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Old 03-27-2015, 02:20 PM   #1
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'76 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse Tow Vehicle?

My wife and I are purchasing a '76 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse. Before you ask, we're big Halloween people. Love decorating and scaring the little kids. We get about 1,500 trick or treaters each year.

I was wondering if this would make a decent tow vehicle and am interested in others comments. It has a 500 cu in (8.2L) OHV V8 engine. Seems to me it would be fine. Bigger engine than my Expedition.

Cheers.

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Old 03-27-2015, 03:32 PM   #2
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Definitely a unique tow vehicle.

I would tend to doubt that the payload capacity of a hearse would be sufficient to handle the tongue weight of the Airstream plus any cargo you might have in the tow vehicle. A typical mid-sized modern Airstream will have a REAL tongue weight of 700 to 900 lbs. You might be able to pull a 16 or 19 footer, but certainly nothing larger.

Modern engines are way more efficient at delivering torque for a given amount of horsepower than are the classics.

Plus, do you really want to put that much wear and tear on such a beautiful classic hearse?

But, if you insist, at least check the tire inflation/cargo capacity tag that is probably located in the driver's door frame of the hearse.
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Old 03-27-2015, 03:51 PM   #3
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It's my impression that those old Series 70 cars were all "super heavy duty" underneath, not just stretched/modified versions of the consumer cars until at least '76. I think the later ones may be lighter, but this one may be a beast you could do a few upgrades to and make it a fine tow vehicle for that '71 Overlander.

I would bet a mortgage payment the Caddy as built doesn't have enough brakes for my taste, but back then only exotic cars had brakes as good as my '05 Subaru wagon does. You may have some challenges finding tires in the original size with enough load-carrying capacity, but you can probably fix that with newer wheels. Does it have a bunch of emissions-control hardware, or did they have a waver for commercial vehicles? I suspect the waiver was just for high-gross-weight commercial stuff, so you'll have a bunch of finicky power-robbing vacuum plumbing to sort out in that old barge.
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Old 03-27-2015, 04:23 PM   #4
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Nor much different from my 1977 Lincoln Continental 460 CI engine towing either my 1979 Safari or 1954 Liner. You do need a good weight distributing hitch and transmission cooler.

Cars were the standard tow vehicle, along with Suburbans, until the cars were downsized in the late 70's to early 80's when the pickups were made more civilized.

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Originally Posted by RogueArtist View Post
My wife and I are purchasing a '76 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse. Before you ask, we're big Halloween people. Love decorating and scaring the little kids. We get about 1,500 trick or treaters each year.

I was wondering if this would make a decent tow vehicle and am interested in others comments. It has a 500 cu in (8.2L) OHV V8 engine. Seems to me it would be fine. Bigger engine than my Expedition.

Cheers.

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Old 03-28-2015, 08:59 AM   #5
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That's a 1977. Downsized from 1976.
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:08 AM   #6
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Research is in order. The hearse prep package was (and still is) a pretty comprehensive special build specifically for upfit.

The 500ci motor was just the start. I'd bet that you will find the front and rear suspension is drastically beefed up over a stock sedan. I know the Buicks were (I worked for Buick during the 80s.)

I am not sure if Cadillac customer assistance has a "Heritage" department or not, but certainly call them first. Also, if you can find an upfitter badge anywhere in or on the hearse, call them as well.
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:20 AM   #7
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Hearses and ambulances were usually modifications done by another company, Superior Motor Coach being one. Look also for this label and check with them if still in business. They would be the one to tell you what mods had been done ie suspension brakes and tranny etc.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:11 AM   #8
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Many of the power train and suspension mods and electrical provisions are done at the factory. Then they are shipped to the up fitter and the saws come out.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:13 AM   #9
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My dad pulled his 31' Airstreams with the top of the line Buicks for years back in the 60s and 70s with no mods other than a welded on trailer hitch and an add on brake control. He used an Easy Lift WD hitch and one of those sliding sway controls.

The old bias ply tires didn't last very long, but you were doing pretty good back in those days if you got 15,000 miles out of them without pulling a trailer.

