We have a 1987 Coachman 5th wheel. We pull it with a 77 C20 Chevy Camper Special It has a 454 from the factory the rear is a 3.21 ratio our problem is long steep hills. We hit the bottom doing 65 and by the top we are at maybe 30. Do I change the rear to 4/11 or build up the engine. The truck is like new been in storage a long time with no rust and the camper is in the same condition.

Change the rear end but that year’s 454 was weak having about 205 HP and 335 pounds of torque. Those were the 1978 numbers.

Would an "Over and Under" gear box work?https://www.gearvendors.com/index.html

That is a really cool truck. I love that body style. I assume you have a TH400 transmission and thus no overdrive. I don't know that I would go all the way to a 4:10 gear. A 3.73 would make a noticeable difference. Is the truck 4wd? If so you need to change both the front and rear gearing. It will cost you about $1,000 for each axle.The gearvendors unit would also work but you couldn't use it in 4wd; that may or may not be an issue for you.Does that engine even have a 4 barrel carburateur? If not, I would change the carb. Otherwise, short of a complete rebuilt, I would leave the engine alone. But, a full rebuild on that engine would be really cool. You could get nearly double the HP out of it with not much trouble.

Drop a cam and a 750 carb in it. Double your horsepower. You'll love it after that.

what cam? been thinking of that

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KD4UPL
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
That is a really cool truck. I love that body style. I assume you have a TH400 transmission and thus no overdrive. I don't know that I would go all the way to a 4:10 gear. A 3.73 would make a noticeable difference. Is the truck 4wd? If so you need to change both the front and rear gearing. It will cost you about $1,000 for each axle.
The gearvendors unit would also work but you couldn't use it in 4wd; that may or may not be an issue for you.
Does that engine even have a 4 barrel carburateur? If not, I would change the carb. Otherwise, short of a complete rebuilt, I would leave the engine alone. But, a full rebuild on that engine would be really cool. You could get nearly double the HP out of it with not much trouble.
Seon
Explorer II
Aug 29, 2020
Would an "Over and Under" gear box work?

https://www.gearvendors.com/index.html
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Aug 29, 2020
Change the rear end but that year’s 454 was weak having about 205 HP and 335 pounds of torque. Those were the 1978 numbers.

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