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My 1800+ mile trip to pick up a car. *PIC*

divorced

divorced

3/4 ton status
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Me, my dad, and my girlfriend went from near St. Louis to Virginia Beach to pic up my brothers wrecked car and bring it back home. We travelled I-64 all the way there. The truck is a '96 Z71, 5.7, 4L60E, 3.73 gears, factory transmission and engine oil coolers pulling a 16' utility trailer with NO brakes. Our gross weight was 11,520 pounds. The truck did real well through the mountains. I set my cruise on 70 and left it in OD for most of the trip and it would downshift on the steep grades but never fell under 60 MPH, and never downshifted on small grades or flat ground. I kept it pulled down in third gear where I-64 and I-77 run together tough. It was cool to visit my bro, he is in th Navy and lives in Va Beach. He works on F18's and took us on base so we could see his shop where he works and we got to walk out on the air field where all the jets park at. It was cool.





And the wannabe tow rig:

5-01-05020.jpg
 
Nice, my dad's old 1/2 ton sub was the same drivetrain setup and towed pretty well. So where are the pics of the girlfriend?
 
mikey_d05 said:
So where are the pics of the girlfriend?
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She's kind of shy. I can't get any pics of her even if I promise not to post them online. I did get one of me and her for the mugshot post, but I'm not sure if it's still up or not.

Edit: Just checked, and no it's not up any more.
 
I haven't decided yet if I'm going to fix it or not. The original plan was to swap the engine and transmission into my '72 C10. This one is a '92 Sport with a 5.0

Edit: the trunk spoiler is missing in the pics.
 
divorced said:
I set my cruise on 70 and left it in OD for most of the trip and it would downshift on the steep grades but never fell under 60 MPH, and never downshifted on small grades or flat ground.
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:doah: :doah: :doah:
 
Whats the :doah: :doah: for? If the rig can handle towing in OD then by all means let it tow in OD, as long as its not gear hunting constantly then it wouldnt be a problem...
 
been there done that. killed the trans in a matter of days aterward. towing with a 700R4 is a bad idea anyways, but doing so in OD is like pouring gas next to a campfire and hoping it wont ignite.
 
I realize we are hijacking this thread, but here's mine:
tbird.jpg


94LX 4.6L, 96 clear headlights, clear corners, gray rattlecanned stock wheels, Cobra R 'glass hood. I want to tint the windows, i wish I had a sunroof. My G/f has a 94 with a sunroof, its sweet. Mine has a B&M shift kit, the highest setting i could get for the 4R70w tranny. Its awesome. i have a pisi centersection from a lincoln mkVIII that im gonna drop 3.73's in, and then a chip and im calling it done. :cool1: I really like my bird even if it is a ford.... :blush:
 
beater_k20 said:
been there done that. killed the trans in a matter of days aterward. towing with a 700R4 is a bad idea anyways, but doing so in OD is like pouring gas next to a campfire and hoping it wont ignite.
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He's got a 4l60e, so at least its like a 700r4 with the kinks worked out. There is nothing wrong with towing a reasonable sized load with either a reworked 700 or a 4l60e, provided that he had adequate cooling. (which, if your towing, and dont have an auxliary cooler installed... your just asking for trouble).

I've personally not seen any come with a factory cooler other than the one in the radiator. (though I have heard of such creatures in existance).

If the truck is spinning fast enough (at 70mph, in third gear, he's be at some pretty high revs) and so OD is ok. its only when the converter unlocks that he'll generate excessive heat,and then kill the tranny.
 
well the 4l60E and the 700r4 are like identical twins except the 4l60E is "the one that is good at sports"... they are the same tranny with very small differences.

no doubt the 700 has its "bad" years but my 88 lasted for 180k without a cooler so you can't tell me all 700's blow up when you tow. i bet beater had a "bad" year 700.

a cooler is always a good idea....
 
Are we going backwards here :confused: Towing in OD is a no no with almost any tow vehicle. Its not just a matter of whether or not it can maintain speed in the gear, OD is weaker and you WILL kill it towing in OD. My understanding is that even a lot of the HD manuals are not meant to tow in OD.

