Tell me how the 170 6 cycle do on the Hwy?

[Mill KNOB]

Just woundering how the little 170 6 cycle do on the high way around 65 MPH? Say with 4.11 gears.

Sound like it is going to come apart?

Climb hills?

Any info would be good.

 

[broncoitis]

i drove a 170 back from VA to NJ once with that exact combo and it seemed to do fine! Maybe a bit underpowered but overall really good! Not horrible on gas if I remember either.

 

[thegreatjustino]

You won't maintain 65mph on any kind of decent incline. Top speed on flat road is about 70 and drops steadily down to about 50 on most steeper grades.

 

[broncnaz]

A lot depends on condition of the engine and tire size. A lot of the 6's peak out torque wise at around 2200 rpm maybe a little higher for some. Shouldnt have issues running under 3000 rpm. of course its no power house so you cant expect much and if the tires are big then you may not even reach 65.

 

[I6bronco]

Well my daily driver is my bronco with its 6 cylinder. For just going around town it is fun with a little 6 and the Mpg's are pretty darn good as well. However, on the freeway (this is for me) it takes a good long 30-40 seconds to get up to 60mph and its max speed is about 73mph. Going over hills definitely hinders the performance of the 6 as steep hills tend to bring the speed to 45-55mph depending on the incline. When the 6's were new they could reach 80mph but I'm pretty sure the majority of 6 cylinder users don't have new ones.

When you reach 65-70 it's going to be screaming and about ready to blow but that's just due to it being used at max performance.

 

[Sun_and_Steel77]

170's don't do the highway...the highway does them.

I drove my '66 with the stock six and 4 wheel drums for a number of years, it was a dark time.

 

[bmbm]

170

If you have stock tires it will be noisy at 65. 30x9.50 will help a little. I drove mine like that for years as mostly a top off around town daily driver with lots of dirt road travel exploring. Just avoided most highway use and kept speed about 55.

 

[kdaudt]

I drove my '66 (with that exact same set up) 900 miles back from Montana and it drove just great. 65 mph is about as fast as you want to go on the freeway, once in awhile we went 70 but not for long periods. I'm thinking about going down to 3.50 for the drive-ability.

Also, I don't have any issues where it feels underpowered. In third gear I can accelerate from 55 to 65 going up an incline on the freeway.

 

[75junebug]

My brother had a 6 banger in his for a while. Like stated in above posts, flat land was fine, but inclines were a struggle. I had a carb from a 64 240 that bolted right up, and seemed to work magic. This was on a 69 with 410 gearing, 3 speed, and 33 inch tires.