1976 Loadstar 5-speed question

Allan

Common 5 speed truck trannies even of that era COULD be "spec'ed" as OD units.

5TH = straight through becomes 4TH and an OD gearset in place of 4TH becomes OD 5TH.

Allan

If the truck you're looking at has the same shift pattern as mine then you might have a pretty big gap between 4th & 5th if hauling big loads in hilly terrain. My truck has a 15' grain bed with 52" sides & will hold over 425 bu of corn loaded, and with good tw can get close to 450 on it. I'm on pretty level ground most of the time so usually don't use 5th "Low" but we do have one elevator we haul to that there is a grade on the road to it. If I start out from the intersection closest to the hill I have to use 4th "Hi" but if I start from the intersection farther from the hill, about 1 mile farther away, I don't need to use it. out from will have to use 4th "Hi".

I don't remember the frame length offhand but with the 15' grain bed the rear tires set no more than 6" from the rear of the bed, and has a double frame. Dealer ordered it in to settup with a gravel bed & a tag axle in front of the rear axle. I had an older Loadstar 1600 that was needing quite a bit of work done on it & traded it for the 1700 new. Top end is approx 75 mph.

We don't use the truk much anymore, replaced it with semis. But for several years it was the only grain truck I owned. I hauled a lot of my grain to on farm bins & hired most of the grain hauled out. Truck only has about 54,000 miles on it.

Using the 2 speed "splits" each of the 5 main gears. This gives 10 (or sometimes just 9) more closely spaced gears. If the 5 + 2 are shifted properly it keeps the engine RPMs close to its power sweet spot in each gear. End result is a somehwat quicker acceleration.

However for a farm truck the straight 5 speed should work fine for you - you'll just be a bit slower getting up to cruising speed.

They feel like you are driving a 2-speed with the button in low all the time.

Sooooo, ya never really ever "get up to cruising speed".

The truck he's talking about will probably max out at about 45-47 mph with the engine just absolutely screaming. :>)

On the other hand, if the truck did happen to be ordered new with a shallow ratio rear end for hiway use, it will not pull out of it's own shadow for use on a farm.

Allan

Allan