2006gmcdmax
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2012
- Messages
- 286
- Location
- Augusta, GA
- Tractor
- Many but mostly ford diesels or ihc or jds
Yeah buddy I sure do hate to see them abused and never be tight again haha
Your towing rigs and trailers
- Thread starter GreatWhitehunter
- Start date
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linuxman51
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2012
- Messages
- 270
- Location
- Montgomery, AL
- Tractor
- craftsman lt1000/jd 717a/ mahindra max26 hst
all trucks in here eh? where's the wagon love
.. had to see if it would do it. picked up the trailer friday afternoon, cleaned on it saturday (p.o. screwed a bunch of p.t. decking to it cause 'his stuff slid around'. apparently pulling it down tight was too much hassle?), tested it unloaded and the wagon handled it without issue or any remarkable increase in braking distance (trailer has surge brakes) although I'm sure prolonged use will result in things getting hot.
for s&g we put the tractor on there, got it centered up fairly well (first pic isn't really fair, the rear of the car is in a hole and the trailer wheels are probably a good 4-5 inches higher than the back of the car), and took it up the road to the first place I could turn around and came back. Braking distance was affected as one might expect, but not excessively so, an emergency stop from ~45mph added a car to a car and a half to the regular distance but produced no squirrly-ness, and the comfortable "top speed" is somewhere between 45 and 50. above that, with the trans out of overdrive, the engine is really humming along, and of course with speed compounds stopping distance.
for the record I wouldn't go anywhere with this setup, I simply wanted to see if it would do it at all, and if in a pinch, I could go a couple of miles. Normally I have friends & family with trucks should the need arise, however no one had a trailer that would work and darned if no one would volunteer to buy me one
I've been on the lookout for a reasonably priced used work truck, but people seem to want (what I would consider) ludicrous amounts of money for vehicles that are beyond questionable, at least around here. The hunt for that continues. rest assured, you're not likely to see me beeboping through traffic with this rig, but the pics do make for entertaining discussion.
.. had to see if it would do it. picked up the trailer friday afternoon, cleaned on it saturday (p.o. screwed a bunch of p.t. decking to it cause 'his stuff slid around'. apparently pulling it down tight was too much hassle?), tested it unloaded and the wagon handled it without issue or any remarkable increase in braking distance (trailer has surge brakes) although I'm sure prolonged use will result in things getting hot.
for s&g we put the tractor on there, got it centered up fairly well (first pic isn't really fair, the rear of the car is in a hole and the trailer wheels are probably a good 4-5 inches higher than the back of the car), and took it up the road to the first place I could turn around and came back. Braking distance was affected as one might expect, but not excessively so, an emergency stop from ~45mph added a car to a car and a half to the regular distance but produced no squirrly-ness, and the comfortable "top speed" is somewhere between 45 and 50. above that, with the trans out of overdrive, the engine is really humming along, and of course with speed compounds stopping distance.
for the record I wouldn't go anywhere with this setup, I simply wanted to see if it would do it at all, and if in a pinch, I could go a couple of miles. Normally I have friends & family with trucks should the need arise, however no one had a trailer that would work and darned if no one would volunteer to buy me one
I've been on the lookout for a reasonably priced used work truck, but people seem to want (what I would consider) ludicrous amounts of money for vehicles that are beyond questionable, at least around here. The hunt for that continues. rest assured, you're not likely to see me beeboping through traffic with this rig, but the pics do make for entertaining discussion.
Piston
Elite Member
all trucks in here eh? where's the wagon love
.. had to see if it would do it. picked up the trailer friday afternoon, cleaned on it saturday (p.o. screwed a bunch of p.t. decking to it cause 'his stuff slid around'. apparently pulling it down tight was too much hassle?), tested it unloaded and the wagon handled it without issue or any remarkable increase in braking distance (trailer has surge brakes) although I'm sure prolonged use will result in things getting hot.
for s&g we put the tractor on there, got it centered up fairly well (first pic isn't really fair, the rear of the car is in a hole and the trailer wheels are probably a good 4-5 inches higher than the back of the car), and took it up the road to the first place I could turn around and came back. Braking distance was affected as one might expect, but not excessively so, an emergency stop from ~45mph added a car to a car and a half to the regular distance but produced no squirrly-ness, and the comfortable "top speed" is somewhere between 45 and 50. above that, with the trans out of overdrive, the engine is really humming along, and of course with speed compounds stopping distance.
for the record I wouldn't go anywhere with this setup, I simply wanted to see if it would do it at all, and if in a pinch, I could go a couple of miles. Normally I have friends & family with trucks should the need arise, however no one had a trailer that would work and darned if no one would volunteer to buy me one
I've been on the lookout for a reasonably priced used work truck, but people seem to want (what I would consider) ludicrous amounts of money for vehicles that are beyond questionable, at least around here. The hunt for that continues. rest assured, you're not likely to see me beeboping through traffic with this rig, but the pics do make for entertaining discussion.
