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this past weekend, below are some of my thoughts from that trip.
D150 empty weighs 4100 Lbs, add 600 Lbs for passengers, tools, gear
Aluminum trailer weighs 1200 Lbs
68 Barracuda, with the interior removed weighs, and this is a guess 2800 Lbs
the 83 D150 has 30,000 miles on it since I did the frame off rebuild. I am through the initial
issues and the truck is reliable. Ran flawless out and back.
AC works fine, Thanks Charlie S for the AC tips, interior is quiet, little wind noise, radio sounds great
the motor has .030 OS stock pistons, OS valves, dual Dutra's, cam is 212 / 206 @ .050, HEI ignition
Holly 2280 carb
A833 OD tranny and 3.73 rear gears
over the 1100 miles the truck averaged 14.45 mpg
on the relatively flat lands of IN and OH the mileage was in the low 15's
on the hill country of Virginia and NC the mileage was in the mid 13's
I think that is actually pretty good, when the truck is not towing, I can
get high 19's to low 20's on the highway.
I have Air Lift air bags in the rear, a stabilizer bar in the front and a Tekonsha brake controller.
No issues with the handling or braking.
What was an issue is on the way out to Wilksboro, on the hilly sections of I-77 and on the way back to Indy
on the up grades on 421 and 321, there were times when I got down as low as second gear, the motor spinning at
2500 RPM and the vehicle moving at 35 mph.
Even then the truck never over heated or acted badly, it just did not have the power to pull those grades at a
normal speed.
On the other sections of the trip I could set the cruse control on 65 and motor down the highway.
Occasionally I would need to down shift out of OD to third on a grade, but I could maintain crusing speed.
So the 83 D150 does fine as a tow vehicle, between the Smokey and the Rocky Mountains.
But for tows into those sections of the country, I will need an alternative.
They didn't usually hold up well to start with.