real towing capacity?

[ritepath]

I want to tow with my rig and it seems the stock gearing is too high. Or am I underestimating the ole' GW. I plan on flat towing my YJ 3500# (weighed on the quarry scales) next month, 4or5 hr drive mostly rolling hills.
I've thought about swapping in a 14bolt and a 44 from a burb with 410 gears (I have them close at hand).

[porchpiggy]

I have a 88 GW with 3.31 gears, stock for the tow package,and tow a 4000lb trailer.I was not real impressed with it's performance on even mild grades, although it was in a stiff headwind. I think some 360's work a lot better than others. I think you should have enough to pull the 3500lb rolling weight if your tuned good and running right. I'm sure the 4.10's would pull better, but I have a ford f-100 with 4.10's,and 235's and it really hums along at 65 MPH. :cool:

[BigLes]

In another thread I learned that a 360/TH400/4.09 combo is good for about 10 MPG. What are you getting now? Is the swap worth the loss in gas mileage? If you end up doing the swap, would you sell the carrier from your axles to me? I have the 4.09's and would rather beef the motor a bit more and add higher gears than leave it alone and keep getting 10 MPG

[porchpiggy]

I don't drive my wag often enough or far enough to get a good regular milage reading. One trip I pulled the trailer I got 10mpg until I turned into the wind, andit dropped to 6. :cool:

[Dive 30]

My Dad and I towed my wag one time and a '76 Ford 1 ton another time with his 2wd 4 cyl. Ranger from Ft. Collins, CO to Pierce, CO (approx. 30miles) of steep rollers. I'm not saying we did it fast, but the point is, we didn't obstruct traffic either. I'm just saying that our rigs have a lot better weight/weight ration in a towing situation than that combo so I wouldn't see it as a problem. I've even used my G-wag (before the new motor) to haul an F-350 Crewcab Diesel Dually up a gooseneck trailer (some poor folks were trying to push/come-along this thing up the incline onto the trailer in the middle of a snowstorm in Silverthorne :eek: )

I don't think you will be blasting down the road at eighty, but I figure you could cruise at sixty on the flats and maybe drop to fifty on the rollers. Not too shabby.

Phil

[Lugnut]

Really don't think you're gonna get wonderful towing results from anything short of a $45,000 rig built for the task -- and then I'm not so sure you're gonna have a $45k performance difference.