Towing with a CUCV

cburgin said:
You would have jumped all over it huh? First off, you arent me. Secondly, since you seem to know me so well, that allows you to tell me what would be perfect for me huh? Please tell me what you have towed with a cucv and your real world experience with them in anyway...underage user...? From your other post, you have only owned one vehicle in your 4 years of driving. So I guess you towed with that, it was a cucv, and you wheeled it. Thats a lot of different duties for an xj.
I never said it was a great choice. Not once in this thread. To be honest, I dont want to buy a diesel with really high mileage that has the potential for maintenace that I cant afford (like the automatic trans behind the cummins list above). With the cucv, if the engine dies I could just drop in a gas motor. Like I have said several times, its just an idea and I am looking at other options much more seriously. I view every angle of everything before I buy.
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get your drawers out of a wad. i was just saying that it would make more sense to buy a vehicle that you wouldnt have to swap the motor and quite possibly the tranny to have a decently strong rig.

and you are right, I have only owned one vehicle in my 4 yrs of driving, and it wasnt a cucv. buttttttttttttttt, i have towed with a 6.5, and it was a dog. our company has a gmc box truck with the 6.5 in it and it cant get out of its own way with a load. loaded with a 2.5g's worth of product it struggles up the mildest of inclines (and by mild i mean eastern nc). id rather not even think of how bad it would be dragging a trailer loaded with a rig to tellico.

but to each his own
 
I dont wear underwear so no worries about them bunching. The th400 trans is plenty strong. Like stated about, its only downfall is not having overdrive. Just a question for anyone... a good bit of people seem to tow with small block chevys in 3/4 ton and even 1ton trucks. What is the hp/tq difference between a tbi or vortec sbc/6.2/6.5 just in general?
 
I only towed with a 6.2 once. It was in a half ton suburban, towing a 76 chevy shortbed. It did ok. I was on mostly flat land with some small hills. I would not have wanted to pull up any mountains. My 95 gmc 3500 however, had a 6.5 turbo with a manual boost controller on it. Powerwise it did great on all but the very steep grades, such as black mtn or 421 between wilkesboro and boone. On those 20mph was top speed. The biggest problem and the reason I got rid of it, was that overheating was always a problem on long grades. Unless it was only 20 degrees out I always had to stop on my way to mtn city to cool down, sometimes twice. It was great on fuel though. In that respect it blew away the dmax i have now. So did the 6.2. But I would never go back to one as a main tow vehicle. By the way, when I was towing to mtn city I usually had about a 7500 lb load counting the trailer, blazer and camping supplies.
 
I don't think the CUCV was built for towing either, I read it was designed to pull 3000lbs over terrain all day long, and not at US highway speeds. The CUCV needs OD and more power to compete with todays trucks. We bought one for a farm truck which means short hauls at slower speeds.
 
cburgin said:
a good bit of people seem to tow with small block chevys in 3/4 ton and even 1ton trucks. What is the hp/tq difference between a tbi or vortec sbc/6.2/6.5 just in general?
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vortec 4.3 was 190 hp and 250 ft lbs

later truck tbi 350 was 210 hp and 300 ft lbs
vortec 350 was 255 hp and 330ft lbs

later truck tbi 454 was 230hp and 380 ft lbs
vortec 454 was 290 hp and 410 ft lbs

6.2 lowest rating was 130 hp and 240 ft lbs
6.2 highest rating was 143 hp and 257 ft lbs

6.5 lowest rating was 180 hp and and 360 ft lbs
6.5 highest rating was 215 hp and 440 ft lbs

Everyone isn't just giving you crap about the 6.2 for the fun of it, they really are that weak. It will pull your rig but you may litterly be running 10 mph up some hills if you can't get a good run at them. My old boss used to have a 6.2 in about an 85 chevy 1 ton. He said pulling 6k up black mountain was 15 mph at the top, and that was when those trucks were new.
Just look at the hp and tq numbers, they speak for them selves.

