Well, we've finally figured out how to add photos to postings, so here's a picture of our vintage tow vehicle (1963 Studebaker Wagonaire) and 1959 Globetrotter...
Wow...what a beauty! What kind of shape was the Studebaker in when you acquired it? What kind of engine do you have in it?
Sorry I only got one pic. of this one; I ran out of digital film! As you can see it looks like a vintage unit mated to a binder. I wonder how many of these Airstream made? It's front wheels drive with the front two axels live. It had a Wally Byam caravan sticker from Antarctica but the date was illegible.
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"Not all who are lost are wondering" say Bill & Heidi
'78 Excella 500,"The Silver Pullit". vacuum over hydraulic disc brakes, center bath, rear twin. '67 Travelall 1200 B 4X4 WBCCI 3737
I posted about the 63 travelall in the last post page ,unfortunately my
error was ,the travelall in Vintage Truck did not show the 57 airstream .
It was a 53 flying cloud pulled by a early 50 chevy pickup that had a photo.
so im making a correction on my post .Yes the travelall will pull a 57 airstream
as the article states ,just no picture of the trailer ,bummer .
Excella CM ,if you ever need to do an overhaul on your T-34 5 speed or
are thinking of doing it or having it done someday give me a PM.Ive rebuilt
mine do to the 5th rattle OD. I have lots of information to give on this trans.
The OD rattle is quite common on the T-34 .It an extremely rugged
heavyduty transmission ,Ive compiled at length lots of information on
the T-34 35 36 and later versions of this transmission ,T434 435 436 and
the final versions ending in 1982 . The 5th gear shifter rattle is completely gone ,but it was the driveline that needed to be modified to resolve it .My
5th gear hub engagement teeth and syncro hub were worn out and new
IH NOS parts installed ,but the driveline vibration caused the rattling .I had a custom CV joint built to solve the problem ,I installed the driveline and then hit the freeway ,what a difference it was .Now my 68 is lifted so it
was more of an issue ,but Ive experienced IH 5 speed T series noise on other IH trucks due to driveline angle problems as well .
I am thinking of using my 1968 ford ltd to pull my 4000lb trailer (not an air stream). When I restored the car I did so with the thought that it may be used for towing. How well do these cars handle weight? Can I drive at 65 mph without becoming a nervous wreck?
Here is a list of upgrades I made during referbishment.
1. Custom 4 row radiator
2. High flow aluminum water pump
3. Electroic inginiton
4. Change from a 2v to 4v carb
5. Change to free flowing dual exhaust (other wise the engine is a 92,000 mile unmolested 390 engine).
6. The suspention was completely rebuilt with custom made heavy duty coils, combined with coil over load shocks.
7. I will be using a weight distributing hitch along with a frictional sway control.
I am considering using it for towing because I need to trade my daily driver pick up for something that gets better fuel mileage.
The towing plans would include a 3k to 6k trip out west every summer as well as a shorter 1.5k trip to Florida for about 5 days every winter and short camping trips of about 40 miles from home about every other weekend from Easter up until the fall weather got to cold.
Brian, cars from that era had no trouble towing the kind of weight you are talking about. You didn't mention brakes on the Ford. The 60MPH to 0 stopping distances of cars from that era are not good. Probably more than 200'. Today a modern sport sedan can do the same distance in around 120'. You don't have a set of Brembo's laying around in your garage do you??
__________________ Airstreams..... The best towing trailers on the planet!
Well, we've finally figured out how to add photos to postings, so here's a picture of our vintage tow vehicle (1963 Studebaker Wagonaire) and 1959 Globetrotter. This was taken on the coast of the Florida panhandle:
The combo towed great and we had a blast on our 3,500+ mile trip that included the Studebaker International Meet in South Bend, Indiana and the Airstream International Rally in Georgia. Vintage is the way to go for us!
That's a great retro photo. It looks like it could have been out of an early '60's promo for Florida or Airstream or Studebaker! The architecture in the background combined with the car and Airstream are all of the same general era so it makes a great historically accurate composition. Great job!
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2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
I am thinking of using my 1968 ford ltd to pull my 4000lb trailer (not an air stream). When I restored the car I did so with the thought that it may be used for towing. How well do these cars handle weight? Can I drive at 65 mph without becoming a nervous wreck?
