Tow Car

In reply to pilotbraden:

Had to do a quick check to see the the Mitsubishi MU-2 actually weighed over 10k. It does.

Trailer Guides

Peruse this and see if anything catches your fancy. Logic dictates that something small and fun will not tow much.

gearheadE30 wrote:

patgizz wrote: all are v8 except the very rare 4.3 v6 91-92 caprice sedans, of which i've only ever seen two. tow package is gears and not sure what else. probably some coolers. i'd add a big trans cooler to anything that tows if it does not already have one.

The tow package was gears, posi, springs, shocks, transmission tune, and trans cooler for the bubble caprices. For box caprices, it was all that minus the trans tune. This is my tow car: 1989 Caprice Classic wagon, swapped to a 350 TBI SBC and an nv3500 5-speed out of a silverado. Factory tow rating was 7,800 lbs according to the manual. 5,000 if you didn't have load levelers. Between very stiff suspension, Fox/Hotchkiss shocks, and the long wheelbase, it's actually a great tow vehicle. I generally get 18 mpg with 3 bikes on the back cruising at 75 mph. And yes, it is fun to drive, given the mods under the unassuming body.

Would really like to hear about your trans install. How did you do the clutch pedal?

It is my understanding that some 2 door caprices could be had with a manual.

wvumtnbkr wrote: It is my understanding that some 2 door caprices could be had with a manual.

There were also the "Iraqi Taxis". Malibu's if I recall correctly that were supposed to be shipped by GM to Iraq that got caught up in an embargo. They were sold in Canada for sure - did the US get them? They had a V8 and a 4spd manual, IIRC.

Would that pedal set up go in a Caprice?

Back in the stone age my dad towed a F Production Spitfire on a scary looking single-axle trailer with a '67 427/435 4-spd Corvette convertible. I wish I had a picture of that setup.

Logic dictates that something small and fun will not tow much.

Define 'much'. My Dynasty only weighs 250-300 lbs more than the Fiesta in your avatar pic and i've towed up to 4500 lbs with it.

The Ford Flex is rated at 4500 lbs.

I do like the idea of a dedicated Roadmaster, or 50's-60's Caddy/Bonneville Ambulance though.

I wonder if there's some way to upgrade a car and have it certified to tow x,xxx amount?

Take my Mark VII for instance; it weighs about the same as a box or aero vic with similar braking power and more torque, much more than the aero, but the Mark is rated at 2k while the vic is rated for 5k.

If I install 4.10 gears, an LSD, HD springs, HD struts and shocks, a panhard bar, HD trans, auxiliary coolers, HD hitch, trailer harness, e-rated tires, and big sway bars, I wonder if it could be certified to pull 5k?

Lots of liability, but it seems logical to me.

The_Jed wrote: Lots of liability...

You just answered your own question.

NGTD wrote:

wvumtnbkr wrote: It is my understanding that some 2 door caprices could be had with a manual.

There were also the "Iraqi Taxis". Malibu's if I recall correctly that were supposed to be shipped by GM to Iraq that got caught up in an embargo. They were sold in Canada for sure - did the US get them? They had a V8 and a 4spd manual, IIRC. Would that pedal set up go in a Caprice?

There is no way to multiquote that I'm aware of, so I just grabbed this one, but none of the 1977-1990 cars got three pedals from the factory. Older caprices could be had with a 4 speed manual in certain trims. Most people seem to get the Malibu (G body) and the Caprice (B body) mixed up, and you could get a three pedal malibu.

1991 to 1996 B bodies can get the conversion here without really having to do much: http://www.bigfastcar.com/default.asp

If you guys are interested, I think I have some pics from the swap and can make a new build thread about it instead of jacking this thread, but basically, I modified a C1500 pedal box to fit, relocated the fuse block/engine harness connector, and moved the brake pedal over so I could actually heel-toe without killing my ankle. The biggest problems are the lack of space and the lack of structure in the firewall down there.

The trans is in 2nd in this pic. It's about the perfect spot to shift without ever taking your arm off the fold-down armrest.

Minus the posi, unfortunately not all tow package cars got it. Dad's wagon has the rpo for trailer package, has the 3.23 gears, but no g80 on sticker and only does single wheel roasts. Your wagon is pretty, if i didn't keep the nv3500 in my truck it'd probably already be in my roadmonster. I want to 454tbi swap a 91-93 car one day just to see what mpg does.

As much as i like to recomend foxbody's i dont feel like thats a good option. Id recomend a land barge if your stuck on cars. Im not sure what my s10 was rated at but with the 3/4 ton rear spring packs we pulled 7k multiple times.