I'm thinking about running a 700r4 in my '54 GMC 1-ton to get the overdrive. If I do, I'll run a 454 in front of it.
Here's the problem and why I'm thinking I can get away with it. I'm going to use this truck to pull my 18 foot car trailer. I believe GM did not put this transmission behind the big block and while it is used in 3/4-ton pickups (I have one) even there they do not recommend pulling a trailer in overdrive.
While I enjoy power, I don't generally hot rod while pulling a loaded trailer. I'm thinking I can enjoy the OD when unloaded, making the truck much more usuable, and then just drive gentle in direct when its got a loaded trailer behind it. Even pulling hard up a hill the application of power is smooth and would not be like drag racing or that kind of harsh load.
The one other detail that makes me think I can get away with this is that I own numerous vehicles, and don't drive most of them very far each year. This one may only go a few thousand miles a year and may not go even go a total of 20,000 miles once I finish it.
The alternative is to run a TH 400 or TH 475, both of which I currently own. I could run a Cadillac 500 instead of the 454, but don't want to run that in front of the 700r4. Until I started thinking about adding overdrive I was planning to go with the Cadillac.
Do you think a 700r4 will live 20,000 miles behind a mild big block in a 4000 pound truck pulling an 8000 pound load? Or is this just crazy talk and I should go back to the Cadillac and Turbo 400?
