TH400 auto used for plowing snow

[cucvrus]

You can have the standard transmission in a plow truck. They are poor in comparison. I had more issues with standards in plow trucks. i had a 73 Ford F250 with a divorced transfer case granny low 4 speed. it was a tall boy. I had to take a break every 2 hours from fatigue when I drove that thing. That 360 exhaust was deadly and it was leg breaker to push the clutch in every 30 seconds. The clutch was hot after the first year of using it as a plow truck and the flywheel I replaced every 3 years from hot spots. I plow big lots and inside an industrial complex. Shifting stick is just adding to the labor and effort required to do it. I plow sometimes for 10 12 hours straight. No clutch for me. The TH400 last about 5-6 years and I can tell when it is ready to exit. It has an extended shift interval between the drive and reverse. Not long it will be needing rebuilt. I do it before it goes out. I spit the case on a few that I left go to long. They drove forward but had no reverse. Even with the top of the case split they kept going forward. Good Luck with your plowing. I agree no auxiliary trans cooler needed on a plow truck. the newer trucks that have the trailer/tow/plow package have all that and I like them. they are all automatics also. one with an 8.1 the other with a 6.0. Both excellent machines.

 

[mbavers]

You can have the standard transmission in a plow truck. They are poor in comparison. I had more issues with standards in plow trucks. i had a 73 Ford F250 with a divorced transfer case granny low 4 speed. it was a tall boy. I had to take a break every 2 hours from fatigue when I drove that thing. That 360 exhaust was deadly and it was leg breaker to push the clutch in every 30 seconds. The clutch was hot after the first year of using it as a plow truck and the flywheel I replaced every 3 years from hot spots. I plow big lots and inside an industrial complex. Shifting stick is just adding to the labor and effort required to do it. I plow sometimes for 10 12 hours straight. No clutch for me. The TH400 last about 5-6 years and I can tell when it is ready to exit. It has an extended shift interval between the drive and reverse. Not long it will be needing rebuilt. I do it before it goes out. I spit the case on a few that I left go to long. They drove forward but had no reverse. Even with the top of the case split they kept going forward. Good Luck with your plowing. . one with an 8.1 the other with a 6.0. Both excellent machines.

>>>>"I agree no auxiliary trans cooler needed on a plow truck. the newer trucks that have the trailer/tow/plow package have all that and I like them. they are all automatics also"<<<<
Are you saying that no aux trans cooler is necessary on the newer trucks because they have the tow package, or are you saying that I don't need the trans cooler on my CUCV?

 

[cucvrus]

I never added anything to a CUCV cooling system. I plowed, towed, and off roaded them and never needed to do any cooling system changes. If something failed or wore out I changed it with like , kind, part and called it quits. I had several fan clutches fail and many radiators. Some of the trucks had stock upper and lower radiator hoses on them. i changed them. They were alligator cracked on the inside. Looking for an opportunity to fail. Do as you wish. I wore out a few of the first CUCV's plow trucks I made from M1010's in 1995. But for the most part salt spreaders just eat them alive after 20 years. I had a couple that the engine oil pans rusted thru.

 

[mbavers]

Thanks.

 

[acesneights1]

>>>>"I agree no auxiliary trans cooler needed on a plow truck. the newer trucks that have the trailer/tow/plow package have all that and I like them. they are all automatics also"<<<<
Are you saying that no aux trans cooler is necessary on the newer trucks because they have the tow package, or are you saying that I don't need the trans cooler on my CUCV?

I would say not needed unless you plan on towing.

 

[acesneights1]

You can have the standard transmission in a plow truck. They are poor in comparison. I had more issues with standards in plow trucks. i had a 73 Ford F250 with a divorced transfer case granny low 4 speed. it was a tall boy. I had to take a break every 2 hours from fatigue when I drove that thing. That 360 exhaust was deadly and it was leg breaker to push the clutch in every 30 seconds. The clutch was hot after the first year of using it as a plow truck and the flywheel I replaced every 3 years from hot spots. I plow big lots and inside an industrial complex. Shifting stick is just adding to the labor and effort required to do it. I plow sometimes for 10 12 hours straight. No clutch for me. The TH400 last about 5-6 years and I can tell when it is ready to exit. It has an extended shift interval between the drive and reverse. Not long it will be needing rebuilt. I do it before it goes out. I spit the case on a few that I left go to long. They drove forward but had no reverse. Even with the top of the case split they kept going forward. Good Luck with your plowing. I agree no auxiliary trans cooler needed on a plow truck. the newer trucks that have the trailer/tow/plow package have all that and I like them. they are all automatics also. one with an 8.1 the other with a 6.0. Both excellent machines.

But is was a ford...nuff said...
I did like those old High boys. I converted my 77 ford to a Diaphragm style pressure plate. Made a big difference on the leg strain.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

January 14th, 2016.

Ah, The GM TH 400...world's least reliable truck transmission. I had one in a 1976 Chevy C10 Van, what a feeling to have all the FW clutches go and have to back her home in R!

