Vintage Tow Vehicles

[safari57]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

One day this'll be towing my 16': A '57 Dodge Regent.

Powerplant is up in the air. I am contemplating a '67 383 four barrel.

Did you see this? Will it run? Tulsa to*dig up*car buried for 50 years - CNN.com

City of Tulsa buried a brand new 57 Plymouth and are digging it up this year as part of their anniversary and giving it away. There's some question as to how well it has weathered the time in storage.

Barry

[Pinecone]

Oh yeah, the crypt car!

The mopar/chryco fans are really excited and are making a pilgrimage of it this summer. Hundreds of Forward Look cars will make the trip, along with a few *ick* chevys and fords.

The hotels in Tulsa are already sold out, apparently. If only they had Airstreams....

[safari57]

I also put this in the 1960's stationwagon thread but it's certainly relevant here as well. I thought I'd mention that I put a buddies 1966 Impala 9 passenger wagon in the tow vehicles for sale section today. It's a beauty, completely restored, and I'm sad to see him sell it. The upside is he's got a 1935 Ford that's beautiful he tows with and he also has a 1954 Ford 8-passenger wagon he has done a restoration on and is going to increase engine size to a fresh 390 and use it as his primary tow vehicle. And the upside of all of this is he's sold the Award trailer and is actively searching for a fifties 22' Safari so we will gain another forum member and I'll have a companion trailer when we go camping.
Barry
Attached Thumbnails

[Alumatube]

We plan to tow our Excella with our '53 Chevy one-ton panel truck (it was a school bus!). It needs a full resto, but it will be getting a stroker and some other nice updates. I originally wanted to paint it the same as the Excella, but now I am not sure what I want to do with the color.



We also have a '63 Dodge Custom 880 with 383 engine that could be a good TV after its resto. Not so sure how push-button transmission will do with towing, though... I need to find a pic of it to post!

Susan

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by Alumatube

We also have a '63 Dodge Custom 880 with 383 engine that could be a good TV after its resto. Not so sure how push-button transmission will do with towing, though... I need to find a pic of it to post!Susan

Back in 1964 my Dad bought a 64 Dodge 440. It had the 313ci engine and the push button automatic. That car towed TT's for many miles and the drive train was problem free. Just remember to drop the park lever down when parking the vehicle otherwise the car will roll!!!

[safari57]

Hey Susan, that's a neat suburban. I've seen a few that have been rodded over the years and they look pretty good when they are a tad lower, have nice wheels on them, and paint is optional. Some folks have just left them in primer while they drive it and then don't get around to paint for years.

The Dodge would likely do just fine with a trailer in the 22' range that wasn't too heavy. Those cars were used to tow a lot of trailers. If you look at the older pictures on another thread on this forum of the caravans of years past you'll see a ton of similar cars, and yep, even truck/burbs like yours if i remember right.

Have fun with the resto's and yes, pics of the Dodge would be good.

Barry

[Alumatube]

RoadRuler, thanks for the info about the 440 (I'll bet that was a cool car!)--I was worried that the push-button trans might have issues with towing, but that heartens me.

safari57, thanks! We were thrilled to find it at the swap meet in Dallas one year. Yeah, we want to make sure all of the mechanicals are good before we worry about paint. If it runs and drives, who cares!?! (Okay, I do, but I'm more concerned with using it than how pretty it looks, really.) And thanks for the info on the Dodge!

Susan

[Rodger with a D]

Hola Susan

Starting in the 1958-60 era the full sized Chrysler's got the 8 3/4 inch rear axle assembly. The gear ratio on all towing equipted cars in the Imperial Division, Dodge Division, Plymouth Division and the Chrysler Division was the 3.23:1 unit the new 9 1/4 inch unit was issued in about 1970. A friend of mine here in Colo Spgs has a 2 dr 1973 Fury III with the same ratio rear axle on his OEM tow equipted car. The stardard ratio rear assembly will still do the job.

The push button Torque-Flite is an brute. Make sure that you have changed all the fluid ( Torque convertor too ) and the level is correct for many many miles of worry free fun. The car's transmission may like it if you pick up an transmission aux cooler from any auto parts retailer.

