Cummins 12v into my CUCV

[mtperkins]

Thought i'd start the tread on my journey to towing 14,500lbs.

12/19/24- purchased 1993 5.9L Cummins with everything but the trans adapter and flywheel.

12/20/24 - realized the Th400 probably won't handle the torque.

 

[MarkM]

What power level are you trying to achieve? I love the 12 valve and the P-pump. You can get all kinds of power and reliability with the Cummins. I hope you have already addressed the dowel of death issue for that motor. My oldest boy has a 03 3500 dually and with his 5K lb camper he still pulls off 18 to the gallon.

Mark

 

[mtperkins]

I'm not trying to go crazy with power. It currently has the VE pump, just looking into transmission ideas right now. I have a 40Ft camper at 14,500 lbs i'd like to be able to move around if things get where I need to up and move on.

 

[Jeepadict]

I'm gonna throw this out there...it doesn't matter what engine and trans you put in that thing, the factory 80s CUCV/Squarebody drivetrain has zero business hooked on to that much weight!

The only remote possibility of moving that much weight safely with a CUCV would be a body swap on to a late-model chassis.

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[mtperkins]

@ jeepadict, i appreciate your honesty.

Well i could leave the CUCV alone and put it in another truck. How about my 1993 K3500 crew cab with the blown up 6.5L ? Or what should i be looking for?

Maybe the CUCV is too nice to tear all apart.

 

[Jeepadict]

I'll give my 3500 DRW Silverado as a reference:
GVWR 12,000
GCWR 23,500
Max goose/5th gross 14,700-15,400
Max bumper pull 12,000 w/distro & sway
Max bumper pull 7,500 w/1,000# tongue wt carrying

So if you were to play in safe zones, that OBS GMT400 truck has no business hooked on to the weight you're talking either.

I'm assuming it's a 5th wheel trailer? If it is, that's at the maximum capacity of an 03 DRW 3500 truck...that's a crap-ton of weight you're talking about putting behind an old truck.

Now, full disclosure...it's been done before with older/smaller trucks, many times...and there's been countless arguments in countless Facebook groups and forums...but you wouldn't catch me doing it even if you had a gun to my mother's head.

I'd suggest any 3500 common-rail diesel (2000-newer) you can afford. The 2500s started getting big enough to play that game safely in the 20-teens.

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[MarkM]

I concur that truck has no business with that kind of weight. You need a 3500 dually with a cummins or a duramax as you're into the hotshot arena. Just not the truck for that workload IMHO.

Mark

 

[mtperkins]

Thanks guys. Good points. Guess it's just a cruiser truck now. I'll just borrow the farms road tractor I guess to move it back and forth.

 

[Jeepadict]

You can still 12 Valve swap it! Just don't do crazy weight with it. Or you can do a 6.5L...or an LQ4...or turbo the 6.2. Lots of options.

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[Gastrap]

It would still be fun. I have a 1950 Chevy truck 12V swapped and it's a blast. Total weight is less than 4000 pounds and I get 25 MPG, but I would never tow more than a tiny trailer with it.

 

[biscuitwhistler37]

Not to , but that trailer is double the weight and length of your rig. For moving around the yard and maybe even around the block, sure, but any faster than 30mph and the trailer has the potential to drag the truck wherever it wants to go. I personally wouldn't haul a 40' trailer with less than an extended cab long bed 3/4 ton Ford, Dodge, or 1 ton Chevrolet, just for length and weight. Then there's the issue of stopping the load... Definitely still support the 12v swap, if you don't have to have an automatic, an NV4500 would be an option.

 

[Valley Rock]

Do it .
Don't give in to negativity and Common Sense .

This is my buddy and his Cummins powered Chevy pulling my 5 ton which was stuck in the mud hooked to my 40-ft van that was full of my shop and Incredibly heavy, and that was uphill .

 

[nyoffroad]

Pulling something out of a stuck situation is totally different than towing down the road.
My son (kids know it all and old men know nothing) didn't believe me that towing a 30' camper behind a square body Blazer was a horrible idea. I had no idea what I was talking about! Then he used the Blazer to tow a single car hauling trailer with a Chevy 3500 on it, all of a sudden I'm a lot smarter (so is he) than I was just a few days before. He tried to go 55 on the highway and ended up talking small back roads 100 miles to keep the speed down so he could keep it under control. The Blazer had the power to go 55 but biscuitwistler said the TRAILER WAS IN CHARGE! He gave up on the camper.