ah, my tow vehicle

[BigB9000]

what do you guys think?

Boat is a 15' winner.

cars is a 1996 caprice, 5.7L, sporting 200,000 miles on the origional, stock suspention.

engine & trans have about 40k miles on them. non-posi rear end has about 50k on it, it has 3.73 ratio.

after i upgrade the suspention, how good of an idea is it to use as a tow vehicle?

 

[SFT2]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

Which 5.7 is it? TBI or iron-head LT1? I've seen a Toyota Crapola pulling a tandem axle trailer, so you might squeak by

(Note: the Crapola in question was just moving the empty trailer in a parking lot. No one is actually stupid enough to attempt that on the road, are they?)

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

no problems with that boat and trailer. but it sure looks like the bow eye is above the bow stop. if so you need a turnbuckle down to the tongue to secure the bow.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

Don't you wonder where all these trailers came from that have such poorly designed winch posts. They are certainly strong but they sure don't allow for adjustability and getting the bow eye and winch strap/cable under the bow stop. The setup on the Caprice is ideal to tow a good size travel trailer. It shouldn't even know the boat is back there.

 

[sam7684]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

You'll all laugh at me, but I pull it with a 180HP Volvo sedan. No problems (yet) whatsoever.

 

[BigB9000]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

Which 5.7 is it? TBI or iron-head LT1?

Iron-head LT1

now whats this about he bow eye / winch strap / ?

 

[rndn]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

As Tash abserved, the picture appears to show your bow eye of the boat above the trailer catch. What this means is if you stop fast the boat could rather easily ride over the trailer and into the boat. You should make sure the front of the boat is fixed to the trailer somewhere below the trailer catch to stop the boat from riding over and into the tow vehicle. There have been a few pictures floating around this forum where that very thing happened. You should still have the transom tied down as well.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

You mean like this?????

 

[jimmbo]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

The Buick and Cadillac versions of this car had tow ratings of 2000 lbs. If they were equiped with the factory towing option, which consisted of bigger rad, mechanical clutch fan, rear auto air shocks, 2.93(Buick) 3.08(Cadillac) positrac dif, the tow ratings were 5000 (Buick) and 7000 (Cadillac)

 

[BigB9000]

Re: ah, my tow vehicle

so the 3.73 's may have been a good investment?