Facts are not created by CK5 members who have done it and its "fine."
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Yes, OD is weaker (smaller gear), but if your spinning high RPM's and in OD, the net result isnt as bad as you might think. if you think about it this way- assume you are going down a hill, at 70mph, and in OD. The gears are still spinning, but there is virtually no load on the gears, tranny, etc.

Would I recommend keeping OD in strong headwinds/uphills? I personally wouldnt. But on flat ground, at higher speeds... I'd personally use OD. (again with proper cooling and temp gauge).

Heat is the #1 enemy, and lack of fresh fluids...
 
Pookster said:
He's got a 4l60e, so at least its like a 700r4 with the kinks worked out. There is nothing wrong with towing a reasonable sized load with either a reworked 700 or a 4l60e, provided that he had adequate cooling. (which, if your towing, and dont have an auxliary cooler installed... your just asking for trouble).

I've personally not seen any come with a factory cooler other than the one in the radiator. (though I have heard of such creatures in existance).

If the truck is spinning fast enough (at 70mph, in third gear, he's be at some pretty high revs) and so OD is ok. its only when the converter unlocks that he'll generate excessive heat,and then kill the tranny.
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forgot to mention, mine was a late 93... 4L60E, factory external trans cooler, engine oil cooler, 3.73 gears, and 235 75 R 15 tires. my trip was nowhere near as long (30 mi, and i did it in D.) the trans had a 30,000 mile old rebuild on it from a highly reputable shop. i bought the truck with under 3K on the rebuild
 
Pookster said:
Yes, OD is weaker (smaller gear), but if your spinning high RPM's and in OD, the net result isnt as bad as you might think.
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yeah, the size of the OD parts magically grow when you go faster, so it gets stronger. :screwy:

this has got to be the most retarded argument i've ever been involved in. keep this up guys, and im going to have to open up a national chain of trans repair shops, so i can fix all your busted crap. i'll make sure to use the magic growing OD parts, though, they're BEEFY! :rolleyes:
 
So, just to fan the flames a little. What does the owners manual say about towing in OD? The last Fords I had were very specific-DO NOT tow in OD. My bros 94 Dodge said the same thing in its manual.
 
owners manual also says not to tow at excessive speeds-

U-haul trailers tell you to have a max speed of 45mph-

Lots of speed limits are 55 and 65-

Owners manual also says that a tranny should be serviced every 20k or so (drain/filter/flush).Some even say to do it yearly if your towing.

most people have never even done that on their cars and trucks!

Im not saying go out there and tow at 70mph. Im also not saying that you should tow in OD all the time. But i am saying that at 70mph, he's turning enough RPMS that your not lugging the transmission along.

Beater, i did not say it got stronger. You said it got stronger. I said the net result isnt as bad.I even said that it shouldnt be used on up hill climbs. I even mentioned that OD was weaker. I have no idea where you get this "magic" growing parts from, or how parts suddenly get stronger, or weaker.

I also question these "highly reputable shops"- I've heard one too many stories about many a "highly reputable shop"- And im sure you have too. Why is it the factory tranny lasts 100k, but the rebuild lasts 30k? you said, "the trans had a 30,000 mile old rebuild on it from a highly reputable shop. i bought the truck with under 3K on the rebuild" if the truck died with 3k on the rebuild, I wouldnt call the shop reliable. At 30k, i would still call the shop "marginal." THe trans people I have delt with have said there are 3 rules of thumb for sure death of the 700R4 (and 4l60E): 1. Heat 2. Improper maintainance(fluids and filter) 3. Misadjusted cable. If you have the 4l60E you dont have a cable, but I've run into two which had problems with locking up the torque converter.

there are so many variables, that even then, its hard to decide. When your tranny died, did they inspect the old one to tell you what was wrong with it? Was it the gear which was stripped? bands worn out? OD bands worn out? Over heated? burnt fluid?
 
small parts = weak

you said that at higher speeds it wasnt as bad, so the parts must grow with more speed, right? 5 or 500, towing in OD is a bad idea.
 
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