New section, post your tow rig?!

Added another car trailer today, need to work on a winch set up for this since I rarely load a car that runs haha. Truck pulled down 18.7mpg running 74mph on I70-I76 from Maryland, WV, PA, OH. Not bad.

Because of my career path,  I was in the truck game before the car game.  05 Cummins has gone full circle tow-pig, offroad, back to mostly tow duty. Still tows fine at max cgvwr with Carli/Thuren suspension goodies, although I went back to stock sway-bar, and can't convince myself to step away from the 315/70r17s.

21' Wood deck 10.4k w/dovetail. Converted non-brake axle to a brake axle, rewired & re-lighted (led) everything. Regreased and rewired the winch, various metal fusing activities.  Call it my "thousand hour trailer" given the time I've invested in it. Still want to make the drivers fender removable, put the spare under the "A" frame, and relocate the anti-tilt jacks I added further back, since I put them at the apex of the dovetail, and when I load something heavy I feel like that's a significant concentrated force on the dovetail. I dont have any pictures of the anti-tilt jacks, but where they are now is nice because I can fully suspend the trailer during storage, or tire changes. I tell myself when I do decking I'll paint it, however I believe the current paint job is a theft deterrent, while in reality nothing is safe anymore.

The angle iron ramps that came with the trailer were cutting into my 200TW tires when hot. Upgraded to these 6' aluminum ramps from etrailer, and just store them in the truckbed until I can fab up a solution.

Trucks not lifted this high, just tongue weight. 

I just rent the trailer when I have to. It's safer that way, fewer projects come home with me.

06 Express AWD.  It's only rated for 6300, but I don't mind short trips with 7500 and keeping it out of OD.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I've been thinking that a cargo van would serve me better than the SUV.

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I've been thinking that a cargo van would serve me better than the SUV.

Well, don't ask me unless you want an earful.  I'm a disciple of the church of van life, and I would love to tell you all about my religion.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Anything I have has to be able to:
1. Tow the boat
2. Haul us and all the things in relative comfort (while possibly towing the boat)
3. Drive on the sandy beaches while hauling us and all the things without getting stuck.

A van can certainly do the first two, but  number three is a question mark without mods. There are some big dollar rigs I see out on the beach, but I'd prefer to keep it to a reasonable budget. 

sometimes I tow my race car/truck/van.

sometimes I tow with my race car/truck/van.

In reply to racer8432955 :

If you have more details on the Econoline (? Is that what those are called?) please share 'em in a separate thread!  That thing looks cool.

2011 Touareg TDI here about to hit 100k miles. It's been an excellent tow rig usually getting 18-19mpg at 75mph with a 90s Camaro behind it on a 16ft aluminum trailer. I've also towed a 20ft enclosed through the mountains and it did that just fine but it would have been nice to have options for a stiffer suspension. Short of some mega $$ aftermarket coilovers/bags there isn't much out there for towing.

I'm still shopping 10 year old F250/F350s. A CCLB is in my future along with a big enclosed. Basically has to be a Lariat at minimum. Leaving my C2500 Cheyenne for the Touareg ruined me on base trim trucks. It's just infinitely more enjoyable to jump in a comfortable interior after a long hot day at the track.

The photo you see is the wounded LB7 with the ZF-6spd that made it to the 2020 challenge(193K).I write this after just having traveled from Decker Prairie Tx. (home base) to my hotel room in B'Ham (08/28). This was put into service after the blend door in the Bravada gave up the ghost and is in a state of disrepair and burdened with time constraints(werk). This sat at the repair shop from July 2021 to Sept 2022. Was aware of the blown head gasket, but what was brought to my attention to be resolved would probably have most just say screw it. Besides the head gaskets, the turbo had no vanes...and was rebuilt. While the bullet sat on the floor, new motor mounts,clutch slave cylinder, pilot bearing, starter motor,fuel pump/fuel filter, water pump and a radiator(blown hdgskts anyone).Finally took delivery from the shop in late November of last year. Still has plenty of other issues to attend to(suspension/brakes), but low 20's unloaded (73-78MPH) with working A/C and rowing gearz is major scoreboard  for the Bro Doozer OHY!!!

New to me, 2001 Ford F250 Supercab, shortbed Lariat 6.8 V10. 94K miles, usual rust in the rockers and cab corners, but mechanically it is in great shape. V10 feels like it could tow anything. Got it for $7,500 as the check engine light was on, but all that ended up being was a transmission sensor, swapped that out and she runs great! Was a government vehicle according to the Carfax report, averaged less than 5k miles per year for most of it's life. 

I've posted in this thread before but here's some shots of my tow rig doing towing and racetrack things taken on my trip from NM to CT and back delivering DanO's Boxter and AAZCD-Jon's little Honda trucklet.

Posing with one of the big boys in a truck parking lot at a hotel somewhere in OH

Squeezed into a car parking space at another hotel somewhere along the way.

Jon's trucklet riding in comfort

Heading up the hill through the esses at Watkins Glen.  I dropped the trailer for this.  I thought the trailer might raise some concerns with the track officials.

We completed our traveling roadshow back in May with the acquisition of a stacker trailer.  If you want to take your house and two-car garage with you, This is the Way.

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This thing pulls like there is nothing behind it. 

In reply to Toyman! :

Holiday Ramblers UNITE! 

Which engine?

Ours has the 500hp Cummins ISM and it's a beast.  We're 38,000 with full fuel and fresh water, and it pulls grades like they're not there.  Our stacker adds about 12,500, and it knows it's there, but still does the job.

In reply to Rodan :

You have a couple of extra liters, 100hp, and 200 lb-ft of torque on me. Mine is the 8.9l, ISL 400. I'm tipping the scales at about 32,000 full of fuel and water. The trailer and Touareg weigh in at about 6500 pounds. With the trailer, she will slow down a little climbing the continental divide into Blowing Rock, NC, but most interstate grades don't slow it down at all. 

My retirement plans include an open stacker trailer with something 4wd under a boat. 

In reply to clownkiller :

We see that a fair bit down here in southern AZ.  Most of the time they're heading to the border and the 'tow vehicle' has Mexican plates.

First time really using this in anger!

No plates here in Atlanta.  Going to Mexico too. The first one cut me in traffic, no turn signals.  GDOT would have my head if I tried that.

In reply to Karacticus :

Could you not split the scales to get front/rear/trailer?

In reply to Rodan :

Drive axle scale is too long to hit all three scales.   Difference between this and other gets me to tongue weight. 
 

It's a little light, but it's towed well. 
 

Must be nice..............oh wait it is