Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

I believe that a Grand Marquis would tow just as well as an F-150. The frame, engine, transmission, etc are all the same or at least very similar. Up till the 80's pickups were farm vehicles, hardly anyone drove them for personal use untill after Urban Cowboy came out. If you had something to tow you did it with a station wagon or full sized sedan and it worked fine.

an original brochure for a 29' Carter Safari shows it being towed by a circa '74 Buick Estate Wagon

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

What does the truck have that the car doesn't that will overcome trailer sway?

My best analogy, is that towing a bigger boat with a car is like you manually pulling an elephant in a chariot. Yes, you can pull it down the road and might be able to get it up the ramp. You might not wrench your back (shocks/springs) while doing. However, tell me how you're going to stop the momentum of that elephant on the trailer when the driver in front of you slams on their brakes?

You will either not be able to stop effectively or jack knife the entire rig.

I may only be 33 years old, but I'm observant enough to know that about 10% of people towing boats actually allow a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them. Add in a car that doesn't have the weight and proper brakes to stop a 4,000 pound boat and you've got a terrible accident on your hands.

Last thought - don't forget who is in the middle of that boat/trailer and the car in front of you. You're the jelly in that elephant sandwich my friend.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

I fail to see how a half ton pickup of similar vintage is going to stop the said boat any better than a body on frame full size car.

Edmunds says a '94 half ton Chevy weighs 3717 lbs. 3767 lbs for the Grand Marquis. Plus the Mercury has rear discs

My rig stops great

 

[JimS123]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

My best analogy, is that towing a bigger boat with a car is like you manually pulling an elephant in a chariot. Yes, you can pull it down the road and might be able to get it up the ramp. You might not wrench your back (shocks/springs) while doing. However, tell me how you're going to stop the momentum of that elephant on the trailer when the driver in front of you slams on their brakes?

You will either not be able to stop effectively or jack knife the entire rig.

I may only be 33 years old, but I'm observant enough to know that about 10% of people towing boats actually allow a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them. Add in a car that doesn't have the weight and proper brakes to stop a 4,000 pound boat and you've got a terrible accident on your hands.

Last thought - don't forget who is in the middle of that boat/trailer and the car in front of you. You're the jelly in that elephant sandwich my friend.

Yes, all good points. But still, there are poor drivers in all kinds of vehicles.

I admit that I missed that statement about the poster not having brakes. Thus, he needs to worry more about the trailer than the GM. No question the trailer should be replaced, not the car. With that trailer weight, brakes are REQUIRED in my state.

As far as truck vs. (real) car, Madison Avenue (and Detroit) have many of us brainwashed. A real car will do better than a truck in all cases IMHO. The weight distribution of a car is better. The only advantage to the truck is pulling up a slippery ramp, then only if its a 4x4. A car will beat a 2x2 truck and if the ramp is dry there is no issue anyway.

But that's the way it used to be. Cars today aren't cars any more.
Oh, btw, my towcar is almost older than you are....LOL.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

My towcar IS older than I am lol

 

[Caravandaddy]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

All good info. I have a 2000 Grand Marquis I was hoping to use for my tow vehicle.

What about a transmission cooler? I didn't see any mention of that in this thread. Perhaps the original poster said it and I missed it. Is that in the tow package from Mercury?

 

[98Shabah]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

I've got a 2005 Crown Vic LX Sport with factory 3.27 rear axle, factory transmission cooler, factory rear air ride (auto leveling) suspension, Class III hitch, and I tow an 18' Mariah 3.0L I/O on a single axle trailer. This car tows better than my old 97 F150 2wd did. The braking power of these cars is outstanding.. At my last tire rotation (62,xxx miles) I checked for brake wear, the pads on the front are not even 50% worn yet, the rears are maybe 30% worn, and this is a rush hour traffic commute vehicle that also tows on a regular basis. Simply amazing.. And I average 21-22mpg with it.

Also, I swear the front rotors (and dual piston calipers) on this car are just as large as the rotors on the F150 were, and the truck only had rear drums, this car has vented rear discs.. Heck, our 04 grand cherokee (with a tow rating of 5,000lbs) only has non-vented rear discs, and the front and rear discs are substantially smaller than those on the crown vic.

I think it's pretty simple, the tow rating on these cars was lowered by Ford in an effort to boost sales of the more profitable vehicles in their lineup, suvs and trucks.

Sorry for the rambling.

-Tim

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

you can indeed tow pretty well with a big car like this BUT there is still a big difference between cars and trucks..... It's real easy to see too..... go stand on the bumper of a lincoln caddy grand marq or caprice and agressivly bounce it up and down..... note the distance it moves.... then go try some trucks... check the 1/2 ton's and then try a 3/4 and 1 ton.... you might bounce the car 8" or so but you won't move my dually 1"... It isn't a conspiracy to sell trucks it is soft springs and shocks to sell cars..... if gm put truck springs in their cars ford would take their sales because folks who buy new (luxury and family) cars don't want to feel the bumps in the road

 

[98Shabah]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

I fully understand the differences between cars and trucks. Yes, trucks have their place, I don't plan to put 2,000lbs of rock in the trunk of this car or tow a 6,000lb load. For moderate loads like this the car performs very well (with it's 1500lb tow rating)

This car doesn't have a soft ride to begin with, it borrows the suspension from the 2003-2004 mercury marauder.. It's pretty stiff for a big car.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Towing with a 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis

This thread has gone circular. No need for it to be continually drug up and same arguments made. Closed.