Here is a list of upgrades I made during referbishment.
1. Custom 4 row radiator
2. High flow aluminum water pump
3. Electroic inginiton
4. Change from a 2v to 4v carb
5. Change to free flowing dual exhaust (other wise the engine is a 92,000 mile unmolested 390 engine).
6. The suspention was completely rebuilt with custom made heavy duty coils, combined with coil over load shocks.
7. I will be using a weight distributing hitch along with a frictional sway control.
I am considering using it for towing because I need to trade my daily driver pick up for something that gets better fuel mileage.
The towing plans would include a 3k to 6k trip out west every summer as well as a shorter 1.5k trip to Florida for about 5 days every winter and short camping trips of about 40 miles from home about every other weekend from Easter up until the fall weather got to cold.
Thanks
Brian Ford
The only items that you might need to add to your upgrades would be a heavy duty turn signal flasher (the standard flasher will often overload and short out with the added load of the trailer signal lights); and the second would be a heavy duty auxilliary transmission fluid cooler. You most challenging problem may be finding a shop to fabricate a custom receiver hitch for you LTD -- many welders either don't have the experience to fabricate a receive hitch or are terrified of the potential liability involved in fabricating such a hitch.
If the heads on your motor have not been serviced recently, I would be concerned about using no-lead fuel as engines of '68 vintage were not designed to run on no-lead. When under heavy stresses of towing, my concern would be that you would have a very great potential of incurring valve seat recision as a result of the use of no-lead fuels. A major valve job was required on my '65 Dodge Coronet with 383 cubic inch V8 when I put it into towing service due to the valve recision that occurred as a result of the no-lead fuel.
Good luck with your project!
Kevin
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Kevin D. Allen WBCCI (Lifetime Member)/VAC/Free Wheelers #6359 AIR #827
1964 Overlander International/1999 GMC K2500 Suburban (7400 VORTEC/4.11 Differentials)
1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre/1975 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible (8.2 Liter V8/2.70 Final Drive)
Your car should be fine with the load you are proposing. It's not going to stop like a new vehicle so you need to account for that - it's going to stop like a 1968 Ford did/would and thousands of them hauled trailers of all makes all over the country. A transmission cooler of sufficient size is important - in addition to that which runs through your radiator - actually in tandem with it. The instructions that come with the cooler will show you how to do this and it's an inexpensive addition that will save you a lot of hassle with transmission overheat and potential failure.
Make sure you have your trailer brakes working, and reconsider the 65mph and get some better mileage at 55. Beyond that, get out and enjoy hauling with your vintage car like a lot of us do.
overlander64 makes a good point. You can buy lead additive at most auto parts stores or even Wal-Mart. At least you used to be able to and I would think it is still available. You may have to stock up if you have difficulty finding it.
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
For the last 30k miles I've been using CD-2 lead adative, one small bottle treats up to 320 gallons of gas. Also the engine runs ping free on 89 octane unleaded but I intend to use 91- 93 octane when towing. I've got a 428 built and ready to install in the car but the current engine is in such good shape I hope to get another 25 - 50k miles out of it before I swape engines. The new engine has the heads set up for unleaded gas as well as a low enough compression ratio for 87 octane. It also dynoed at 378 horsepower and a low 4700 rpms with something like 480 lbs of tourqe at 3200 rpms.
Hi
Interesting thread!
We are in England and use a 1951 350 stepside chevy. It was already part pinned with a jag by Chris Coddington (Boyds son) when I bought it and it a little thirsty. The advantage for me is that it has power steering and is automatic
This winter we are considering putting the cab on a 4x4 as it is both a daily driver and a working tow truck for our business
This is us a fortnight ago on the way back from an event in Cornwall which was a 600 mile round trip for us. On this trip the chevy was pulling a 19ft Globetrotter but pulls the 22ft Safari as well without a grumble
Quote:
Originally Posted by Longhorn
I am curious do any of you know of others who use Classic tow vehicles? Mine is a 72' Chevy 3/4 ton.
Hi
Thank you we do English classics as well as American vintage.
It's still a leftie and doesn't cause any problems, if we convert it we will use a right hand drive and convert it to a leftie wouldn't feel right if it wasn't!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate
silverconnie, did you have the Chevy converted to right-hand drive or was it converted as part of the Jag conversion? Or is it still a lefty?
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