fcdrifter13

Your truck seemed to handle that load quite well. There was alot of stuff in that car, and your doley ieghed quite a bit. Although I do hae to agree that a bumper hitch isnt best. You can get a class 3 at my cousins camper shop for around 3-400$ installed depending on the brand.

BTW I miss my car. I am trying to trade my teg for another one. or just my system for a shell to work on.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

I'm gonna look for an Isuzu NPR so I can rebadge it as a Mazda Titan...

Or I'll get a Military surplus Deuce and a half with a flatbed. Convert the rear wheels to single rather than duallies and rock out in 6x6.

fcdrifter13

Youd have to fab up a whole new rear suspension to do that on a duece. Its like a hinge with springs, had to explain. I just happen to have a couple of rears laying around Ill snap a coouple of pics, maybe drive out to the farm and snap some pics of the 5 ton the supension design is the same.

lov-2-rev

iTrader: (87)

My favorite small tow vehicle was a 87' 2 door s10 blazer with a 305 v8 swap. Plenty of grunt for towing a race car and trailer. Removed the back seats and made it a rolling tool/parts box. And best of all, It was purchassed for $300 with a clean body and poped 2.8 motor. The 305's are "a dime a dozen" at junk yards, and it fit in with very little trouble. Also became a very respectible off road machine with the extra power. My $.02

mazdadude7

iTrader: (4)

im going to be towing my 2nd gen from nc to pa using a 05 nissan frontier (4x4 nismo) i will tell you how that works out.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

I see a lot of people are mentioning the trucks they've used.

I highly recommend going to kbb.com, and using the Compare feature under research used cars. You can pick the exact model and it usually has the towing capacities and gross weight limit.

Dave

Pele

iTrader: (28)

That sounds promising. I know my truck has a longer wheel base than an S10 and I know it's wider... Hell, a Miata is wider than an S10. (Found that out by putting one and then the other on the alignment rack at an old job.)

As far as engine swapping my truck, if I am gonna do that, I'm gonna look for a Ford or Mazda developed Turbo Diesel in the 2-3L range either 4cyl or V6. I'd prefer USDM as it'll be easier to get parts for, but I might go foreign market...

Or I'll build up a 4 rotor N/A high compression.

Midwest 7's

iTrader: (4)

how about an old school turbo diesel 4runner?
the diesel would provide the torque for towing and the 4runner would provide more weekend fun and make a good dd.
remove the rear seats and you have extra space for extra set of tires and tools for the track.

trueimport

iTrader: (8)

I use a 02 Trailblazer LTZ. I towed my FC from IL to OH on an aluminum duel axle trailer. It was the first time I've used the Trailblazer for towing and I have to say it was great. I had no over heating problems and no transmission problems at all!! The motor has plenty of power seeing that its 270hp and 270ft lbs of torque, hell it starts to pull the load at idle so power it not an issue!

One of the most surprising things about the Trailblazer was the fact that the rear suspension didn’t sag an inch under load!!!

The only problem I had was with the braking. The stock Trailblazer brakes just aren’t up to the task by themselves. So the next time out I will have to get a brake controller. Other than that I think I might upgrade some things just for preventative maintenance, like a trans cooler and a set of Timbrens.

I’m telling you the 02 Trailblazer IS a great medium sized SUV for towing hands down!! I've towed with a crap load of different trucks and this is one of the most surprising of the bunch. If you compare this to something like an F150 (something I have used a lot in the past) the comfort and pure ability of the Trailblazer is just superior!

Alex-7

Is it even possible to find them in decent shape these days? They where rare to begin with.


And with the price of old toyotas already being rediculous, I'd imagine a nice diesel example would bring an insane amout of money with the popularity of bio conversions these days.

If toyotas standars for diesel power in trucks are the same as their standars for gas engine power in trucks (excl tundras) I'd bet money a T/D 4 runner is one of the more dogishly slow vehicles still creeping the face of the earth.

What year did they stop making them?

Midwest 7's

iTrader: (4)

5k. and if you keep it nice it should never be worth less.
85-88 something like that.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Well, with the praises that the smaller SUV's (4-runners, Pathfinders, Explorers, Trailblazers) and engine swapped compact trucks (V8 S10) are getting here, I think I'm seeing the issue.

My truck is bigger than my mother's '93 Toyota pickup, which is the same frame they used on the 4 runner... So I'm certain that my truck should weigh enough to pull stuff.

I think that my rigging is wrong in that I'm using a bumper hitch and a dolly. The tongue on the dolly points in an upward direction when hitched up. The car pushing forward pushes the bumper up which lifts the rear end of the truck. A proper hitch UNDER the bumper should relieve this. Brakes on the trailer should take care of the rest... And a larger engine would not only provide more power for towing, but also add weight to the truck which'll stabalize it more.

speedturn

iTrader: (1)

Are you putting the front or rear RX-7 wheels on the little dolly?

