slimjim66

hey guys, new to the forum so take it easy on me... I've done 2 weeks of searching the net and found a bunch of threads about towing with turbos but needed some more input.

long story short, I've got a 64 chevy c10 short box, currently a SBC truck looking to convert to a LQ4 with 4L80E trans. i bought a complete running 2005 chevrolet 3/4 ton HD gasser for a donor truck. I'm not on a junk yard build budget but I'm not looking to drop 50k into this thing either. i know ill be rebuilding the whole motor, and trans so before i started to buy anything i figured id ask here first to point me in the right direction.

plans are... fun truck, burnouts, doughnuts, highway pulls with lots of power BUT also has to be able to haul my 6000 pound camper trailer 4-5 times a year distances of up to 700 miles away. I'm a metal fabricator by day and master tinkerer by night so ill be doing the whole fab work and motor/trans work myself with the help of some friends.

so point me in the right direction guys.... single turbo? twins? N/A? what combos are working and what should i stay away from? there is a ton of room under the hood of the truck so I'm not worried about fitting it all in, also I'm open to using the bed to mount the rad to give me more room for a bigger intercooler.


jimmy

gametech

iTrader: (1)

For the type of duty cycle described, I would suggest looking at the stickies at the top of the page related to truck manifold builds. Many types of factory exhaust manifolds are suitable however, so don't just look to the ones from trucks. My reasoning is that the cast manifolds will be far less likely to crack or deform in any way from extended heat cycles while towing. Also, you need not only good plug access, but proper clearance from the hot manifolds to avoid burning up plug wires. I would do a single rather than twins, because that approach requires only half as many of things like oil feed and return lines, wastegates, turbo flanges, various vacuum lines, etc. Also, stay very conservative with the stall speed of the 4l80 converter. Unless the motor is obviously in need of work, I would not bother rebuilding it. The transmission, however, I would freshen up regardless of mileage or condition, simply because of its age.

slimjim66

Thank you for your reply, the trans will 100% be gone through. i guess i could do a leak down test on the motor and see where I'm at. i just figured i would put good rods and forged pistons in to take the heat as well. what size turbo am i looking for? from what i gathered from other builds i was thinking of this set up

factory crank
forged flat top
calls compstar rods
factory heads freshened up
flipped cast ex manifolds
LS6 cam
steel MLS head gaskets
heavier springs
turbo?? i need a size???
holley high rise intake (already have one)
air to air intercooler with water meth
obviously up the fuel system
wrap the plug wires and full wrap on exhaust piping

what stall converter?
I'm thinking locker with 3:73 gears
29" tall tires


Am i pointed in the right direction?

thanks

Jimmy

slimjim66

Bump bump.

Anyone else?

silvea

iTrader: (1)

The one thing that I'm thinking is make sure to buy a turbo that's a little too large. When towing you don't want that thing spinning to the moon trying to make 12psi. Nothing massive of course if you could get yourself into like a nice borg 75-80mm you'd probably be doing pretty well. Those turbos are super dependable and made for that type of abuse.

gametech

iTrader: (1)

I would skip rods or pistons. The piston rings may benefit from opening the end gaps if the motor is too fresh. Sell the Holley high rise for more money and better results from the stock truck intake. If you are flipping the manifolds forward, you are golden, but if going upside down on the flip, you will have plug wire issues. The 02+ ls6 cam has always been a wonderfully streetable mild cam. As for springs, look at beehives from PAC. That is the company that made the springs for Comp back before they switched to a cheaper supplier and the "problems" started. I feel that water/meth should only be used in a situation where you have a boost controller that allows for being used "on demand". Otherwise, you may end up using up all your meth injection halfway in to a long towing trip. Realistically, the stock stall speed may be your best bet for the converter, although this is highly dependent on the weight you are towing, the size of your (you do have) extra trans cooler, and your overall final gearing. 4l80's are tough, but it is still far too easy to weld clutches together, among other points of failure.

Tuskyz28

Love the fact that you plan on towing with a classic truck....

slimjim66

awesome thanks for the info.

slimjim66

ya man, it was the only way I could talk the wife into letting me buy another project.

