[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by cajunfj40

Hello again Shaneajanderson,

Heavy Half? Neat! Hadn't run across that combo before, glad to learn something new and glad to hear you found a less-rust one!

Is it the close-ratio or wide-ratio ZF? The wide-ratio IIRC has the ~5.something first gear. You could gear for the camper in 4th, empty driving in 5th perhaps. First gear will still be able to get you rolling. I've read of people putting the wide-ratio gears in the correct housing to match whatever engine they have, so that's a potential option if you want to try steep gearing. Heavy transmission though, so it'd be a fair bit of work. (My M5OD-R1HD with transfercase was a hassle, even with a transmission jack...)

Since you're already in "heavy half" territory with the beefier transmission, do you have a 9" rear end or an 8.8"? If you poke around on the 'net you can find articles on how to swap on 8-lug F250 or similar spindles/hubs/rotors to your TTB front end. For the rear you'll probably need to swap in a 9" from an F250 or similar, unless you want custom axle shafts or if there was a "light 3/4" that came with an 8-lug 8.8. Then you could probably nab just the shafts. That would allow stock 16" F250 rims to be used, and give you bigger front end bearings, brakes, etc.

Otherwise, sounds like pulling out the lift blocks and putting stock size LT235/75R15 tires on will be your least-cost move and you've a good handle on what you want to do.

Not sure on the wide ratio or narrow ratio. What I do know is that first is low enough that empty I use it only too about 5 MPH, and with the camper it's low enough to get it moving uphill without burning the clutch.