This is one of those areas where public safety comes into the discussion. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. The likelihood of towing accidents is relatively low, but the severity is very high and often leads to mortality on the highway. Both the driver of the tow vehicle and other innocent people.
In reply to ShinnyGroove :
There is a whole area you are ignoring with a flat statement like that.
Skill, judgement, experience.
Not everyone can or does operate at the highest levels. Many, dare I say most, shouldn't drive past guidelines.
There are exceptions. People with skills greater than yours. Judgement greater than yours. Experience greater than yours,
In the late 1960's I was in the Philippines waiting to be sent to Vietnam. The best way to avoid that trip was to be valuable now, there.
When they asked who could drive a big truck my hand went into the air ( I actually had driven them down on the farm from age 10 on)
But this was a challenge. First off, it was a double bottom. Two mail trailers hooked up to one truck. Second the engine was an old WW2 era USA truck ( that's a brand not just where it was built)
Flathead six gas engine estimated horsepower? Six. OK maybe seven. with a 5 speed transmission and a 4 speed splitter plus a 2 speed axle.
Subic Bay in the Philippines is down by the ocean and first you need to climb out of the valley. Roads are narrow and designed by a drunken snake with palsy. Traffic is heavy and dominated by their buses ( Rabbit Lines) who must be paid only at their top speed or recklessness.
I was assigned a guide who spoke no English but was willing to point. I found out that hanging one wheel off a cliff was normal. A wheel and a half and he started to look worried. I also quickly learned that unless you wanted to replace your mirrors every few miles you folded them in when the Rabbit line buses approached.
Everything since those trips is easy. Including landing on the rolling tossing carrier deck at night in the middle of storms.
ShinnyGroove said:This is one of those areas where public safety comes into the discussion. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. The likelihood of towing accidents is relatively low, but the severity is very high and often leads to mortality on the highway. Both the driver of the tow vehicle and other innocent people.
Badly loading a 5000lb trailer on a vehicle that is rated for 13k is a lot more dangerous than a really well loaded 6000lb trailer on a vehicle rated for 5000lb. Work got me to take a trailer towing class, and part of that was driving with a badly loaded trailer- that was really interesting feeling the light trailer pull the rear end of the large F150 around like that- something I never encountered pulling my Alfa around in a Ranger, F150, Edge, or even Escape.
I know I have said this before (every time there is a towing thread), but you also have to realize that tow ratings can be complete BS. The designers and engineers go through a careful testing process via ASTM standards; frame stiffness, cooling capacity, transmission torque capacity, even electrical load capacity... then the marketing team and the lawyers throw it all out the window and put their own number on it.
For instance, 94-96 Chevy Caprice with a 4.3L baby LT1, and 2.93 rear is rated to tow MORE than the 94-96 Impala SS with a 5.7L, 3.08 rear, and a host of suspension, oil cooler, power steering cooler, and a firmer shift programming. The lawyers said "no one is buying this to tow stuff, so we can lower our liability," and the marketing team said, "whatever." The engineers probably said, "why did we even test it?" followed by a string of swear words that would make a sailor blush.
Having said that, I don't advocate randomly ignoring them, but when my 91 Beretta said it could only tow 1000 lbs, I had no problem towing 2000. The weakest point was the Getrag 5 speed, not the suspension, not the unibody, not the braking. I wasn't violating any moral guidelines and putting anyone at risk, I was merely risking popping a secondary shaft out the side of the trans. Of course, I did have the advantage of having a few friends who were engineers or designers for GM, so I had the inside scoop on why it was rated for 1000.
Having towed large things for my entire driving history (my family if full of avid RVers and farmers, and I full-timed in a 10,000 lb trailer for many years, and I've been a CDL driver for decades), I don't mind making my own rules or pushing boundaries. Not saying it's smart, but the cargo I carry is usually very precious and valuable. I would never knowingly endanger my cargo, myself, or my fellow drivers, nor would I invite the wrath of law enforcement or insurance declinations.
I recall towing 12,000 lbs with a bumper-mounted ball in a 73 Impala station wagon. Of course, I was going three miles away, very slowly, on downtown streets. I also towed 10k lbs with of billboard-shaped travel trailer with a diesel F250 for about 100k miles over 7 years and wished I had bought a dually 1-ton. After driving all day countering crosswinds, trucks passing, and swerving to avoid idiots, I needed more truck. Anyone can handle some driving stress for a few miles, but a whole day of white knuckles made for a stressful trip.
In short, your 4-banger Ranger might tow 7000 a few miles, but you don't want to use it as a tow pig. If you're just going down the street, across town, or helping a friend move 5 miles away, sure, feel free to push things a wee bit, but nothing is more frustrating (and dangerous) than pushing the limits for a journey, or as regular practice.
I towed my circle track cars for a long time with a 4 cylinder S10, one of the smaller, earlier ones. It wasn't ideal, but it wan't terrible, either
In reply to Curtis :
And ratings for the same car will vary country to country. My old Volvo 240 wagon was only rated to tow 2k lbs in "murican" trim, but in Yurup iirc the rating is more like 1500 kilograms. I towed an 1800es on a dolly behind it, for 50 miles in dc traffic once, and the setup felt absolutely fine. Slow, but fine.
volvoclearinghouse said:In reply to Curtis :
And ratings for the same car will vary country to country. My old Volvo 240 wagon was only rated to tow 2k lbs in "murican" trim, but in Yurup iirc the rating is more like 1500 kilograms. I towed an 1800es on a dolly behind it, for 50 miles in dc traffic once, and the setup felt absolutely fine. Slow, but fine.
IIRC, in most Yurupeen countries, anything towing a trailer is limited to roughly 45mph. At least, that is what people say a lot.
In the US, on the other hand, people insist on the baddingest turbo motor because they don't want to have to downshift as they tow their horse trailer up a cliff at 85mph.
morello159 said:
In reply to L5wolvesf :
Why not save yourself the trouble and do that swap right now? Then you can drive the Suburban out to pick the car up and bring it back...
Neither are ready to be sold right now. I have to keep the Ranger going until the other is back in service. Otherwise yes I would.
frenchyd said:
Have you ever driven a team of horses pulling a wagon with some weight? Ease the horses into the load, let them get comfortable pulling before you start working them. They'll do it, but on their terms not yours, not if you really want the best out of them.
I’m originally a city boy so the local horse people won’t let me go too fast with their horses.
snailmont5oh said:You live in AZ? Buy a rust free one of these, or something similar.
Would love to! I flat towed the previously mentioned ITB Pinto for 4 years with a 1969 Pontiac Le Mans Safari Wagon (a.k.a. the Tetanus Special) with just a 350. Often to Willow Springs, Riverside, Las Vegas (600 mi r/t) and to Sears Point (800 mi r/t) at least 2 times without any problems. I beefed the rear suspension some and had a set of T/A radials on it. It was just about perfect as a tow/pit vehicle – the 2 way tailgate was very useful. Hell, at one point I lost a cylinder (pushrod through a rocker) once that cylinder was shut down it would still pull whatever I put behind it.
Finding something like you pictured now is quite rare because they are gone fast. There was a Chevy Malibu version of my old Pontiac on CL a few weeks ago. It was overpriced 5500, in mediocre condition – and gone in days.
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