Wow, that's interesting. Bet you had to do a lot to get the sheet metal to attach? I'm thinking of a Mopar, but have heard things about the unibody and distributing the weight from the hitch properly. I was thinking of a 63- 68 Chrysler, or maybe a 67 or later Dart convertible or Coronet.
Actually the sheet metal wasn't that big a deal. Lobbed the frame horns off the old frame and re-attached them to the new one so the bumper mounts were correct and a bit of trimming of the inner fender housings to fit the A-arms, new motor mounts and that was it.
I saw a lot of sixties Mopar products pulling big trailers, including Airstreams, all through the sixties, seventies and into the eighties when trucks really got up to speed with luxury items, and people were more willing to use a truck as a primary vehicle. Convertibles do have a stronger frame to accommodate the flex with the roof and lots of folks continue to use them for towing. I don't have any knowledge about unibody construction and towing but I do know there are lots of folks both pro and against it for various reasons. I had a custom built hitch done for my Pontiac to make sure the weight was evenly distributed and it has worked extremely well.
Good luck with your pursuit of a vintage TV.
Barry
__________________ The best things in life are health, family, friends and enjoying your Airstream in a campground. Wally on Bro
Barry & Donna Life is short - so's the door on an Flying Cloud (ouch)
I remember seeing the cover of one of the past WBCII directories. They had a 34' triple being towed by a Ford Expedition. That is a bit too little of a tow vehicle for me. We had an Expedition that had a 4.6L engine and towing a 25' SOB scared me. I know that the biggest engine in that year was a 5.4L.
For our TV, overkill suits me just fine.
__________________
Roger & Roxie Smith (WBCCI#27380 - Air#178)
Visalia, CA (between Fresno & Bakersfield)
1992 25' Excella - Nuestra casa rodante
2003 F-250 6.0 Turbo Diesel Crew Cab http://www.casarodante.org
I'm revisiting this since I bought a vintage car,not necessarily for towing. The picture with the Nissan SUV and the big trailer- I wonder about towing with an SUV because of the high center of gravity. If you have to maneuver quickly, they can be really tippy, I know, we have an old Jeep and Explorer. So, you have the road hugging weight, but the deficient handling is a tradeoff?
I'm revisiting this since I bought a vintage car,not necessarily for towing. The picture with the Nissan SUV and the big trailer- I wonder about towing with an SUV because of the high center of gravity. If you have to maneuver quickly, they can be really tippy, I know, we have an old Jeep and Explorer. So, you have the road hugging weight, but the deficient handling is a tradeoff?
Well, here's a shot of our previous rig...
Frankly, I don't like driving my Yukon on the highway when empty -- high centre of gravity and short wheelbase does make it a little too squirrely for my taste. But when hitch up to a TT, it behaves much more sure-footedly -- probably has something to do with towing 100% of its GVWR! I knew SUV's don't make the best tow vehicles, but they do have their benefits -- like 7 passenger seating, nice ride and they look cool (much better than a PU truck!)
__________________
Gary & Debbie
2001 Safari 25 SS
2001 Yukon 5.3L 3.73 • Hensley • Jordan Ultima • McKesh
Get a suburban and all your troubles will be over. Wonderful tv as well as a GREAT daily driver. The longer wheel base makes the 'burb the king of the road.
Wow, that's interesting. Bet you had to do a lot to get the sheet metal to attach? I'm thinking of a Mopar, but have heard things about the unibody and distributing the weight from the hitch properly. I was thinking of a 63- 68 Chrysler, or maybe a 67 or later Dart convertible or Coronet.
P
Imperial had full frame and the strongest construction of all cars built through 1966. Unibody is struturally preferable for towing, and the hitch attachments are very straightforward. Full size Dodge/Plymouth was the king of police fleets in the 1960's-1970's because the drivetrain and chassis were superior to anything from Ford or GM in that period.
Mark Olson (turbinecar.com?) once had a diagram on the factory hitch online, drop him a message after reading about the Chrysler turbine car his family had.
We (extended family) had Chryslers pulling 6-8,000-lb trailers (Streamline and Silver Streak) across US, Canada and Mexico in that period. Best tow motors are the 413-4V and 440-4V ahead of the B727 TorqueFlite transmission with 3.23 gears with limited slip differential. A vacuum-secondary, spread-bore carb and electronic ignition will do the job very sweetly. A 1965 or later full-size Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth can be refitted with single caliper disc brakes from any 1971 or later full size through 1978.
Better steering and suspension pieces can be had from FIRM FEEL. 1.02" torsion bars would be ideal on the 122" or 124" wheelbase cars under a BB with AC, and new leaf springs from EATON DETROIT Spring will work well. There are still some NOS Koni shocks out there.
I'll check out the turbine car page, those were beautiful machines. I don't think I'd ever get a Surburban for a daily driver- That is served by a Honda Fit and a Honda S2000. I like the Fit's 38 mpg and it handles the mountain roads here well.
I just filled the Dart with Super, at 3.96 a gallon.
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