What are you doing your towing with?

[dant]

towing something is bad enough. Not having equipment that is up to the task makes it worse.
I was following Ken one time after he had just purchased an TPD enclosed trailer...he had his '74 Carrera Clone in back, I was following him in my 6. We were going thru Walnut Creek. He had left tons of room between himself and the car in front...well some BOZO towing a boat whips over in front of him and then stands on the brakes. Ken had that trailer every which way but straight to get it stopped...
And that was a 20' trailer with brakes on only one of the two axles...the next week the parts were ordered and that trailer had brakes on both axles.......
Even though the trailer had brakes they were not up to the task with the weight that was in the trailer.

moral of the story....when it comes to towing..........anything behind your tow vehicle, there is no such thing as too much brakes...

[Phat B]

Intersting thing is I havent setup brake controller on the chevy yet. What is funny is that Chevy without trailer brakes can stop faster than my old Ford with trailer brakes. Brakes on the chevy are awesome clampers tires hold under load as well. I'm still going to install brake controller but I just havent been overly motivated. I even had an emergency stop where idiot pulled in front of me and slammed on the brakes Truly impressive control and braking capability.

[mikey]

towing something is bad enough. Not having equipment that is up to the task makes it worse.
I was following Ken one time after he had just purchased an TPD enclosed trailer...he had his '74 Carrera Clone in back, I was following him in my 6. We were going thru Walnut Creek. He had left tons of room between himself and the car in front...well some BOZO towing a boat whips over in front of him and then stands on the brakes. Ken had that trailer every which way but straight to get it stopped...
And that was a 20' trailer with brakes on only one of the two axles...the next week the parts were ordered and that trailer had brakes on both axles.......
Even though the trailer had brakes they were not up to the task with the weight that was in the trailer.

moral of the story....when it comes to towing..........anything behind your tow vehicle, there is no such thing as too much brakes...

Nice way to scare me into brakes..... dad

Brakes will be on order tonight. It's not all that expensive... and easy to install if ya buy the kit. Heck, it comes with new hubs and all. Then, while the stuff is all apart I'll get new tires fer the thing. It should be a rather nice setup after all that.

[dant]

Mike, not to scare you , but be careful in selecting your ST rated tire brand....there is some real junk trailer tires out there.

[J P Stein]

Most guys I've seen put the cars front tires on a tow dolly. I'd perfer to do the rears on. Bad idea?

[Justinp71]

Most guys I've seen put the cars front tires on a tow dolly. I'd perfer to do the rears on. Bad idea?

I've seen it done both ways, online most places say dont put it on backwards. But I've seen many cars going down the freeway two wheel towed going backwards. I don't think there's really much of an issue as long as you lock the steering. But the vw/914 trannies do fine being towed on the ground.

[campbellcj]

It is about time for me to get my own tow vehicle after borrowing the wife's daily driver for that purpose for many years.

It will rarely get used for anything else, except a bit of parts or junk hauling, so I am not looking to spend a ton but I also have an aversion to driving total beaters and need it to be bulletproof reliable. I figure a Ford pickup with a bed cover or shell would be the ticket. Not sure of model, gas/diesel or standard vs crew cab. Not sure of much, really...time to do some homework.

[dant]

Chris,
Chevy/GMC or Ford will do what you want...Even a Toyota Tacoma can tow up to 6500#s.
A decent half ton Ford or Chevy can be rated up to 8,000#s or a bit more for towing when properly equipped.
For only occasional towing or usage I would not go to the expense of a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel. The initial cost will be higher and diesel fuel is considerably higher in cost currently.
I towed two different RVs with 1/2 ton Suburbans for years with great success and no mechanical issues.
Our current RV is near 8,000#s and I pulled it with a Y2K 1/2 ton Burb with a 5.3 and 4:10 gears for over 9 years. And we went to the high sierras, LA over the grape vine and many other steep grades.
Most setups for racecars and open or even enclosed trailers will not over tax a 1/2 ton truck that is properly equipped.
With my two Burbs I also pulled open and enclosed racecar trailers over the years and they put less stress on the trucks than the RVs did because of aerodynamics and overall weight.
I currently have a Crew Cab Chevy 3/4 ton with Duramax 6.6L Diesel and Allison 6 speed Automatic and it is a towing monster.
Up 6% grades in 5th gear at 1650rpms at 60mph with tons of pedal left for acceleration if needed. All while getting 13-14 mpg.

[campbellcj]

Thanks Dan. I agree, I would prefer to not go too huge. For years I have been towing just fine with Toyota Land Cruisers, 4.6L gas engine. My trailer+car is under 5000lbs. The Land Crusher gets barely 12-13mpg towing and it would be nice to improve on that but not a major factor. I do not envision getting a bigger/enclosed trailer in the real near future but as long as the vehicle could handle a modest single-car enclosed rig too, I'll be set for several years.

[mikey]

I was pleasantly surprised at how well my Tacoma functions as a tow vehicle. Mind you, I have no mountainous terrain to travel. It could do with trailer brakes as an added safety measure but, here in the flats, it's low and slow as I go. Works like a charm and gets fantastic gas mileage.