Vintage Tow Vehicles

[Minnie's Mate]

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.

[68ltd]

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.

[Maybricks]

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

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.

[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?

Nice set of caravans you have.

[Maybricks]

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!

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?

Nice set of caravans you have.

[pyanke]

Has anyone had any experience in towing with the 7.3L Ford diesel of the late 80's? I am thinking of using one to match up with my 85 Sovereign.

[richie rich]

my '72 burb/'63 safari combo

[pepepepe]

We have an original California wagon with no rust,new brakes, tires, seat upholstery, needs nothing, runs, drives perfect for sale.$4000.Was shipped to Michigan and never driven in rain or snow. Can send pics. 269-317-2606

[safari57]

Love the burb Richie. What a nice TV to have. I'll bet it handles that Airstream very handily.

Barry

[wkerfoot]

Here is a picture of my 1973 Dodge W200 PowerWagon and Safari. The picture was taken at the 2002 Santa Maria VAC rally.

Bill

[safari57]

Nice looking truck Bill. I have a buddy who had a short box version, same colors, that he sure wishes he had now. I'm sending him the link to your picture just to cause him some more pain. He's a fellow Flying Cloud owner as well.

Is this the TV you'll be using to go to Bozeman?

Barry

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by safari57

Nice looking truck Bill. I have a buddy who had a short box version, same colors, that he sure wishes he had now. I'm sending him the link to your picture just to cause him some more pain. He's a fellow Flying Cloud owner as well.

Is this the TV you'll be using to go to Bozeman?

Barry

Barry,

Nope, being a Dodge, it rides like an oxcart. I think that the axles are bolted to the frame and the springs are for decoration only. It rode much softer with a 1500 lb camper in the back. The Safari or Liner do not have enough weight to soften the suspension.

Since our daughter, her friend and our new, yet to be born grandchild is going, we need the room and comfort of the Lincoln.

For your friend, there are more pictures here: ATHS Show Fontana Ca. May 2004
pictures 36 and 37. We purchased the Dodge new in 1972.

Bill

[Globie64]

I just got a '68 Dart convertible V8 with factory HD suspension and brakes. At first, I thought I'd get a vintage car to tow my Globetrotter, but then the cost of fuel for a full size car, and having something that was so big to drive, made me decide to get the Dart and use our Ridgeline for towing. Driving the Dart, and sorting out a few problems, made me think it was good to have the new reliable tow car. I'm curious after seeing the Studebaker tow car- The Dart is 16' long and weighs 3100 pounds. I'm going to upgrade to front discs, but with the 318 V8 it should have power enough to tow- jeez, if they're towing with a Studebaker....

Peter

[richie rich]

thought someone would like seeing my ol' dodge

[Rodger with a D]

Peter

For the Dart, think of beefing up the A904 transmission to A999 or A998 internal spec's or switch to any A727. This way you may pull all day and peg the 318 at red line if you want to. In the era of the Dart, all 318's with the Factory Tow Pkg got the 727 with the 3.2:1 ratio rear axle. The A998 and A999 was an enhanced A904 that was years later.

I got an MotorCade Magazine Test of an 1965 OverLander and an like year Dodge Monaco ( from this site ). It stopped quicker/sooner as an pkg than w/o the trailer.

Rodger & Gabby
COS

[Mel]

Originally Posted by richie rich

thought someone would like seeing my ol' dodge

You thought right! It's a beaut.

[Paul Mayeux]

Originally Posted by pyanke

Has anyone had any experience in towing with the 7.3L Ford diesel of the late 80's? I am thinking of using one to match up with my 85 Sovereign.

During the day they were the tops in diesel pickups. With the addition of the Banks Sidewinder turbo they would outpull the 460 gas engine. The fuel economy was also not too bad - better than the modern high hp/torque diesels of today. The biggest problem was the gear ratios of that time frame - either 3.55 or 4.10. 4.10 is good - the 3.55s were pretty sluggish if you didn't add a turbo.

[bredlo]

Just arrived home with our new-to-us rig. '70 Jeep Wagoneer (Buick 350 V8) and '62 Globe Trotter.

It was a long trip: flew to Dallas, took a Greyhound to Texarkana to get the truck, drove to Beaufort, SC for the trailer... and finally back to Chicago.

9 days worth, but well worth the effort. And this pair were extremely well behaved on their first trip together. We couldn't be happier.

[utee94]

Bredlo, both of your new purchases look great, and especially together.

I had thought about doing something similar as well. Online I found a nice 60s TravelAll in New Mexico, and a 60s trailer I liked in Phoenix. I was thinking about flying to Albuquerque, picking up the Travelall, driving to Phoenix, picking up the trailer, and then driving the whole rig back to Texas. But I was nervous about picking up an unknown TV and then immediately trying to tow an unknown trailer with it.

Any special steps you took to address that?

[bredlo]

Utee,

Special steps? It kind of went like this:

1. Bought from someone with good feedback on eBay, and tried to balance my love of the vintage look with common sense - picking the Buick engine meant mechanics will be familiar with it everywhere I go.

2. Ask the seller outright - what's gonna break down first? I want to head off as many potential problems before I start out.

3. Leave lots of time for trouble. If everything had worked perfectly, I would have been on the road about 4 days. But I ended up being gone 9 all told... due to parts not finished being installed on the tow when the seller thought they'd be, an oil leak, a burned out alternator, and mis-wired trailer brakes.

The photo is only 1/10th of the whole picture: it's a little finicky, a little sluggish in the Blue Ridge mountains, and smells as you'd expect: like an old car. But I'm still loving it.