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Tow Rigs build options( Tire choices)

K5-CJ5

K5-CJ5

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I have an 84 k30 cc. It currently has stock tires (that are shot) and Im considering doing a 4" lift, and 37" tires. The gear ratio is 4.10, 350 motor (stock for now) and a TH400. What is the optimum RPM for towing on a 350? I dont want to spend the $ doing a gear swap yet.

Trying to decide whether to go with the lift and 37's (which I already have) or get a set of 33's and leave the lift off.

How bad would the towing be with 37's and 4.10 gears?

Oh, Im towing a K5 on a flatbed trailer (heaviest I ever tow), but I want to use as my daily driver as well.

Thanks for the help in advance!
 
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That K30's gonna be a dog, w/ a K5 behind it, and 350 under the hood;
Especially pushin' 4.10's & 37's...

And, you don't exactly live where it's.... flat. :haha:

As a DD, it's completely tolerable....
But, as a tow rig, I'd go smaller tires... If not going higher gears.
 
Yeah I know, there not such thing as flat towing! Eventually I want to do a motor swap, but for now I gotta deal with the 350.....But a 12V will be the eventual swap! But it cant be more of a dog than my Sub is with my K5 behind it:doah:
 
If Im gonna run 33's I dont need to do a lift, they clear without any trouble. I had 35's on it yesterday and they would have only require minor trimming.
 
I would buy a new set of 31's. 4.10's and 31's is about right with a 454. That 350 will hate anything bigger than stock with just 4.10 gearing.
 
I agree, with a small block I'd stick to a 31-32 inch tire. No it won't look as cool but you'll be happy you did when it comes time to tow. I went from 31" tires to some 34" tires on my dodge and I could definitely tell a difference and we're talking a truck with close to 500 ft/lbs.
 
I have 32's on it now and it doesn't have any trouble with its towing duty, as of yet, but im used to using the sub which is a total dog! Im thinking that 32's to 33's wont make that much diff, but I could be wrong.
 
K5-CJ5 said:
I have 32's on it now and it doesn't have any trouble with its towing duty, as of yet, but im used to using the sub which is a total dog! Im thinking that 32's to 33's wont make that much diff, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I towed my blazer with my crew cab with a carbed 350/465/4.10 and it had the 235/85/16 tires, it did fine, but going over pacheco pass to Hollister hills I could definitely feel it struggling.
I would say if you have plans to put a diesel in it later, just keep it as is, if you need to change the tires stay same size or back to 31", and when you do swithc to the diesel you can put the lift and the 37" tires and you'll be about the same as now.
:dunno:
I am building my crew cab with a Turbo diesel and keeping 4.10 gears, but not sure if I wanna go with 35" or 37"
I ran my blazer with the same engine and 3.08 gears with 35" tires and it did fine, but I only towed a jeep behind it, never a big trailer.
:dunno:
 
Tire choice

Well it looks like im going to skip the lift. I have a friend at a tire shop who can get me a great deal on 285 75 16 E load range Mastercraft courser c/t tires. They are made by cooper.

Does anyone have experience with these tires, or should I go with the Goodyear Duratracs? the mastercrafts are a 55k mileage warranty and are 350 cheaper.
 
K5-CJ5 said:
Well it looks like im going to skip the lift. I have a friend at a tire shop who can get me a great deal on 285 75 16 E load range Mastercraft courser c/t tires. They are made by cooper.

Does anyone have experience with these tires, or should I go with the Goodyear Duratracs? the mastercrafts are a 55k mileage warranty and are 350 cheaper.
Click to expand...

Well it's good that you said which tire, because COOPER makes a lot of tires and actually Mastercraft, is not made by COOPER but by Goodyear, and it's not the best tire out there, you do get what you pay for.
I have used them and they are a cheap tire I would buy if things were really tight, but I would go for a GOODYEAR or a COOPER if I had the extra $$$.
By the way, I don't know how things are these days but when I was in the tire business 10 years ago, Goodyear owned COOPER, and Kelly tires as well as a few other small names like mastercraft.
So in the mean time they could have changed hands.:dunno:
 
We had coopers on our jeep grand and they didn't last. when i bought the next set for it i told my tire guy i refused to buy coopers and he laughed . Apparently he'd told his supplier to never send any more coopers to him
 
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