Towing a hotrod

[dangileri]

Hey guys, im looking for some advice. I own a 93 std. Cab short bed c1500 with a 5.0l, 4l60e, and 3.42s riding on 31x10.5's with stock suspension. I towed small utility trailers (around 2500lbs) around town often, and have moved a 5,000lb trailer across the county about 35 miles with no issues, but on 40mph roads with no traffic (2am, long story).
Any way, i live in new york, and my graduation gift is traveling with my father, my truck, and my 1923 ford to arkansas (about 1000 miles one way) for a t-bucket convention.

First question, i need to rent a trailer that will put all 4 wheel off the ground, we were considering a uhaul aluminum one. Anyone have any suggestions/coments on them? I realize no 2 are identical, but there close enough. I have a a flat 4 electrical connection, so no external brake control. And i would not to have to add one, as room is limited and its not something i would use often.

Second area, my hitch sucks. I have a cheap 1" drop, a old as dirt 8" drop. I would like an adjustable one, any suggestions?

I know to not put the transmission in overdrive, as my 2,000$ lesson left me with a freshly rebuilt and upgraded 4l60e with waranttee.
Any other tips? I have oil coolers and all that fun stuff, but is there anything you suggest i should add or give a once over. This trip wont be for another 6 weeks or so, so im going to do a full service and brakes that way i have time to know it was done right or fix it (would suck to do brakes the day before and have the thing pull to the left or something, or an oil change the night before to find out i put 2 o rings on the filter and its leaking- go ahead ask me how i know



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[thz71]

Check rear end fluid grease all grease points makes sure ur coolant is topped off along with all other fluids check tires and tire pressure on the truck and trailer make sure ur trailer lights work

 

[someotherguy]

You have an awful short wheelbase to be towing much weight, and not much in the category of brakes. So with that in mind, you gotta be very careful, those are your weak points.

Next up - no brake controller on your truck, but don't those Uhaul car trailers have surge brakes? Better than nothing!

About servicing before the trip, might be time to flush your brake fluid and bleed the holy hell out of the system. Main reason for flushing brake fluid periodically is because it absorbs water right out of the air. More moisture in the fluid means its boiling point is lowered; extreme use of the brakes (towing) they will fail sooner with the contaminated fluid.

Richard

 

[thz71]

Oh and if your gona ad somthing i suggest a 350 haha

 

[dangileri]

Thanks for the reply guys. My tires are new and rated for a lot more load then ill be throughing at them, and during the service ill check all those things thz71. And lol my lil 305 is down about 20tq and 5hp to a stock 350, at this point the only swap i want to do engine wise is a ls7.

Someotherguy, my brakes need servicing anyway. I would love to switch to a bigger disk upfront, any suggestions? I have stock size but drilled/sloted. Stock calibers, and stock rear drums just with high quality pads. I might need to use helper springs, but any suggestions to keep sway to a minimum? I have a rear roll bar, should i go bigger or remove? And yes uhaul trailers have surge brakes, but ive never towed anything with surge brakes! The 5,000 trailer had a controller hook up, which i couldnt use.


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[thz71]

The biggest thing to prevent sway is make sure you get enough wieght on the tounge

 

[great white]

You have an awful short wheelbase to be towing much weight, and not much in the category of brakes. So with that in mind, you gotta be very careful, those are your weak points.

Next up - no brake controller on your truck, but don't those Uhaul car trailers have surge brakes? Better than nothing!

About servicing before the trip, might be time to flush your brake fluid and bleed the holy hell out of the system. Main reason for flushing brake fluid periodically is because it absorbs water right out of the air. More moisture in the fluid means its boiling point is lowered; extreme use of the brakes (towing) they will fail sooner with the contaminated fluid.

Richard

On the money advice!

 

[dangileri]

Problem with weight on my tongue is my truck sagging, with the 5000lb trailer it was too much tongue weight and the occasional pothole leaving new york made me exercise my bumpstomps. Definitely something for me to keep and eye out for, the hotrod only weights 2000lbs, with about 70% of that being front axle so ill drive it on regular instead of backing it on, and then load up my toolboxs behind it or over the back axle to even it. Thanks guys.


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[great white]

Problem with weight on my tongue is my truck sagging, with the 5000lb trailer it was too much tongue weight and the occasional pothole leaving new york made me exercise my bumpstomps. Definitely something for me to keep and eye out for, the hotrod only weights 2000lbs, with about 70% of that being front axle so ill drive it on regular instead of backing it on, and then load up my toolboxs behind it or over the back axle to even it. Thanks guys.


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Be advised: you want tongue weight to be approx 10-12% of the towed load in order for stabile "sway free" towing. When you get lower than that, you're asking for trouble on the highway.

In your case, you want about 400 lbs tongue (guessing 4000 lbs towed weight for car and trailer).

If your truck and hitch can't handle that, you need to perhaps consider a different tow vehicle or spending some money on suspension and hitch improvements...

 

[dangileri]

My truck can handle the 400lb tongue weight, its a matter of acheiving that weight and getting the load to sit level. I dont really know what i was figuring for tongue wieght, but putting numbers to it is deff putting me at ease. If she can handle 500lbs in the bed all wonter for traction, 400 on the hitch shouldnt hurt a thing. I think that 5000lb trailer was closer to 20% tongue weight, but it was also single axle


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