Yes a cucv with a 454 or a cummins would be pretty cool. But i wouldnt really consider the 6.2 to really be an option. Heck, even a very mild 350 would do better in my opinion, and be more reliable to boot.
 
cumminsdzl said:
vortec 4.3 was 190 hp and 250 ft lbs
later truck tbi 350 was 210 hp and 300 ft lbs
vortec 350 was 255 hp and 330ft lbs
later truck tbi 454 was 230hp and 380 ft lbs
vortec 454 was 290 hp and 410 ft lbs
6.2 lowest rating was 130 hp and 240 ft lbs
6.2 highest rating was 143 hp and 257 ft lbs
6.5 lowest rating was 180 hp and and 360 ft lbs
6.5 highest rating was 215 hp and 440 ft lbs
Everyone isn't just giving you crap about the 6.2 for the fun of it, they really are that weak. It will pull your rig but you may litterly be running 10 mph up some hills if you can't get a good run at them. My old boss used to have a 6.2 in about an 85 chevy 1 ton. He said pulling 6k up black mountain was 15 mph at the top, and that was when those trucks were new.
Just look at the hp and tq numbers, they speak for them selves.
Yes a cucv with a 454 or a cummins would be pretty cool. But i wouldnt really consider the 6.2 to really be an option. Heck, even a very mild 350 would do better in my opinion, and be more reliable to boot.
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Thanks for the numbers! I agree with everything you and others have said. Once again, I agree about the truck. Its just an option I am considering since it seems like a lot of truck for not to much money...
 
You'd have better luck towing with a half ton 305 gas motor. My buddy topped the hill going into Boone at just over 5mph towing his CJ with a 6.5 non turbo. We all peed our pants laughing, he actually almost stopped and put it in low range.
 
A 6.2 is a commuter engine IMO,not intended for any serious work.One other thing to think about is the CUCV's are known for havin alt/charging troubles.I have saw a few 6.2's that had a Banks kit put on em and they didnt last long. You can polish a turd all you want but in the end it's still a turd,and yes I've polished some turd's.:huggy:

I've never pulled with a CUCV but I've drove some wreckers/rollbacks with the 6.2's and 6.5's and they suck.
 
Yeah that seems to be the overall outlook. Thats why I posted it here since I knew there are some people who have done it. The only way I would consider it at this point is to find one cheap enough to justify buying it and doing a BBC swap
 
I've stayed out of this thread thus far (as far as actually stating my heartfelt opinion), but I feel that I need to add my views on the situation.

I love my CUCV, although at times I've considered the best way to burn it and make it seem like an accident :rolleyes:...


Like I posted a while back, I'm putting a Cummins in mine. Sure, it'll cost some money, but I can't readily buy an older Chevy that's already Cummins powered and set up like mine is. I will say that I love my 6.2 as well, it's very simple and has never let me down. However, it sucks in the power department. I can't even hold speed on the highway and that's on flat ground! 39's with 4.56s may be a teensy bit undergeared, but it shouldn't affect it as bad as it does.

The one time I have towed a fairly hefty load with it, it did fine. I pulled in 3rd gear lock-up (700R4) and it was no slower than it normally is :shaking: I couldn't imagine it being my designated tow rig with such a motor though. But slap on some 35-37" tires, a minimum about of lift, and a better power plant and it'd be a bare bones, fairly cheap, stout as hell, tow rig!

Dare to be different!
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
I found my 3/4 ton suburban for less than 1k. It is 2wd, but 4xs can be had for a lot less than 5k and you can sleep in the back.
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Burban's are the ultimate race car tow vehicle. You can haul the car, a bunch of spare tires, and the pit crew in one. A 454 will haul anything. You don't really give a flip about the mpg when you're heavey hauling. 4 x4 is nice on one, but adds a few hundred pounds for something you "might need" if you get into snow or on a really muddy road. Even in 2wd, it does cost you 2mpg more. 6.2's will pull if you don't mind going slow-er than everyone else. Except in tight quarters, Burbans also ride so darn good and are great on the freeway and are CHEAP.

Get one with the barn doors on the back however. Tailgates nice for sliding stuff, extra size loads like long boards, but a pain if that glass gets stuck a the top.

There's a gal in Charlotte who had an old 81 Burban with the tailgate, light blue, with a relatively new engine (350) and Th400 for 600 bux or BO...She didn't like the size of it. Burban like that would still give you 13 to 15 mpg on the road.
 
There is a guy on the charlotte craigs list in the barter section that has an 86 (If memory serves me) 2500 4x4 454 sub with 96000 miles on it. He wants to trade for it but said he will take 3000 cash for it. I will see if I can dig up the link again.
 
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