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MustangGuy · 02-28-2023, 10:38 AM

Hi

Has anybody towed with a 1966/7 Mustang? Or know what the max allowable weight is please?

Cheers
Niall

propchef · 02-28-2023, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustangGuy

Hi

Has anybody towed with a 1966/7 Mustang? Or know what the max allowable weight is please?

Cheers
Niall

Is a brake and suspension upgrade in the works?

Tyler2you · 02-28-2023, 11:26 AM

If it has a class 1 hitch, you're limited to 2,000 lbs. Absent any suspension upgrades, I'm not sure I'd pull that much with 50+ year old leaf springs and unibody construction.

ROBERT CROSS · 02-28-2023, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustangGuy

Hi

Has anybody towed with a 1966/7 Mustang? Or know what the max allowable weight is please?

Cheers
Niall

Just my humble 'opinion'.

It would tow a 22' Airstream back & forth the 'local' vintage car/trailer show.

The AS would be up for camping if it was towed with a more modern TV.

Bob
🇺🇸

We towed the trailer & drove 'Bertha" to the show.

John Ware · 02-28-2023, 01:28 PM

A '66 I restored for my son. I don't think it would have made a good TV.

Slimpockets · 02-28-2023, 01:49 PM

I have restored cars and would not consider it with a unibody car. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze in my opinion. Cooling, transmission, rear end and chassis are not up to the challenge and then you need a brake controller and trailer wiring.

LNBright · 02-28-2023, 02:22 PM

My gut reaction was 'no way'; but then I started trying to work it over in my head...

classy car, classy trailer, trying to have a vintage pairing... I get it, I see where you might be trying to head...

I didn't even think about the unibody aspect of it, but, yes, that'd be a hindrance, even if you did swap rear axle and springs, etc.

I have a buddy who's got a Mustang shop, I can ask him what he thinks... (I know he keeps a pickup for his own camper, that he's not currently towing anything w/ a Mustang; but, if anyone had thought about it and might have a way to successfully do it, it might be him....).

Now, I will admit, to get it to work, it'd have to be an older trailer, back when they were lighter, a wishbone type... and, you might have to gut a lot of the amenities to have it light enough to be able to be towed. A newer modern trailer, they're quite a bit heavier, I'll guarantee a vintage Mustang couldn't do it, not w/o a LOT of modification.

Of course, a Mustang can have enough horsepower. But the problem here is, that rear unibody has an axle hanging under it that's NOT a truck axle, does NOT have a truck suspension, and there's no chassis to support it all. To get this to work, you're going to need to eat up the trunk with adding structure to support a suspension to a different axle. Anything CAN be done, but it's not going to be an easy thing.

Just trying to think of another way to do such, another option might be one of those extra-axle dollies, where you hook the camper to it, it acts like the heavy duty towing axle, and is more lightly hitched to the vehicle. I still don't know if it'd work for a vintage Mustang or not. But, I'll see if he has any ideas....

John Ware · 02-28-2023, 03:45 PM

May I suggest a 1954 or '55 Ford Station Wagon to tow your 1954 AS?

AlbertF · 02-28-2023, 04:53 PM

A Mustang is a Falcon with stylish body work. Falcons were used to tow small travel trailers in the 1960s. It is doable if the trailer size is reasonable and the setup is done right.

But having driven an old Mustang, I’d pass. They’re like many classic cars - better to look at than to drive.

AlbertF · 02-28-2023, 05:01 PM

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/f...2010_13211.pdf

Here’s the data with the towing recommendations from Ford.

nvestysly · 02-28-2023, 05:11 PM

Hi Niall,

I don't know the specifications for an early model Mustang but I suspect if anyone knows it's Andy Thompson at CanAm RV - I think his forum name is Andrew T. He's made quite a few posts about hitches, weight ratings, etc. Equally important to weight ratings and tongue weight are horsepower, transmission ratio and differential ratio.

On a related note - my wife and I took a test drive with Andy towing a 31 foot Airstream with an early-mid 90's Ford Taurus. The vehicle and trailer handled very well and it surpassed the handling of a truck by leaps and bounds IMO.

field & stream · 02-28-2023, 05:14 PM

Just for fun: What is the payload of a 1966/7 Mustang?

MustangGuy · 03-03-2023, 08:17 AM

A bit more info. Trailer is 1954, so old style weight. Added cabinetry is all lightweight. Brakes upgraded to U.K. specification. (Electrics are U.K. spec) Mustang is 289 4 pot. New leaf springs.

MustangGuy · 03-03-2023, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyler2you

If it has a class 1 hitch, you're limited to 2,000 lbs. Absent any suspension upgrades, I'm not sure I'd pull that much with 50+ year old leaf springs and unibody construction.

What’s unibody construction please?

ROBERT CROSS · 03-03-2023, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustangGuy

What’s unibody construction please?

The google is your fiend

Bob
🇺🇸

rideair · 03-03-2023, 02:49 PM

As someone that has towed vintage, the answer is "Yes" it can be done, if the vintage tow is setup correctly. I've personally used a 1968 Travelall to pull a 1966 Safari 1,500 miles round trip to Perry, GA in the middle of the summer (95-100 degree heat) to using my 1962 Ford Galaxie pulling my 1956 Safari Front Kitchen to over 250 miles to classic events for weekend camping.

Granted, both of my tow rigs are framed vs. unibody autos. I know that class-3 hitches can be installed on unibody cars, though I personally have never done it, so speak to someone like Andy up in Canada on that subject.

Good luck, can be a much of fun, it's been done before, just need to learn how.

Enjoy,

MustangGuy · 03-03-2023, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LNBright

My gut reaction was 'no way'; but then I started trying to work it over in my head...

classy car, classy trailer, trying to have a vintage pairing... I get it, I see where you might be trying to head...

I didn't even think about the unibody aspect of it, but, yes, that'd be a hindrance, even if you did swap rear axle and springs, etc.

Just trying to think of another way to do such, another option might be one of those extra-axle dollies, where you hook the camper to it, it acts like the heavy duty towing axle, and is more lightly hitched to the vehicle. I still don't know if it'd work for a vintage Mustang or not. But, I'll see if he has any ideas....

Thanks Leslie. Do you have more info on the dollies pls?

MustangGuy · 03-03-2023, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

The google is your fiend

Bob
🇺🇸

Ah. Possibly what we would call monocoque then.

jeffb831 · 03-04-2023, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustangGuy

Ah. Possibly what we would call monocoque then.

Monocoque is different and there are almost no road going monocoque vehicles. In a monocoque vehicle, the skin is integral to the structural integrity of the vehicle. Even a Airstream is a semi-moncoque vehicle because there is the ladder frame under it all.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...he-difference/

LNBright · 03-04-2023, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustangGuy

Thanks Leslie. Do you have more info on the dollies pls?

It started from an article I saw awhile back about Toyota developing them, but theoretically, could work for anything, if set up for such...

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/tractor...tchless-towing

Those aren't out yet. But then I found there are other things out there already, that you can use to boost your towing capacity, would make it so that your TV doesn't have to have X ability, but that the axle/dolly is what has to have X tongue weight capabilities, and braking, and pulling power...:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...ck-capability/

I don't think it'd take a Mustang up to F350 abilities, but it might help a vehicle tow more than you'd initially expect it to be capable of handling.