I'm at a cross roads here & want to ask you'll what you think. I sold my race car but I kept my 24" enclosed car trailer to store my Thunderbolt clone in & also have it to haul the car places if I want.
My truck currently has a 460 in it with 4:11 gears with a C6 transmission. The motor needs rebuilt & I'm debating on what to do. I've lowered the Dually & my wife wants to cruise in it more. I get 7 mpg's at best with the current combo. I have thought about rebuilding the 460 & put a higher gear in it, say maybe 3:54 gears. Or I have thought about rebuilding a 351w & putting a AOD trans behind it with say 3:73 or 3:55 gears so that I could cruise in it more & get better gas mileage but still tow with it. If I even tow something once a year now , I would be lucky. I'm really only going to be towing with the truck at tops less than 5% of the time I drive it.

What are your opinions? How many of you have Duallies with small blocks in them? How do you like them? With gas prices going higher & higher every week, my truck is staying parked longer & longer.

I don't tow much with my trucks, but I did just get rid of my 454 and got a diesel. I think it was one of the smartest things I have done lately. 8-10mpg versus at least 15mpg.

they both there ups and downs man. id rock you have. freshen it up.

Why not AOD behind the big block?

I have a friend that has an overdrive unit that he took off the back of his Turbo 350 that he'll sell me for $600. I still have to buy somewhere aroung $500 in parts to convert it. Everybody I've talked to says the AOD that Ford made won't last long in the truck. The more people I talk to say stay with the 460 but go with a 5 speed. The problem I have is shifting gears, I hate doing that anymore. I will probably go with the 460 & the C6 with 3:54 gears. It will probably suck towing on hills but it should get better gas mileage. Everybody I've talked to says I won't be happy with the small block. So it's starting to look like I'll stay with the Big Block.

If the overdrive unit off of that TH350 is a Gear Vendors u would love it.

Diesel conversion, the only choice. Probably twice the mileage and more fun

I believe it is a Gear Venders unit. I'm out of town right now & can't remember. I'll check when I get back.

I say run the Gear Vendors, and if you are still not happy swap to 3.73's. My truck has 3.73's and a Gear Vendor and the big block turns 2,500rpm at 75mph.

yeap. keep the 460, ditch the C6, they are the most fuel consuming auto tranny out there. for example if i remember the numbers correctly it takes 65hp to make the C6 work.

but if you get the gear vender's unit, you will be happy.

i had a bbc, lost oil pressure, replaced with a mild small block, and cant wait to get my bbc back in there. there is no way you can be happy with the torque of a big motor.

drop your gearing, and the big block torque will keep you happy, add the over/under drive unit and you will satisfied.


on the other hand, the most expensive thing to do is the diesel swap. big bucks, but will pay for itself in the long run, but you have to do some pretty serious driving all the time to pay for the swap.

I just found out today that between buying the Gear Vendors overdrive from my buddy & buying what I need to convert it to my C6 it will cost me somewhere around $1200 to $1300.
I'm going to have to really think whether this will be worth it.
I might just keep what I have & put a set of 3:54 gears in it. I read somewhere that a Big Block gets it's best gas mileage at around 2200 rpm's & with the tires I'm running that would be about where those gears would put it.

An AOD can be built to hold some serious power, so don't overlook it. You'll have to call around to find out what it's gonna cost you...the gear vendors unit might be cheaper once it's all said and done.

Richard

I just found out in all this that the AOD won't fit the Big Block. The only two things that will fit will be the Gear Vendors unit behind the C6 or an E4OD. I'm working on finding out what it will take to put the E4OD in there.

Don't forget that the GV is an underdrive unit too. not just an overdrive. So, an E4OD may you 4 gears, but the GV will give you 9.

How do's this thing work then? Do you have to shift it manually? I'm not sure if my buddy even knew how it worked because it was on the truck when he bought it.