If your car came with the 18 1/2 inch diam seven blade cooling fan, that is great. If not stop at any pick & pull salvage yard and get one. They are on all MoPars ( cars, trucks or vans ) that had an V8 until ~. In 1974 the upper end vehicles with a V8 started getting a 20" seven paddle fan. They are one dollar per blade here and the clutch fan can be found at the same place as the transmission cooler.

I am known to pull with a 1966 Le Baron and others around here also have the Imperials with AS trailers.

The 1963 Dodge 880 is on an 122 inch Chrysler frame and that little bit longer wheel base makes an easy vehicle to cruz with.

Rodger & Gabby
COS

[Coloradobus]

Rodger with a "D"

We heard recently on one of those "Speed" channel car shows that all Chryslers except the Imperial of the era late 50's and early 60's were unibody and couldn't use them as towcars. What's your take on this? Have any insight. We have looked at late 50's Chryslers with the vision of using one as a tow car. Like the 60's Lincoln Continental being unibody, we steered clear.

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by Coloradobus

Rodger with a "D"

We heard recently on one of those "Speed" channel car shows that all Chryslers except the Imperial of the era late 50's and early 60's were unibody and couldn't use them as towcars. What's your take on this? Have any insight. We have looked at late 50's Chryslers with the vision of using one as a tow car. Like the 60's Lincoln Continental being unibody, we steered clear.

Jim & Chris,

I believe that most if not all Chrysler autos are unibody, just like the late 1950 to 1969 Lincoln Continentals. I saw a mid 1970 Chrysler New Yorker at Salem this last year and my parents used a 1973 Chrysler New Yorker for a few years. The unibody creates some challenges and takes a qualified hitch fabricator to install a hitch. Javier, on Hunter's list, just installed a hitch on his Chrysler Imperial and towed his trailer to the Florida Rally. Action is planning on using a mid 1960 Lincoln as his tow vehicle. It can be done, but it is just not as easy as purchasing an "off the shelf hitch" and bolting it in. The upside is that they are big cars, soft suspension, easy to get in and out of, large engines, long wheelbase and cool.

Bill

[NorCal Bambi]

Hay you guys would be purfect on the CONVOY!!
Bonded by Aluminum
Don

[Rodger with a D]

Hola There

In 1960 the Chrysler Division, the De Soto Division, The Dodge car Division and the Plymouth Division went to the unibody. The Dodge truck Division and the Imperial stayed with the full frame. At the start of the 1967 production year the Imperial Division also became another unibody.

Any of the unibodied cars of the above are rated to pull any RV Trailer made in that same era. The 1963 Chrysler's and the 880 series Dodge are on an 122 inch wheelbase. For the framed Imperial Division they were 129 inches from 1957 to 1966. When the Imperial Division went to an unibody in 1967, they down sized to 127 inches.

The Motorcade Magazine did a tow test in 1966 using a 4 door Dodge and an Overlander of the same year. They found out the unit could not get over 93 MPH and as an package the panic stop distance was shorter with the trailer hooked up.

There is an Chrysler Dealers Towing Brochure that says, " ...all you need to tow loads up to 2500 pounds is an hitch" . This is the same tow load for all MoPar C-Bodies. Not to bad for an bumper hich ( or the AS pictured behind it ). The same brochure gives the buyer instructions on how to have the local metal shop to make the weight distrib'ing frame hitch. For the Chrysler line they wanted $53.55 for the other parts of the OEM towing package. ( the trip to the local shop was by every company that sold an car ...Ford, GM or MoPar in that era ) If you followed the full package route the C-Bodies went to 5,500 pounds in 1967.

Look at the 1970 AS Dealers Brochure. If a 1970 Nova with coil rear springs can pull an AS, what can a Duster with leaf springs pull ???

I became interested in this subject some eight years ago and started collecting vintage tow data then. One day I'll have enough to say sumthin.

Diner's ready, got to go.