NOPR

i dont think anyone tows with the rear wheels on, do they? I'd imagine that getting the front wheels perfectly straight would be damn near impossible, so it would wear out tires and possibly even sway in a certain direction.

speedturn

iTrader: (1)

Pele, are you disconnecting the driveshaft from the RX before using the tow dolly? If not, your transmission will not last long.

Tow dollies are for pulling little front wheel drive econoboxes behind huge RVs which can handle the extra load better than your little truck. Does your dolly have any form of brakes? If you are serious about going racing, you are going to need a trailer to carry your entire car on. Race cars break/crash, and a 2 wheel dolly will not get you home after a crash.

Bumper hitches just plain suck. As a minimum, only a class III , 2" square receiver hitch is acceptable for pulling a race car on a trailer.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Whatever you choose, be sure to check the data on the door pillar and verify the numbers. Trust me, you don't want to be looking at the hard numbers for the first time with an officer looking over your shoulder.

Dave

DamonB

I think what's being missed that others have stressed is that the tow vehicle has to be up to the task of not only pulling the load, but managing it. No matter how much power you put into an S-10 for instance you sure as hell don't want to be pulling large or heavy trailers with it as the trailer will move the truck all over the road. For towing you need power and cooling but you also need stability. Stability comes from weight and wheelbase. There's no way around it.

Sure people tow all the time with undersized vehicles but it's not near as safe and it's very tiresome for the driver because he has to be on his toes 100% of the time. I have never, ever heard anyone who towed with a small SUV or pickup not mention how much less nerve wracking and how much safer and more comfortable it was to pull the same rig once they switched to "real" tow vehicle.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

^ +1

Many people tow in ignorance, not knowing the difference between what they're using and an appropriate towing vehicle. Like Damon says, once enlightened every one of these people I've talked to has changed their tune 100%.

Dave

Pele

iTrader: (28)

It depends on how far I'm going... Short distances, I put the front wheels on the ground if I can.

Longer distances, I pull the driveshaft.

If I'm towing a car that's been sitting a while (Done this to several FC's.) I dump oil into the spark plug holes and leave it in 5th while I tow it, spark plugs disconnected.

Speed Raycer

I've had pretty good luck towing with my 98 Durango. 5.2L, towing package with 3.92's, tranny cooler etc. Plenty of power although I haven't had tons of hills to deal with, good brakes even w/o the trailer brakes. Downside is that it gets about 10 mpg. Probably could do better with some exhaust mods. Decent sized wheelbase as it's a little longer than some other SUV's, but doesn't take an acre to turn.

You can tell the guys that are serious towers though, never caught in anything under an F-250/2500

speedturn

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, go thru the paddock of a semi-pro road race, and the Ford turbo-diesels rule, with the Dodge Cummins turbo-diesel a close second. The Chevy Duramax diesel (really an Isuzu engine) is not as popular. The bigger, the longer the pickup truck, the more stable and safer they tow.
In the full pro level, they all use tractor trailers.

eastcoastbumps

iTrader: (1)

There was a guy with an F650 at my last track day. He had a nice enclosed double decker trailer. The thing was sweet.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

No tractor trailers... I don't have a CDL, nor am I intent on getting one.

I'm looking for a supplier of PowerStroke 2.8L Diesel engines.

RoadRaceJosh

I've towed all kinds of loads with my '72 Dodge B300. That's a one ton van with 8 lug wheels and a full floating Dana 60 in case you didn't know. You MUST have brakes for the trailer. A weight distributing hitch is vital to keeping adequate weight on the front axle so you can steer and stop normally. Locking up the front wheels is not cool. This happened to me once while pulling my brother's tractor.

If you can keep the weight down you can tow with something smaller like you already own, but in racing you end up taking lots of stuff with you. It either has to go in the tow vehicle or on the trailer. Regardless it takes a substantial vehicle to cope. A formula Vee would be better match for your truck. If you want to tow with the little truck you own you might convert an old smaller 5th wheel trailer to a car hauler. The 5th wheel puts the weight on the tow vehicle where it can handle it best, but you're still going to need air bags or other supplemental springs. By your comments it also sounds like you'll need to play with your rear brake bias valve's linkage to get more rear brake.

razorback

my dad has a early 50s chevy viking multi ton truck (not sure how many exactly) dually. i want to put a a cat diesel motor in it or a 3500 series cummins motor.

i want this...


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem

or an old dodge powerwagon would be nice as well.