1986 Chevy G20 3/4 ton, 6.2 Diesel
Hi all, So I recently upgraded my trailer to a Zinger ZT33BH. It's big. It's heavy (8455lbs dry). I'm pretty sure my old '86 Chevy won't be happy with me pulling it. I can make do for very short pu...
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With a tranny cooler and not towing in OD your 2/3 of the way to having the transmission last. The next thing is to religiously change the transmission fluid more often than the manual calls for since your towing. I'd suggest changing it every 25K miles (40K km), not having a drain plug on the torque converter means you can only get about 1/2 the fluid out when you drain. In fact, I'd change it before you tow and use the new Dextron VI which is a direct replacement for Dextron III in GM automatics. the Dextron VI is a much improved fluid and supposedly holds up under high temperature much better. You may want to verify with a GM dealer that Dextron VI is a direct replacement for Dextron III in the 700R4. there are a few transmisions that are not compatible with Dextron VI, early Allison 1000's and some smaller GM automatics.
BTW draining the transmission is a REAL PITA on the G20, no drain plug, I found removing the flywheel inspection cover let me bring the pan out the front. So install a drain plug on the pan, so the next time you can drain/fill w/o dropping the pan. then you only need to drop the pan to change the filter which I did every 2nd or 3rd drain.
From what I've seen, the 700R4 holds up well if you stay out of OD towing, and as you mentioned and I observed, it really can't hold OD when towing anyway.
As for "new" older tow vehicle, I'd go for an older 3/4 or 1 ton pickup. Older 1/2 tons, (>10 yrs old) IMHO really aren't up to a 8,000lb trailer. Find one in good shape
BTW draining the transmission is a REAL PITA on the G20, no drain plug, I found removing the flywheel inspection cover let me bring the pan out the front. So install a drain plug on the pan, so the next time you can drain/fill w/o dropping the pan. then you only need to drop the pan to change the filter which I did every 2nd or 3rd drain.
From what I've seen, the 700R4 holds up well if you stay out of OD towing, and as you mentioned and I observed, it really can't hold OD when towing anyway.
As for "new" older tow vehicle, I'd go for an older 3/4 or 1 ton pickup. Older 1/2 tons, (>10 yrs old) IMHO really aren't up to a 8,000lb trailer. Find one in good shape
