Since mounting a good hitch on my '52 3/4 ton GMC, I've been periodically doing some towing. I have a 235 engine with an SM-420 transmission and 4.56 gears...but have upgraded to modern wheels and tires.
I am very impressed with how incredibly rugged these trucks are. A couple of days ago, I spent about 8 hours on heavily washboarded dirt and gravel roads around Colorado's country-side towing cars around. I'm not sure of the condition of my kidneys after all that, but the truck towed the cars around without any trouble at all. It was a little under-powered, so on smooth stretches, I kept it at 55 to 60 mph, but it was always very stable and very tough.
These trucks were obviously built for working and that's what they still do best. A half century later, and I still can't believe how tough these trucks really are.
