Ok I am looking at a 94 or 95 3500 4x4 that basically everything but the drivetrain is shot in. It only has 131k, but its rotted up bad, body and frame, with no bed.

My question is, with something like a Goerend Fully Built tranny, can I pull 30k gross loads frequently?

I am more of a manual tranny guy, but for ease of install, if It can be done safely, why not?

 

Id think 30K is a little over capacity...auto or manaul

 

What Evil said, but yes, if the tranny is built right, no problem. If you keep the truck stock, you can do minimum upgrades to the tranny, one of the first being an aftermarket torque converter, and will haul heavy loads with OD locked out. If you turn up the engine you'll want to turn up the line pressure in the transmission, and various other upgrades, depending on how much you turn it up.

Chris

 

with a load like that you'll need a built tranny and u better check the rest of the truck out thoroughly..axles..suspension..frame...thats a heavy load...if u leave the engine stock you will be SLOW with 160hp and 30k as well

 

An engine brake will be an absolute must or you will threaten your own life and everyone elses. The brakes on these trucks just are not rated to stop a load like that even with the trailer brakes helping - what I am thinking about is you will need to save your brakes on inclines and if an emergency stop you'll need the brakes and the engine working to stop it in time.

 

Pulling a 30k load? That's too much for a 1 ton platform-I bet you'd be illegal (and unsafe) in every state. You'd be asking it to go so far beyond it's designed ratings as to be truly unsafe, not just illegal.

*Edit* If I read you right, the frame is also rotted? In my opinion, using that truck to pull 30k loads would be insane. I'm not knocking you for trying, but I think it's an unreasonable risk to take.

 

I think everyone is getting the wrong opinion, and thats my fault. I mean truck-trailer and load 28-30k. Right now Im in the 26k range and other than needing a deeper gear, I havent had any problems. I also am not looking to use anything on the truck except engine/tranny/transfer and maybe axle housings.

 

Well, try looking at it this way: The current trucks, with a much stiffer frame, are rated at like 23k if I remember right. What you're proposing to do is take a truck 2 generations older, with a notoriously less stiff frame and inferior brakes, with frame rust, and make it pull roughly 5-7k more than the NEW ones are rated at. I just don't see where this makes sense.


I mean, there's a point to which overloading something is probably somewhat safe-using the built in margin. However, this is well past that point.

 

to answer the question regarding the tranny...NO i dont think the stock auto would be up for it for more than a couple trips before shreading the TC fibers and needing a solid rebuild...with a goerend triple disk...i dont see why u wouldnt be able to pull the load...stopping safely is your business