well, I'm in the market for a tow rig. I would like a 70s chevy truck to do the job for a few reasons. Thats my favorite style of chevy, and it would have a simalar drivetrain to my chevota trail rig and I dont have alot of dough to blow for whatever that is worth.. what exactly would be the best for towing my toyota (its pretty heavy with complete chevy drivetrain), a suburban, blazer, p/u, stick, auto? If it was you what would you choose?
thanks..

:D 1 ton crew cab 4x4 454 fuel injected:flipoff2: You could still get them in around 1989. Looks like the older style, has f.i. and a solid front axle.

I would look for a 3/4 or 1 ton longbox atleast.If you want more room than find a crewcab.I just got a '77 1 ton crewcab dually with a 454 4speed.This thing is rated for 10'000lbs!Should tow great and have room for the wife and kids.If you keep your eyes open in the classifieds you can find some good deals.When I called on mine the guy said come take a look and make a offer.I offered him $600 and he jumped at it.Anyway the longer the rig the better.A sub would work also,just get a 3/4 ton.Some had the ff 14bolt and some had the sf 14.Try and get the ff if you can.Blazin:rasta:

get a 3/4 ton suburan with a 454. It's got a good wheelbase for towing, and enough room for a family and all they're crap. Hold out for an 87-91 since they came with EFI

The 3/4 suburban would be my choice, but I would get a diesel. Only problem with the diesel is I don't think it was offered until the 80's. You'll get better mileage per gallon and more torque with a diesel. A big block 454 is gonna suck some major fuel, you will probably get about 6-8 MPG towing. Not to cost effective!
You can tote all your stuff in the burb, along with the crumbsnatchers, dog, and wife.:skull:

Here it is.....I need a crew cab for the kids and the honey......I love the truck, but need some room......PM if you are interested. Big block ('71 402 passenger car near as I can tell) T350/205 and 3/4 ton axles......blah blah.......http://home.att.net/~marc.marnie.bryson/77GMC.jpg

That a clean looking Chevy!:skull:

Damn.....nice truck.....what u asking 4 it?......:beer: :beer:

thats a very nice truck but the more I look into my options here, I think I am going to need a bigger truck as well. maybe a suburban is gonna be the ticket for me...

Well I have exactly what is up your alley. I have a chevy 77 C30 extended car hauler. It has a warn winch on the back. A sweet running 350. Muncie 4 speed. Aluminum storage container that is mounted to the cab (not one that you can just open from the sides, but it is also one that is accessable from the cab). I've put my K5 Blazer on the back of this bad boy and had no problem. So here is the history on this thing. The builder was a race car mechanic who built it to carry his race cars. It spent a short stint as a repo vehicle here in Albuquerque and I bought it shortly after that. It has always been a southwest vehicle so absolutely entirely no rust. Other features are a hoist that is mounted to the bed on the back (admittingly I've never been able to figure out how it works, but it rotates 360 degres), an indestructable steel bumper in the front, dual batteries one of which is a deep cycle for the winch, oh and the sweetest feature of them all....emmissions exempt. I'm not saying anything, but the title claims that it is an alternative fuel engine. I have pictures if you want them. I was going to take the engine and put it in my blazer because it runs so solid and turn the rest into a trailer this weekend but if someone wants the whole thing i'll go looking for another engine. So please answer this one quick, or else it's going to be a trailer soon.

thanks,
Tyler Mann

ps: $2700 or make offer

86 2wd 3/4 ton sub 454 TH400

No cats and was emissions exempt in NY, 87 you would have had cats and emmissions, but you get FI

It was a nice tow rig

Ron

I'm with Wild1. One ton, 4x4, F.I. big block crew cab would make a great tow rig. But around here people don't like to give up those trucks, so they don't come cheap.

If I'm not mistaken, if you get an '87 it will be a fuel injected 454 w/o cats. Not emissions exempt, but that's not a big deal because the cat's weren't factory emissions equipment. Pretty good allowance for the tail pipe test, if you have to pass one.

Alot depends on what your needs are though. If you want to drive this thing everyday, and tow with it on the weekends, then there is some justification for going diesel. If you just want to tow occasionally, then the big block might do.

Auto vs. Manual? I know alot of the time the dealer shows auto equiped trucks as having a higher towing capacity, for whatever reason. I've flat towed a big block suburban and fs bronco (at different times of course) with my K20 that has a SM465. Worked fine for me. I'm not sure what the manual tranny for 1 ton 87-89s would be...

1 ton dually 4x4 crew cab with big block

stick on a camper and you are set

go manual for compression braking or get a trailer with brakes on both axles

There is a crew cab ramp truck in the for sale section here. It has a ramp bed for hauling vehicles instead of a bed. Think it was a 77 and was a pretty cheap price. it's a 1 ton with duals. Hell if it were closer to me I would be thinking about it. You can make them sweet haulers. All the comforts of a Burb.
That would be a sweet set up! Plenty of room for the family. Guy said he was hauling a K5 with it so a FJ would be no problem. Load the truck and get you a pop up camper and your set.

I've never towed with a Chevy, but...

I'd look at a 3/4T or better, just for the peace of mind of the FF rear.

For a single relatively light rig, a Suburban might be a good choice if you want the seating.

A 3+3 long bed would be the sweetest of the bunch, but they're a lot more rare than a Suburban.

I've used my 1/2T IH Travelall to tow my Scout around. It worked alright - better than flat-towing a SII with a SII, but it still required me to "drive"..

I stepped up to a 4dr long-bed IH 1T.. I can now pretty much forget the trailer is behind except when I have to get out my telescope to see the rear corner of the trailer when switching lanes. :D

A 3/4T Sub would probably tow better than my 1/2T Travelall (price was right and it beat what I had at the time).

If you can get a truck you can look at a bed mounted hoist to make hauling axles/engines/whatever around easier.

a 4dr means you can get comfy buckets up front, and still keep a full size bench in back for the kids. Since you're looking at 80s Chevys you don't need to worry about a plain old Ex-cab (the SuperCab/Ex-Cab F250's rear seat isn't very comfy for teens n' up for any length of time)

A roll-back or car-hauler chassis would be a trick thing to have, too..

The older Chevy Crew cabs are showing up all over for sale and realtively cheap.My buddy got his '78 for $1700 I got my '77 for $600 and we are going to look at another one this weekend,The guy is asking $1200 it is a '82 3/4 ton single.Mine is a 1 ton dually and my buddies is a 3/4 single.These all have 454s.A junkyard here has another one they are going to sell but are waiting on the paper work.Just nned to keep your eyes on the classifieds.Blazin:rasta:

I just purchased a 85 Chevy c30 4x4 with a 6 inch lift and 35s and I have to say I haven’t toed with anything better. But I sure had to wait a long time to find a 1 ton standard cab 4x4 in good shape (3 years) and for the life of me I couldn’t find a 87 at all in any condition for any price!:mad: