Can a Th700r4 be used for towing?

[razzle]

Or what the poor truck will be happy with either....I wouldn't tow that much with Rawhide, and he's a 3500 CCLB (which has the stoutest frames) and also has a 4L80E and a FF rear axle with 4.10s in it.

 

[Sean Buick 76]

It sounds like a nice truck, used within its limits it will be good to you. But yes look into a 8 lug truck for your use. And believe me I’ve hauled loads that I shouldn’t have and gotten away with it but after getting a big powerful truck I couldn’t go back to taking the risks I used to.

 

[1989GMCSIERRA]

If it's backwards, then the 1 Ton could only ever come with a 700R4 in ALL powertrain combinations, which is obviously not the case.

The answer to your question is emissions. The smaller engines were able to pass the fuel efficiency numbers without needing the overdrive. That was the major driving factor behind the 4L80E being developed, but it didn't come out for another 3 years. The 1 tons had a GVWR of at least 8600lbs, so they could get away with the higher emissions numbers and lower fuel economy of turning the higher freeway RPM's.

I agree on the towing. The main weak point here no matter how the rest of the vehicle is equipped is the 700R4. Even though an 11k 5th wheel is probably only ~7800lbs in the normal dry weight that he would be pulling it at, it is still too much. That trans is going to cook or blow up fast even if he keeps it in 3rd and puts a big external cooler on it. Another concern would be the frame and suspension ability to carry the 5th wheel load in the bed. It's going to be ~2200lbs of weight on the ball, which is going to be more than the rated payload. He would need airbags at a minimum and even then it likely wouldn't be legal.

All of this is still just speculation(except the trans stuff) because we still don't have pics of the actual truck and/or pics of the SPID sheet and GVWR/GCWR sticker

I think the whole truck is a weak point when asking to do work at 11k plus tow weight. While i get the whole my Chevy Ford Dodge is tough... physics rule all. when you're towing that weight you gotta be able to not only pull it but slow stop swerve and turn. You're talking braking system, transmission, frame, suspension etc that all need to be at a certain level to tow that weight safely.
Forget the 8 lug axles. you need everything else to tow safely.