Re: [A/S] Towing capacity

["Colin Hyde" <chyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Terry,
The transmission in my Suburban is a Turbo 400 as used in GM cube vans and
school buses of the day. I think it was also the transmission of choice for
many hot rodders. I believe the basic automatic transmission used in 350 V8
gas powered Suburbans at the time were Turbo 350's which have also been used
successfully by hot rodders. Both of these transmissions are 3 speed models.
The 700R4  4 speed automatic transmission came out in the early 80's and may
have been an option in the Suburban however I have no idea if it was ever
used in a diesel application. If you feel like crawling under your vehicle
there is an easy way to determine which transmission you have. The oil pan
on the Turbo 350 transmission looks like a square with one corner cut off
it. The Turbo 400 pan has two straight sides with the other two having
several jogs in them. The 700R4 pan is square with no jogs or corners cut
off and of course 4 speeds. As you mentioned, my Suburban is a 3/4 ton which
would typically come with a 7,400 lb GVWR, however as mine was ordered in
military spec, it came with an 8,600 lb GVWR. As my vehicle only weighs
5,200 lbs, I could theoretically put your 67 Safari on my roof rack and be
within the weight rating. Please Hunter, don't jump in and say that's an
unsafe combination. I realize this, and would only try it in a parking lot
with Terry's blessing :) . It would make a great photo though! I suspect
your transmission is probably a Turbo 400 like mine but if it isn't, one
could be fitted without any modifications. My diff ratio is also 4.10 while
yours is more likely 3.42 or 3.73 which doesn't give you quite the torque
multiplication as I am getting. I added slightly taller tires to lower
numerically my final drive ratio so you could also play with tire sizes to
better suit your towing requirements. I don't drive this vehicle over 65 mph
as I feel that it will be beaten to death if I do so and I would like to use
it for at least another 10 years. It seems to be comfortable at 60 mph. The
Banks turbo upgrade made all of the difference for me with this vehicle. I
have been driving it like this for the past 3 years with 90% of it's use
being towing and it hasn't had any problems, so I feel that it is a very
well engineered upgrade. If you're planning on attending the Pageant of the
Bands Rally in North Norwich, NY on June 2nd through 5th or if you feel like
driving over for the day, you can take my vehicle for a spin and do a direct
comparison to yours. You never know, you might be inspired.
All the best to you & Sandie and congratulations on the new addition to your
family,
Colin