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I remember hearing that for every 3 inches of height you need 1 foot of ramp length, which by my calculations i would need a 12 foot ramp. Like another stated, I'm probably going to have to build one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
I'm going to check into the crane. It might be the most economical option.
You could also hope for lots of loading docks in your future ; ) a 350 is a one ton chassis vamped up by about 500 pounds I believe. You really need to get to know that truck well, and a repair manual from auto zone might have most of the information you need. You can check the door for GVWR, and possibly even find a cheap place to get it weighed empty, then your payload is that amount subtracted from the GVWR. 175K is a lot on those motors, but treated well it will hopefully last you awhile. Is it carburetor or fuel injector? Did you get any maintenance records? Usually, the most neglected area of maintenance on regular vehicles is a simple transmission oil and filter change (not a difficult task at all, simply get you a large pan to catch the oil, back the trans pan bolts out 3 turns or so, enough to give the pan some play, but not fall off, then with the pan placed to catch the fluid, pry one corner loose to let it drain, pull the pan, put a new filter, replace it all, and refill the tranny) That one oil change procedure could save you a $1500 (or more) road tow and tranny replacement cost, and it is certainly time it needs one. A simple repair manual for that model truck will pay for itself the first time you use it ; )
does the tranny shift out of first gear almost as soon as you start to move? I'm guessing it does, being as you have a heavy duty van (I drove an E300 a lot of miles during the 80s, and late 70s) If so, you probably have a C6, much heavier duty than the lighter C4 (i think the 4 had a 9 bolt oil pan, and the 6 had 11 bolts), and if it's the C6, i'd certainly recommend taking really good care of it, those are very good tranny's, and very hard to come by