23 replies to this topic

[Greg Gauper]

I had pretty good luck towing my Honda with my old Dakota with the 3.9 V6 w/5 speed. I also had the optional LSD w/lower gearing for better towing.

The motor had pretty good low end grunt for towing, but still got good mileage when driven as my daily driver.

Your ride will be much, much better if you have either a set of helper springs, or better yet, get a trailer with load levelers. Once you tow with them, you'll never go back. Don't forget trailer brakes!

I swear, the most dangerous part of racing is the tow to and from the track!!

The older Ford 300 CID in-line 6's were great for towing. Lots of low end torque.

Vans are nice, but generally speaking, trucks are easier to work on for basic maintenance.

[evilGearhead]

another plus for a cheap work van as a tow is that if you get a windowless work van, its much more secure and low-key for your toolbox, parts, etc. after all, they dont usually try to steal what they cant see.

You can sleep in the thing , too, its not that im too cheap to spring for a motel when i go to a race, but the most likeley time youll get broken into is when your at a hotel, and I dont mind camping out anyway.

[jsgprod]

I really like my F250 superduty . But the vehicle I used the most throughout the 90's was my old 85 S10 extended cab pickup. 2.8L V6 w/a 5 spd. I towed my CRX with that for years, on a tow dolly and an open trailer. Actually got pretty decent mileage with it sometimes too, over 20mpg (with the tow dolly). Until I put a V8 in it, mileage went to shit after that .

I bought an old wheelchair lift van once for $1000 dollars (actually needed the wheelchair stuff). After fixing the minor problems with it, I used it for my tow vehicle also for several years. I could hardly tell I was towing anything with it, except in high winds, that van was like a damn sail !

Just about anything can be used to work, even 4 cyl. trucks, within reason. Tow dollies can be a good cheap alternative but you need to pay VERY close attention to where you go with it sometimes. It's not a good idea to try and back up with them if you have a vehicle on them. Could get ugly REAL fast .

Jay

[JeepGirl]

we just bought a chevy heavy half, late 70's model, 1 ton dif and suspension, 454 on propane (dual fuel), solid flat deck, i think he said it comes with a winch, everyone that has ever owned it has been an autobody instructor, so i guess its really nice :SHRUGS: i havent even seen it we paid $1000 for it like weeks ago, we just dont have anywhere to put it yet..... anyway i guess the deck on the back is big and solid enough to put my 3G on with a long enough set of ramps AND still be able to tow a camper. when we move to BC all of our stuff is going on the flatdeck, in the jeep and in the car. the truck is going to tow the jeep and i will be driving the new bikecarb'ed boosted 3G, we'll be like gypsies, but with a candy painted caravan.......

his jeep could tow the 3G up the side of a mountain like a billygoat, 4.2L straight six w/5spd but with the SWB and the really high center of gravity you would be fighting the steering wheel all the way. i know towing the trailer full of gear behind the jeep sucks and its a single axle, making lane changes on the highway is REALLY SCARY! and he has a top notch suspension.

get a cherokee! like a used one with a str8 6. that way you have room for your gear and enough towing power to pull the car, and get a dolly...

[kamikaze_fish]

Thanks for the reminders on the inline 6. I used to have an inline 6 mustang and that was awesome for doing whatever I wanted. Went to a v6 and never spent a full week without being under the hood. Lots to think about and really since the car is light enough, I really do have huge amounts of options.

[dcostello]

Well, I am going to chime in here a little differently and go with the advice someone gave me when I was looking. Get as much tow vehicle that you can possible afford. Things REALLY suck when you can not make it to or home from an event! There’s my two cents on price/quality.

On vehicle, as just about everyone here I had to make compromises. I have three kids I take to the track and our vehicle is used as a daily driver as well. I do not remember these dates exactly but from 98-2001 we had a 95 Dodge ram 250 low top conversion van with a 318. We cooked a tranny and the wind noise at the doors and windows was horrible. My wife says she liked the old van better but everything she points to is based on the conversion not the manufacturer. Everything that I hated was Dodge. The van would shift (even though we had a CRX on an open trailer) going up and down hills on the highway.

2001 – Present we bought a 97 Ford e350 high top conversion with a diesel. It took me about a year and a half to find a good deal on one but MAN, I do not even know the car and trailer is behind me. I get almost twice the mileage both towing and in town and have done some extra things to get more HP. I am planning to drive this thing into the ground as I go from event to event. Now I do occasionally pull a 28 foot enclosed trailer and it goes great with no worries mate (is there an aussie around here). Ford and International had a great combination there. As already mentioned in a previous post I do not think that you can get more tow vehicle for your money than a conversion van cause of the stigma associated with them.

The last thing I am going to say if in the safety area. DO NOT OVERLOAD YOUR TOW VEHICLE!!!! I have had to make emergency stops. The one ton’s brakes were able to get the van and the trailer to a stop before hitting something. Also as you get a bigger truck and are towing nobody wants to be behind you even though you just passed them. When you are in bumper to bumper traffic and leaving enough room to stop so to not hit the vehicle in front and then some one cuts in front of you because there “was room” you’ll be glad that you have the 3/4 or one ton brakes. Just think of those old pickups going down the road with that load of firewood for everyone in the neighborhood and the back bumper almost scraping the ground. I never get in front of them unless I can get about three chevy’s in between us!!!

[JeepGirl]

an inline 6 is the way to go for what you need, and they are cheap on gas. dont get me wrong, his jeep still uses lots of gas, but not near as much as a V8. like he would NEVER go back to using his jeep for commuting to and from work because we get superior mileage with the Honda, but for towing, the jeep has never failed us (till the slave cylinder crapped out that is)

[phatboycrxhf]

you dont need a truck go out and buy a 98 3.1 v6 chevy malibu i use mine for every thing its a work horse ! I towed my crx from my old place about an hour away and burnt 1/8th tank of gas doing a 100 kph and she never struggled a bit

Sure i got looks and what not but so what and ive been running it on a bad EGR valve and no o2 sensor and she keeps going like a champ

[Jack ffr1846]

I gotta agree with Dan and disagree with Jeepgirl (sorry).

I used to tow my CRX racecar with an 02 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 6cyl auto. Trailer was a 900 pound aluminum with 4 wheel electric brakes and a controller.

I learned why nobody tows with these. The wheelbase is too short. The shorter it is, the more unstable. I also tried to use it for family trips....which didn't work too well.

Last year, I traded the thing for an 00 Yukon XL (think suburban) with the 4.8L V8. The longer wheelbase and added ton of weight made it actually feel like there was no trailer behind me. Without the 3rd row seat, and 2nd folded down, a 4x8 plywood sheet fits with room to spare. Newer yukons/suburbans will come with the 5.3 engine, which I'm told has way more power but uses way more gas. If you have a light car, the smaller engine will save you gas money.

I kept meticulous records on gas mileage. Jeep got 10mpg towing. Yukon gets 15mph towing. Same tracks, same load.

Believe it or not, these trucks are pretty reliable. Chevy knows how to make full sized trucks... if nothing else.

I also plow my driveway with the thing.



Dan makes a good point that you don't want to be stuck someplace because your tow vehicle broke down.

jack