I just picked her up a couple of weeks ago. She's a big fender 1969 C60 and has a 427, 5 speed Eaton (not sure which one), an Eaton 17221 2 speed rear end with 6:50/8:87 gears, hydraulic steering, air brakes, spring brakes and a semi 5th wheel. The body is clean except a couple dents and one spot by the gas pedal on the floor.
There's a laundry list of things she needs and things that I need to do but for the most part it's all there and in good shape considering she's 50 years old. The exhaust needs replaced which I already bought a set of headers since in going to replace everything from the heads back since the manifold gaskets are gone. The headlights are the only lights that work. All 6 tires are about shot, it already has 22.5s on the back and will be replacing the split rim 20s on the front with 22.5s also. The ring gear on the flywheel will have to be replaced since the teeth I was told are gone, I have to pull start it for now.
Like I said it's a laundry list of things and that's the short list. I bought this truck to pull my wife's 1972 Chevy mega truck around for now. One day I will build my own mega truck but for now back surgery and having to take it easy for a year this is a project I can do. I'm giving myself until next spring to have this truck ready to pull anything I need it to. For the time being it will only need to pull 10-15k pounds (5 years). After that it will need to pull roughly 20k pounds when fully loaded.
Most everything I can handle myself, I'm a journeyman millwright and gear head. One thing for sure I need more knowledge about is regearing this rear end I have. Currently on the down hill with the motor screaming at me I managed a whopping 58 mph. That's not going to cut it for me. Most of my driving will be on the expressway where the speed limit where I live ranges from 65-75 mph where I'll be traveling most. Using a gear calculator I've found that a 4:56/4:88 high gear should give me no problems traveling at a comfortable 65-70 mph. I don't need to go faster then that but would have a top speed of 80+ mph. With that gearing I figured I wouldn't be at the engines red line constantly. In a perfect world I wouldn't mind keeping the 6:50 high gear it currently has and just use that as my low while the 4:56/4:88 would be my new high. Now you're probably thinking this idiot has no idea what he's talking about. If you are perfect, enlighten me please! If there's other/better options I'm not aware of please tell me. From what I've gathered I could regear the low for around $500. To me that's cheaper then getting an auxiliary OD or swapping to an OD transmission. I don't mind doing either one bit but if I go that far I may as well go with a 12 valve Cummins and a NV4500. If I am all wrong please steer me correctly. A rear axle swap sounds good too but I'd really like to keep the spring brakes and air brakes but don't know how likely I am to come across that with a highway gear in it already.
Sorry for the long rant.