Very cool!
deepNdirt
Veteran Member
I remember the days when a station wagon was the choice and preferred tow vehicle for many folks, The old late 60's-pre-70's wagons had large Big Block engines with auto trans that could be set up with the necessary coolers for towing, while many of the old trucks of that era had only 6 cyl. with manual transmissions and low gear rear-ends mainly for farm use, of course these trucks could pull trailer loads for short distance and at slow speeds, But people needed something to pull their Camper trailers at highway speeds for a long distance and needed extra room for the family, Via: (station wagons) were used,
I have to admit that when owning a 1968 Pontiac wagon back in the mid 70's, Using it to work out of hauling my tools etc, etc, it handled terribly, I couldn't imaging having to tow something like a 24' camper or a 16ft. trailer hauling a tractor with one of them, it sure had enough power to burn the tires off and I'm sure it could well do some pulling, I just wouldn't have wanted to be the driver of one while in tow or having to make a sudden stop
Thanks goodness later on the old Jeep wagons and Suburbans were developed for such a thing, and today we have our SD & HD trucks:thumbsup:
I have to admit that when owning a 1968 Pontiac wagon back in the mid 70's, Using it to work out of hauling my tools etc, etc, it handled terribly, I couldn't imaging having to tow something like a 24' camper or a 16ft. trailer hauling a tractor with one of them, it sure had enough power to burn the tires off and I'm sure it could well do some pulling, I just wouldn't have wanted to be the driver of one while in tow or having to make a sudden stop
Thanks goodness later on the old Jeep wagons and Suburbans were developed for such a thing, and today we have our SD & HD trucks:thumbsup:
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wmonroe
Elite Member
The old wagons and cars had an actual frame and some weight to them compared to today's cars. But like you mentioned the handling wasn't quite the same as today's vehicles.
- Joined
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- 24,157
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- Cat D3, Deere 110 TLB, Kubota BX23 and L3800 and RTV900 with restored 1948 Deere M, 1949 Farmall Cub, 1953 Ford Jubliee and 1957 Ford 740 Row Crop, Craftsman Mower, Deere 350C Dozer 50 assorted vehicles from 1905 to 2006
We did just about all our towing with big wagons back in the 60's and early 70's... Oldsmobile, Ford and Chrysler... the big Chryslers got the worst mileage.
Our first pickup was a 1970 C10 Chevrolet with a 350ci... did ok on power, otherwise very poor for a tow vehicle. The back was very light and coil spring suspension most inadequate.
Upgraded to a 74 C20... not as much power from the 350 ci... better handling and load control with leaf springs.
Next was a 78 Ford F250 4wd... nice truck that could not get out of it's way with the 351 ci... changed cam and carb which helped and then had smog inspection issues.
Our first pickup was a 1970 C10 Chevrolet with a 350ci... did ok on power, otherwise very poor for a tow vehicle. The back was very light and coil spring suspension most inadequate.
Upgraded to a 74 C20... not as much power from the 350 ci... better handling and load control with leaf springs.
Next was a 78 Ford F250 4wd... nice truck that could not get out of it's way with the 351 ci... changed cam and carb which helped and then had smog inspection issues.
Fordman1981
Platinum Member
The 78 ford you speak of was a very detuned 351M not to be confused with a 351W or 351C both were much better motors than the M.
Fordman1981
Platinum Member
The 78 ford you speak of was a very detuned 351M which is not to be confused with the 351C or 351W both of which were much better motors.
sd455dan
Elite Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2012
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- 4,787
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- North Idaho
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- Rhino 554, Ford 550 TLB (JD X500, MTD, Gilson riding mowers) Ford 3000-Sold
Yeah My dad ordered a new 1967 F-250 (New body style) it came with the FE block 352 2 barrel and the T18 4 speed with granny low.
The truck was very reliable but my dad used to joke that he could Pull 2 plug wires off the old 392 hemi in the Dodge truck and still run away from the brand new Ford...
Later we pulled the 352 and bolted in a 390 4 barrel out of my Thunderbird- that we put a 428 CJ in . The best part was that both the truck and cars mileage improved by almost 2 miles per gallon :thumbsup:
The truck could easily smoke the tires after that, just not quite as well as the T- bird..