Towing with F-Body

[deadstick]

Re: Towing with F-Body

if this was me, before i started changing my firebird and altering the ride for the couple times of year i would use it for towing, for the same money i would by cheap small truck. you will have 2k in tow pkg & extras for a car that was not meant to tow anything.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Towing with F-Body

if this was me, before i started changing my firebird and altering the ride for the couple times of year i would use it for towing, for the same money i would by cheap small truck. you will have 2k in tow pkg & extras for a car that was not meant to tow anything.

and then you deal with needing a place to park it, have to pay to insure it, register it, have to deal with the reliability of a worn out cheap vehicle... I tow with a car for those exact reasons. In particular the first is actually the biggest for me. double garage, 2 vehicles, one boat, one pwc, one snowmobile, etc... There is absolutely no room for a 3rd vehicle. (the wife has a mini-suv, but the car is vastly more capable of pulling the boat!)

 

[Mark42]

Re: Towing with F-Body

i would have thought that it would be substantially heavier than that also, did some digging, here is the original spec sheet for the 1600 cuddy... 1140 pounds with the 85 hp chrysler force boatanchor.

impressive to get a cuddy in that weight!

http://www.shareaproject.com/fullImages/8530.jpg

Hey! Thats my brochure from my Shareaproject page for the Bayliner! LOL! I even looked at it to get the spec, but without my glasses, I guess I didn't read it right!

Regarding getting a cheap second vehicle, the insurance, registration, maintenance will end up costing more than the vehicle in just two years. I have to put in the LSD for winter driving anyway, and I'm adding a trans cooler to extend the life of the transmission. So the money will be spent on the Firebird whether or not it tows. Might as well take advantage of it.

The hitches are only $180 shipped, so its a no brainer for me.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Towing with F-Body

Yeah! Nothing like cruising down the beach to a secluded area to hang out.

I recently had a beach front owner call the police on me for driving the Toyota Sienna AWD down the beach. I was below the high tide mark. Police came and we had a nice discussion, but the home owner was yelling and adamant that I can't drive on the beach. She said "he is ruining the beach with tire tracks". The cop looked down at the tire track, smoothing the sand with his foot and said "I don't see any tire tracks. You need to calm down and go home...." . At that point, she saw it was a losing battle and stormed off.

Gotta be careful out on LI, a lot of rich nut cases live out there.

The only places I have gone are the State Parks and County Parks which you need a permit for...and have to keep certain equipment in the vehicle (has to be a 4x4....has to have tow points...tow strap...etc if you get stuck)....and never had a problem...people out east are very territorial with their beaches

About the towing the other thing I might do is put a set of surge brakes on the trailer if it doesn't have them yet just to be on the safe side....I don't know if GM listed that in the requirements but it's an easy installation as long as you have brake flanges on the trailer axle...I had to do this with the trailer on my 88 Four Winns and man what a difference that made...I was towing this boat (close to 4000 lbs) with my old 98 Grand Cherokee (4 disc brake but only 11" rotors) and with the steep hills here (unlike the rest of LI the North Shore is very hilly) I had to use 2nd gear on the auto trans to slow it down...those little 11" discs were not meant to stop close to 8000 lbs all by themselves...I had a trailer axle made by Champion trailers and put in the drum brake surge system they sell (back then the disc systems were not yet prefected) and they work well....The 07 Grand with the much bigger brakes doesn't need them as much but still they help and takes the stress off the tow vehicle...
BTW I towed it home from the boat yard with the 07 Hemi for the first time and it was like it wasn't there....boat....what boat....

 

[fixb52s]

Re: Towing with F-Body

I see a lot of F-Bodies around here towing jet skis, but have not seen one tow a boat yet.

Good call on the LSD and trans cooler. As with others here, I see no problems with it. I would go with the trailer brakes for extra peace of mind.

As for the boat weight, I would have it weighed to be sure what you have behind you. My Chap is listed at 5500 lbs and the trailer is 800, but everything weighed in at 8100 lbs (full tank of gas and loaded).

So you never answered: is it an LS1 or V6? My WS6 only tows Mudstains down the track...​

 

[Mark42]

Re: Towing with F-Body

So you never answered: is it an LS1 or V6? My WS6 only tows Mudstains down the track...​

Its the V6 w/automatic. Rated 200 hp at the wheels, and 11.9" rotors up front and 12" rotors in the back.

For $100 I can pull the computer (ECM) and send it out for re-programing. Changes I will make are:

- Raise shift points when under load.
- Shorten shift duration. (firmer shifts)
- Down shift sooner under load.
- Lower temp that the radiator fans come on/off
- Change rear axle gear ratio so speedo is correct to match new rear gears.
- Change fuel/air ratio table for better performance and economy.
- Change rev limiter settings under WOT
- Change torque converter lock/unlock settings (reduces lock/unlock frequency)

Lots of neat stuff can be done all with a computer flash. Pretty neat.

I'm already up to 30,000 miles, so I want to get the lsd and gears in asap. But every time I think I have the money, something always comes up that takes precedent (and the money) .

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Towing with F-Body

I
Lots of neat stuff can be done all with a computer flash. Pretty neat.

I'm essentially running open source firmware on my subaru now, you can literally change EVERY aspect of the engine! I've done my own tuning mainly for boost and timing, but there isn't a single parameter related to the engine that can't be fiddled with. I don't know if the aftermarket community has done anything with GM yet, but at least for subaru, you just plug in an OBDII to USB cable and flash the new firmware.

http://www.romraider.com/

 

[Mark42]

Re: Towing with F-Body

HP Tuners makes software that allows updates to the software. But its rather expensive at about $400. Thats why I opt for the mail order tuning. I can get a cable that connects the obd port to a usb, but the software is the expensive part.

 

[z284u2try]

Re: Towing with F-Body

Let me know if you want a fbody reese i will sell it for 50 dollars I paid over 200 for mine.