Tell me about the C6, please!

[cscmc1]

Alright, guys, alright... I'll call today and tell them to consider it sold! As far as inspections go, IL is nothing like the People's Repulic of Kalifornia (just teasing, towcat). You can drive with a cracked windshield, balt tires, etc... and we have NO EMISSIONS testing in my area! So no, this dealership doesn't have to guarantee a thing!

I mentioned talking them down only because this is a dealer that's retiring and selling off his inventory. They need everything gone, so they have a "starting price" well over what the vehicle is worth (in this case it was $2995) and encourage offers of any sort. I said "$1k, they came back with $1200. I have limited myself to a $1k budget to tinker with one of these old diesels, and told them so. Saleswoman then told me that the owner would probably accept that... so that's the "talking them down" bit.

I am thinking that maybe between the fact that the C6 is a 3-speed and the rear end is a 4.10, maybe I was just not used to how high the rpms would run at 45+ mph. I'll get it home and tinker some more. I'm sure y'all will get lots of naive questions from me; hope you don't mind!

Chris

 

[RKOCH]

You could get a c-6 up till 92 if you wanted. That is all I run I hate OD transmissions. I fixed to many E4OD's to own one. I have 2 89's a 250 and 350 both 7.3L and both came with a c-6. It is the easiest tranny to fix as far as I am concerned.

 

[RKOCH]

I have a 7.3L with a c-6 with 4.10 gears I just hold it flat to the floor and run it. It will go 70 mph but will move anything you put behind it. The 6.9 7.3 engines seem to run their best @ 3000 RPM. Running it less than that is lugging the engine and burnning more fuel than just running it where it is happy.

 

[Agnem]

All I can say is I'm glad it makes you happy. I couldn't disagree more from a personal perspective, but from IH's point of view, I'd agree 100%. These engines can and will take whatever you throw at them. The engine in the Moose Truck rarely sees over 2K and spends much of it's life in the 1400 to 1600 RPM band, where all the torque is. It's been that way for years, and between visual internal inspection and oil analysis, I can tell you that if that's lugging it, then it sure doesn't hurt it. In my opionion, anything over 2K is just a waste of fuel.


I also appologize for mucking up your post. I pressed the wrong button. The pitfalls of being a mod I'm afraid.

 

[cscmc1]

Thanks for the opinions, gentlemen! I just got off the phone with the dealer and the truck is mine pending a deposit at lunchtime. I'd just buy the damned thing if I had time, but it's National Guard drill weekend for me... gotta go fix some jets, then AFTER the weekend I'll pick her up and post some pics. I'm warning you, though, she ain't pretty!

More later; thanks fellas!

Chris

 

[Mr_Roboto]

With 4.11 gears, you should see around 3,000 RPM at 60 mph. I had a dually with a 4 speed and 4.11's, anything over 40 mph and the motor sounded like it was revving too high..... just the nature of the beast.

This is your opportunity to put some tall tires and get the RPM's down!! Something like a 265/85R16 would get you a little height without being wide and increasing rolling resistance.

 

[tonkadoctor]

The 6.9 7.3 engines seem to run their best @ 3000 RPM. Running it less than that is lugging the engine and burnning more fuel than just running it where it is happy.

3000 RPM . I never run mine much over 2000 and I shift around 1500. I was getting 15.5 mpg with the 4.10 gears around town and can't wait to see what it is with the 3.08 gears I put in last week, I can idle through town in 5th gear at about 30 mph and it's only 1500 @ 55 MPH. Still havn't had to fill up yet and can't wait to see what it does on the highway at 65 this weekend.

BTW $1000 for a 4x4 diesel that runs good is a steal, hell the engine's worth more than that. Now find one with a blown engine, good body and interior for under $1000 and you'll have a nice truck for about $2k and some elbow grease.

 

[akoldnav]

Tonka, keep us posted on how the truck works with those 3.08 gears. I just about did that to one of mine last year, but stuff got in the way and I never got around to doing it.

I am interested in how it drives in town, on the highway, and the kind of fuel milage you actually can get.

Thanks

akoldnav

 

[82F100SWB]

Dang you guys keep the revs looooow... My engine sees 3500 alot... I also find that the power really starts to come on around 2300... Mind you, that's a N/A engine, a turbo is probably totally different.
In every IH app I've driven(lots of school busses...) with IDI's, criusing at 60 puts you around 2500 rpm or so. And, my own truck, averaged 20 MPG US highway criusing at 65 mph on a 1000 mile trip, not once, but twice. Was very ******* the head though, 12 hours straight of 25-2600 rpm with a bare steel floor = hearing IDI rattle for hours after getting out of the truck... . I'd appreciate O/D just so it wasn't so loud at criuse speed.
Will be interesting to see how my mileage changes now that I've stepped up to 305/75R16 summer tires...

 

[tonkadoctor]

Tonka, keep us posted on how the truck works with those 3.08 gears. I just about did that to one of mine last year, but stuff got in the way and I never got around to doing it.

I am interested in how it drives in town, on the highway, and the kind of fuel milage you actually can get.

Thanks

akoldnav

Will do. I'll start a new thread after I've run a couple of tanks through it and get my speedometer double checked for accuracy. Biggest difference I notice around town is now I use all 5 gears accelerating vs skip shifting just using 2nd, 4th and 5th.

Bear in mind that everything around me is flat land, I rarely pull a trailer, I'm retired and have nothing better to do than play with my toys and experiment. It also helps that a buddy of mine owns a 4WD Shop and owed me a favor so I got the labor for free. My total cost was about $320 for the gears, installation kit, oil and speedometer gear so even a small increase in fuel milage will pay for the swap quickly at current fuel prices.

 

[towcat]

I have a set of 3.08's in the ugly green truck. If you don't do anything other than haul ass, then its OK with that ratio. Otherwise its too boggy getting off the line. I have a C-6 in front of it and a 6.9na. Terminal velocity was unreal tho I did from San Jose to Placerville on 10 gallons of feul.
Oh yea, I drive with the engine rpms bouncing off the governor.

 

[dave85]

Been there, seen that..............

Oh yea, I drive with the engine rpms bouncing off the governor.

Towcat's drivin', I mean.
Dave

 

[RKOCH]

On the governor I thought that was how a diesel was driven. ;

3.08 gears are fine if you are a flat lander and don't pull no weight. I regularly pull trailers so I would rather have the power. Peak torque on these motors comes in a lot higher than most people think. And if you have a turbo the whole ball game changes.

 

[trackspeeder]

On the governor I thought that was how a diesel was driven. ;

3.08 gears are fine if you are a flat lander and don't pull no weight. I regularly pull trailers so I would rather have the power. Peak torque on these motors comes in a lot higher than most people think. And if you have a turbo the whole ball game changes.

Glad to see other people drive like me. First thing I learned was to "drive it like I stole it".

 

[Agnem]

Travis drove his like he stole it. I also notice that in the newspaper, most stolen vehicles end up damaged. :Sly