Rodger & Gabby

[wkerfoot]

Rodger,

WOW, thanks for all this information.

bill

[mweimer]

I can't see why the unibody Chrysler products are any less capable of towing than the full frame cars of the same size. I have both a 1968 (Polara) and a 1973 (Tow & Country) and i can't say either one of them has any issues because of their (unibody)construction. These are full sized cars. The '73 is rated to tow 7000 pounds and I've been towing with it since 1988. I had hitches fabricated for both cars, since they are both old enough that noone sells them any more. The rear of these cars has what looks like a frame, but it's welded to the body structure. It seems just as stout as the frame on my 1981 Olds wagon, which is a full frame model. I looks just about the same back there, except for the fact that one is welded to the body (unibody) the the other is separated from it by a small space (the Olds). As far as attaching the hitch goes, it's about the same either way. I wouldn't turn away from these cars because they are unibody. On the contrary, I have found them to be very reliable .....which is more than I can say for the Oldsmobile! I figured (maybe incorrectly) that the unibody construction made them stronger! I'm towing a Globe Trotter that weighs up to 4500 pounds.

MARC
Punxsutawney, PA

[Coloradobus]

I guess we need to find someone who can fabricate a hitch better than the place we had do the one on our 1969 Cadillac. I had to take the car back after watching the the receiver flex while Chris was backing the rig. It was real frightening to see the receiver move up and down and side to side from the car at walking speed, let alone on the highway.

[flyfshr]

Ran across this ad yesterday and I believe it is the ultimate tow vehicle. Wally's 1959 International Harvester tow vehicle from the African and European caravans. Oh the stories it could tell.

Brad
FF

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by mweimer

I can't see why the unibody Chrysler products are any less capable of towing than the full frame cars of the same size.

MARC
Punxsutawney, PA

Back in the 60's my dad had an RV dealership and was a towing enthusiast. Always bought the best tow car available at the time.

Back then the Chrysler products were the tow vehicle of choice because of their rigid structure, torsion bar front suspension, and HD transmisions. The myth about uni-body's being inferior hadn't been invented yet...LOL.

He towed lots of TT's with a 64 Dodge, 66 Chrysler Windsor, and then a 69 Newport.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Road Ruler

Back then the Chrysler products were the tow vehicle of choice because of their rigid structure, torsion bar front suspension, and HD transmisions. The myth about uni-body's being inferior hadn't been invented yet...LOL.

Just an FYI, even many modern full sized vans are modified unibody construction. If in doubt, crawl under your van and look at the frame. If the top of the frame extends out, and is spot welded to the body, it is a unibody. I haven't heard many people saying you can't tow with them because of this.

[Action]

Unibody construction can be an issue. It just depends on why the manufacturer used unibody as a choice in building.

If it was to save weight and get better MPG then the metal used will be as thin as possible and not a good choice for a TV.

If the reason was to create a quieter ride by stiffening the body and reduce body flex over the frame, then this type of vehicle can work.

The '66 Lincoln I have weighs 5600+ pounds and has a subframe both in the front and in the rear. As long as the hitch is properly designed and attached to that subframe. And the vintage ride is in good to excellant condition it can do the job. My Lincoln was designed to tow up to 5000 pounds of trailer and I did find the documentation from LM to show that it can do it. Do the reseach and most can do the job.

After all, in the period your A/S was made, SUV's didn't exist.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[GolfStream]

Originally Posted by wkerfoot

Javier, on Hunter's list, just installed a hitch on his Chrysler Imperial and towed his trailer to the Florida Rally.
Bill

I'm the Javier who had the hitch manufactured for the 1968 Imperial. Hello everyone! It tastes great and is less filling.

With the weight distributing hitch (must have) and the receiver bolted into two spots along the uniframe, the Imperial pulls better than my back up tow vehicle (an '06 4Runner).

That said, My 19 foot Bambi International is well under the tow capacity of the Imperial with the tow package and i wouldn't try to pull anything heavier than that. The car still has that sixties luxury car ride slopiness and the steering will never have the road feel and tightness of a modern car. (All of this makes the car just not as safe as a newer tow vehicle with abs, etc and so forth.) But i believe, because I'm not playing Tim Taylor with my rig, i have a very safe, and extremely cool ride.

In case you were wondering:

Bambi - a photoset on Flickr

My car is a strong #2- driver and it is important to me to keep the rig as safe as possible. Once i have the (reese dual cam) sway control and the heavier springs, sway control bars on the car, and higher gear ratio upgrades made, i'll be confident on mountain roads.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

But to anyone else considering towing with a vintage car, GO FOR IT. The airstream alone is somewhat of an odity, but it doubles when some passes you to see that fine vintage convertible at the lead.

Cheers,

Javier