I'll bet the suspension on those old hearses was pretty stout, considering the weight of a big metal casket and dead body. I think it would pull your AS very well, and look really cool. I'd love to have one myself.
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:00 AM   #10
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It's as long as a crew cab pickup and has as much storage as a pickup with a high-rise topper.
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:24 AM   #11
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It is beautiful! Would look great in front of an Airstream. One disadvantage is the long rear overhang. That combined with the relatively soft suspension might make it hard for the car to keep a heavy trailer under control. What size of Airstream do you want to tow with it? Be sure to mount weight distributors and sway control bars.
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:44 AM   #12
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Nice!

Probably some airbags in the rear and a disk brake conversion in the front would be good. Maybe you'd need a bigger alternator and make sure the radiator and trans cooler are up to the job.
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Old 03-28-2015, 12:18 PM   #13
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Go for it ! bet it already has disc brakes on the front , and no more overhang than the big sleds that were the vehicles of choice to pull AS trailers back in the sixtys . With a WD hitch and a sway control or two , you will be cruising in style !
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Old 03-28-2015, 01:13 PM   #14
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ANYTHING you want to!!!!

GO FOR IT!!!! That boat will do ALL you want and then some. You already have the recommended items listed here to tend to. You SHOULD have front disc brakes from the factory-- just wire it to pull a trailer and install a GOOD brake controller within easy reach and make sure your trailer brakes work properly so the trailer can stop itself. At it's age I would opt for a new- larger radiator and trans. cooler and a trans. service to check for bad things in the oil pan. You WILL want a really good set of heavy duty tires for help in sway control and safety-- no blowouts wanted no matter what your towing. I think your tow vehicle has rear coil springs-- because of the weight you could put in the back and the tongue weight even with the needed weight distribution hitch a cargo coil spring would serve you well, they are designed to give a good ride with a portion of the spring then go into heavy duty mode as more weight is put on them. There are many more options to choose from-- air shocks, air bags, newer pickups have rubber springs that can be added that work very well, and may be adapted for your application. You may find a class 3 trailer hitch available to put on your baby, but you may end up building one from scratch, no big deal, I just finished one for my 1957 chevy and places like tractor supply and even harbor freight have the basic 18 inch drop tube on the shelf for cheap and start building from there. Any RV store should have add on mirrors to complete your getup, and get going. We have some clubs in our area that are BIGGG into even MUCH older stuff than yours and they have a ball doing it. I have one old hearse that goes by my house that has a vacancy sign in the back window, Last year at A VERY LARGE car show in FLINT MI. one club had a power chair set up with radio controls and decked out with a skeleton in suit and bowler cruising their intersection and it was fun to sit back and watch the fun as people would look over at it and FREAK for just a second, till they figured out what they were looking at. We have pulled our 23 ft airstream for 15 years with our 66 chevy pick up and everything has been good, got the 57 ready to tow it soon and have done some short trips with it and pulls great, the truck and car weight about the same, about the same as the trailer weights, and back in the day, that's how they did it. ENJOY My thoughts are your baby is already set up heavy duty, so maybe not much more will be needed to make it a tow vehicle.
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Old 03-28-2015, 04:25 PM   #15
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Lots of good advice here, and I agree, it's probably stout enough to make it worth doing the necessary upgrades.

So, YES YES YES Do it! Paint it Silver!!
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Old 03-28-2015, 04:51 PM   #16
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The overhang isn't any more than some pickups. I'm sure it already has front disc brakes.


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Old 03-28-2015, 04:52 PM   #17
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Check the rear end ratio. If you are towing in the flat, it might be OK, but the ratio might be a little low for mountain climbing. It also might be a little soft on the suspension, so Airbags or Air shocks might be in order. My old Caddy was too soft. Self leveling feature did not work well for towing. An old state trooper car with stiff suspension might be more handleable on the curvy stuff.
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Old 03-28-2015, 05:04 PM   #18
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Does the Caddy have a door pillar sticker? Seems like it would show the "as modified" capacities?
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Old 03-28-2015, 06:17 PM   #19
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A number of people have commented that it's likely to have front discs already, and that's true. Since I'm the one who originally brought up the brake upgrade, I'm talking about things like new flex lines (preferably braided), maybe drilled and/or slotted rotors with high-performance pads rather than the '70s-grade OEM stuff. If you get totally worked up about upgrading things there may be a rear-disc conversion but since it's not one of the muscle-car platforms that may be hard to come by.
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Old 03-28-2015, 06:30 PM   #20
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It has 12" drums on the back, turbo 400 trans, and the 500ci engine puts out 190hp.
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