Tuskyz28

Every man needs his own truck! I'm in for pics of your ride.

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

be sure and change out the truck arm bushings for poly ones

the truck arm suspension can tow and haul really well.

my recipe would be:

that ls6 cam in whatever 5.3 i could find. gen 3 or 4 wouldnt matter since i'd stay under 550 wheel. stock everything except gapping the rings.

4l80e with a circle d 2500 stall.

gt45 for the big slow spooling hotside

build it with a dump valve so it's quiet until you mash on it.

maybe put A/C on it too since there is a damn near a cubic yard of space under the hood

gnx7

iTrader: (28)

Kurt Urban has a turbo 6.0 in his truck and it lasted over 100K miles.....
https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...comes-end.html

slimjim66

thanks man, yea the whole truck is getting a frame up restore minus the body, its got a wicked patina look from it so ill be leaving it. full suspension do over, bushings, joints paint ect ect... 13" big brake kit so i can slow this thing down. i think i have the engine combo ill try first with the help of you guys. I'm going to try and run A/C it's something the wife wanted so i should keep that.

one more question, what should i do to tune this thing? what do i need to keep from my donor truck?

Black89Z51

iTrader: (2)

Hate to burst the bubble, but honestly I think you'd be better off buying a cheap used diesel truck to tow your camper and do a sloppy type build on the truck to have fun with.

Obviously that's totally my opinion. I think cylinder pressure are going to be really high at low RPMs towing a camper and that's going to be hell on everything.

CyberGrey Z28

iTrader: (4)

What's the tow rating for a 64 c10?

slimjim66

diesel is out of the question, I've already bought a C10 along with a donor truck.... i appreciate your opinion and i did think about how hard it will be on things towing the camper. but in order for me to build this it has to be able to haul the camper. when i said 4-5 times a year that is the most we've ever done in one summer, its more like 2-3 times and only 3-4 hours away. obviously i won't be able to beat on it while the camper is behind me and i know my cooling system will have to be top notch. like i said in the original post I'm not trying to build this with a shoe string budget so i don't mind spending some money on parts that will be able to handle the abuse.

slimjim66

5000 pounds

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

a 4l80e and a one piece shaft with 1350 HD joints.

c-clip eliminators is probably a good idea.

i think the trick is to stay out of boost while you're pulling. dont run it like a diesel. just build a good running NA motor and spool the turbo for fun.

there's a fella on 67-72 trucks with a single turbo ls swapped 66 he uses to haul his twin turbo LS powered jet boat.

he might have some ideas for you

topbrent

iTrader: (1)

This. ^^^

Be careful that the tail doesn't wag the dog.

Better have brakes on that C10 that can handle the towing tasks as well.

jordoza777

iTrader: (2)

My opinion is two things one I really doubt if you keep boost low during towing and over do the cooling system your gonna kill anything to do this with an ls. It will require a separate tune for pulling or a soft tune all the time. It is completely doable. I pull my camaro in an enclosed trailer with my 95 chevy 4x4 twin turbo 406 sbc all the time. I've taken it on 1000 mile trips to go visit family and do some racing. it hasn't blown up. I even use hyper pistons in the sbc. No failure in the last 30 thousand miles. Im just easy on timing when im pulling.

second if I was gonna do it all over I'd hit a big truck salvage yard and get an isb or isc Cummins out of a heavy duty truck with the matching Allison transmission. It wouldn't be much more expensive to do then a full Ls 6l80 swap and it really is as simple except you would have to make your own mounts I suppose. Yes the diesel will weight more but you get an engine that makes 350 hp and 860 ft lbs of torque if you buy the isc and it will do it for half a million miles with just simple maintenance.

I built my truck first then my camaro. So I was using the truck as a redneck race truck and then I fell in love with the 5th gen camaro so the truck was retired to pulling duty so the truck wasnt built to be a puller originally even. I have killed the 4l60 twice but hey what do you expect. Either way don't sweat this to much as long as you don't get greedy with timing and don't get wild with boost while pulling the engine will be fine.