could be a very bad experiance since it is a 2wd truck with no low range backup if needed for clutching.

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Thanks snoman for the quick reply. Looking at RPO codes GQ1= standard ratio GU4= axle rear 3.08 What do you mean by granny gear? Thanks again

Older truck tranny with 4 or 5 speed had a realy deep first gear (about

6 or 7 to 1) that made then real stump pullers. Your LD 5 speed has a 4 to 1 first and with a 3.08 rear axle that spells trouble on a boat ramp. (fried cluth and lack of power getting boat out of water) If you had a GT3 (3.42) you "might" get by though it would be marginal and if it was a GT4 (a 3.73) you would probaly be okay. If you change the rear axle ratio because you like the truck and wanted to keep it, it would make it tow a lot better and not really hurt MPG in OD either (it might improve) If you did I would suggest at least a 3.73 and if you want max possible power use a 4.10 (GT5). Either a 3.73 or 4.10 would make you truck feel like it had a engine transplant. The 4.3 is a good motor, you just needs better gears to go with your manual tranny to tow with.

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One has to wonder how the hell we ever pulled a boat (or camper for that matter) back in the old days, when they were made of wood and weighed a ton . We did it with station wagons, sedans and half ton 4X2 pick up trucks, all with 230 cid 6 bangers, 1 barrel carb, and a three on the tree, or worse a 2 spd powerglide. My 18 ft Highliner had oak ribs and a 3/4" thick plywood hull with a 6 cylinder merc on the transom and we pulled it with a

65 Chevy Biscayne station wagon, 230 cid 6 banger with an awesome 140 hp and a three on the tree, no posi. all over the Adirondacks of NY state. Launched on most every major lake in the mountains, as well as Oneida and the Finger Lakes on a regular basis.

Whitelightning

Bach Then you had GM QUALITY!!

Back then there was a lot more reserve in the design of parts and old sixes had a lot of low speed torque and in the case of a Power Glide tranny, they typically had a little higher stall converter that maxed out around 2.5 to one torque increase at stall. Also a automatic can hold max stall for 30 seconds or more if need be to get a load moving while a clutch will smoke and burn after but a few seconds trying to get a load moving in a max effort and there is no torque multiplication taking place either (this is why they put granny gears in old trucks to get loads moving without toasting clutches)

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Did you have to walk two miles up hill both ways in the snow barefoot to get to school as well?

No, NY was a civilized state, if the distance is more than 1/2 mile, students rode a bus.

The point over looked by you is the constant got to have 400+ hp and low gears to do any pulling or haul any loads posted as a response to towing questions in this group. My best friend and I regularly pulled a street stock class car from Largo Florida to Desoto Speedway in Bradenton Fl which means going across the Skyway bridge on I-275 on average three times a month, 10 months out of the year, and we pulled it on a car hauler behind an 87 Chevy S-10 pick up with an Iron Duke and a five speed manual. We did that for two years with no problems, till he was transferred by Air Force. Two nights a week we pulled my Vega on that rig to the local drag strips, and one weekend a month to Desoto Dragway now called the Bradenton Motorsports Park. Will admit stopping was a little dicey sometimes till we put brakes on the trailer. No we didn't run 70 mph up the bridges grade but it maintained a respectable 50mph.

Whitelightning

Dude, don't worry about it. I pulled and launched a 17 foot try-hull (about

2000 lbs I bet) with a stick shift five speed 4 cyl Mitsubishi pick-up. The only thing I ever worried about was stopping. Using the clutch and lower gears for that too(and not being in a hurry) Your truck is more than capable of towing 2k lbs. Just be careful and don't get in a big hurry and you'll be fine.

Are you going to buy his clutch? I have driven a truck like that and with 3500 lbs or so on a good ramp the clutch will smoke. Mitsu is a lot more generous with gears that GM is on base trucks.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "generous with gears" but my MINI truck had 5 just like his chevy. MINI means small. Small clutch too. You must have some awful steep boat ramps in your neck of the woods. BTW he also said 2000 lbs not 3500. Also, I would bet my boat was well over 2000lbs, don't remember if I ever weighed it though. I say hook it up and let us know how it does.

Your mitsu likey has a 4 some rear axle with 26 inch tures or less and weighs in the 3k class and has deeper tranny gears with a wider spread (this is what I mean by generous) The truck in question has a 3.08 rear axle with 30 inch tires and weight more than a ton more and first gear in tranny is not deep like in old trucks. This adds up to clutch problems if the ramp has any kind of serious grade. I used to have a boat for many year but got out of them long ago. I say more than one poor fool put his vehicle in the water with a stick that lack the proper power and gears. If you get on a boat ramp regularly with a 3 or 4 k boat and traile (or more) you want more than a 3.08 rear axle with a 5 speed.