It is very sad to see that most of the new car and truck builders have very little understanding how to build a solid, reliable and good working manual transmission, worse yet that so many people today do not know how to drive them, which is why so many military trucks have been built with the sorry examples of automatic transmissions we see today. My wife's 2006 Jeep Wrangler has a transmission that is much lower grade then the one in my 1963 S404.114 Unimog.

The optimum transmission for plowing? A diesel electric set up with series traction motors! They will generate maximum power coming off a stop, accelerate evenly, and go from dead stopped forward to rolling in reverse quicker then a TH400! The only thing to handle would be a reverse lever with minimal force to shift it, or a mere electric switch on your steering column. If you don't think it will work, the diesel locomotives built from 1926 to the 1970's had it and took a lot more beating then your plow trucks. The Army experimented with it with a Condec diesel electric drive in a deuce with motors in all six hubs.... For a one off deuce, too expensive, but if all 500,000 had had it, a better designed system would have made it standard.

 

[mbavers]

January 14th, 2016.

Ah, The GM TH 400...world's least reliable truck transmission. I had one in a 1976 Chevy C10 Van, what a feeling to have all the FW clutches go and have to back her home in R!

It is very sad to see that most of the new car and truck builders have very little understanding how to build a solid, reliable and good working manual transmission, worse yet that so many people today do not know how to drive them, which is why so many military trucks have been built with the sorry examples of automatic transmissions we see today. My wife's 2006 Jeep Wrangler has a transmission that is much lower grade then the one in my 1963 S404.114 Unimog.

The optimum transmission for plowing? A diesel electric set up with series traction motors! They will generate maximum power coming off a stop, accelerate evenly, and go from dead stopped forward to rolling in reverse quicker then a TH400! The only thing to handle would be a reverse lever with minimal force to shift it, or a mere electric switch on your steering column. If you don't think it will work, the diesel locomotives built from 1926 to the 1970's had it and took a lot more beating then your plow trucks. The Army experimented with it with a Condec diesel electric drive in a deuce with motors in all six hubs.... For a one off deuce, too expensive, but if all 500,000 had had it, a better designed system would have made it standard.

Up until now all I had heard about the TH400 is that it is very tough and reliable. I think the one I have has been severely mistreated.

 

[cucvrus]

Ah, The GM TH 400...world's least reliable truck transmission. I had one in a 1976 Chevy C10 Van, what a feeling to have all the FW clutches go and have to back her home in R

Never in 40 years of working on trucks have I ever heard of this a TH400. I beat the snot out of every TH400 I ever had and split 2 cases while plowing snow and still drove it to the transmission shop. I see these TH400 transmissions in cars that are pushing 800 HP. They are very sought after for street rods and drag cars. i never ever heard anyone call a TH400 weak and unreliable. Never. When did this happen in the 1976 C10 van. And how does that prove they are unreliable. Everything has a breaking point. Everything. IMHO Chrysler has a 727 torque flite GM TH400 Ford had big HD transmissions also. i am not very familiar with Ford Automatics. I had an A4OD Ford transmission in my 194 F250 diesel 4X4 and they were not the best it went 191K miles and I sold it to a friend that ran it into the ground. The 7.3 engine cavitated and the transmission was still going. I will swear by my TH400 as the best automatic transmission all around. Easiest to get parts for and up grade. I have had very few failure with out just cause. IMHO. The last new truck i could get that transmission in was a 1988 V3500 4X4 and that just burned up the engine compartment wiring last year. I sold it with the plow and all.

 

[mbavers]

Please see new thread I just started about auto trans coolers.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

CUCVRUS:


The C10 noted above was lightly used and the tranny went at about 45,000 miles and 1-1/2 years of age. It also had the fuel pump casting crack and leak at less then 60,000 miles, and the power steering pump bracket went at about 25,000 due to the weight on the front end of this particular van. The only thing I can tell you is that the C-10 was an over the road truck and not run much in bumper to bumper traffic, and rarely ever carried 500 lbs of cargo, if that at any time. The GMC's were not known for particular reliability or longevity, excepting a 1967 Ex Air Force Step-Van we had which went about 10 years, but it had a 6 cylinder and a manual transmission.

I replaced it with an S-10 in 1985 that took much more of a beating up to 140,000 miles, then replaced that in 1989 with a Ford F250 experimental that's still going at 450,000 miles on the original gas engine. Often the F250 was used to switch 47,000 LB railroad cabooses and move up to 2 tons of ballast (rock) at a time- it had a granny manual transmission from the factory, and only used one clutch in 450,000+ miles. This one used to get caught in rush hour traffic in Pittsburgh almost every day and I have no clue how many shifts it must of handled, but it did break the shifter stick mounting bolt off one time from fatigue.....

The only reason I bought the F250? I had bought a 37 year old Ford F6 dump truck that had been both a dump truck and a freight truck, and it was still going when I sold it in 1993 and is somewhere in South Carolina still working.

That C-10 might have been a lemon, but I never had the similar transmission problems with the manual transmissions! And some manual transmissions are adapted for shuttle service, as the Unimogs can be set up that way as they are descended from farm tractors.