No long distance towing, I have Mongo for that, but is a International 304 strong enough to tow up to 7000lbs?
No long distance towing, I have Mongo for that, but is a International 304 strong enough to tow up to 7000lbs?
304s have a lot of torque. Not a lot of HP though. I would think it would be able to.
No problem! used in tons of loadstar 1600 and 1700 trucks and buses. Used on in my 38ft bus that hauled my 68 Dart drag car in the back.
In reply to aussiesmg:
I moved a total combined weight of about 35,000 cross-country with a 185-hp 6 cylinder.
the IH 304 is built like a tractor engine... mostly because IH built mostly tractors 
The engines are built strong for abuse. Put your foot to the floor and tow.
If its backed with a 727 auto, anticipate shifts. Let up on the throttle just a bit to reduce torque during shifts. 727s (unless modified) like to build heat and friction during shifts under full throttle. Anything you can do to increase vacuum and make it shift while under less load will help.
If its backed with a manual, please disregard the previous paragraph and drive it like you stole it.
it is manual 
I drove a box truck with one. it pulled lots of hills. it just didn't pull them fast.
I endured a miserable towing adventure with a IH 304 in a gorgeous restored IH 3/4 ton pickup. We were trying to tow a trailer from Moab Utah to San Rafael California. We had overheating issues on the way to Moab from California and could not make it back with the trailer behind the truck and had to crawl back a couple hundred miles to Moab, dump the trailer, and then turn around and drive home without it. We eventually figured out that the issue was a build up of crud on the inside of the block that lowered the thermal capacity of the cooling system to the point where the motor could not cool if it was working hard regardless of the size of the radiator or the coolant flow through it. The motor had been rebuilt, but not hot tanked. Apparently the motor had run many many hours on city water and I learned something new. 304 can do lots of work if the whole system is up to snuff.
The engine should be fine at that level (and chassis as well. Make sure your brakes are up to it and you should be fine. They were designed for that kind of grunt. Good motors.
My new '66 CO1600 has the big brother 345 and is rated at over 19k GVW. I think you will be fine as long as you plan on it being a 55mph trip.
Had a 345 in my '79 IHC scout, loved that engine, more torque than you need, just a bit thirsty.
Remember, IHC built trucks only, with truck engines. Not car engines stuffed into a truck like everyone else.
They just used the 3-ton and 5-ton engines in the light trucks.
Expect single-digit mileage though.
Shawn
Yes to everything people said, single digit fuel mileage, and speed will be low. you will run any hills with any load at 25-45 mph. It seems like the combo I drove didn't care if I was unloaded or had 5k in the back, it pulled hills about the same. More noise with more weight but the speed it could sustain was similar.
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