Tell me about towing setups.

I need help figureing out if a car I am mlooking at today would work for a towing setup. the car is a 1986 amc eagle sedan with a srt 6 and an auto, its in very nice shape. i called a couple places today and no one had any listing for trailer hitches for it. would this work for towing my stock car on a dolly or much less a trialer down the road.

here is something else i would like to know. i asked about car hitches and they said nothing beyoynd a class 3 was for sale. the weight was something like 2000 pounds.

can someone share links and advice for finding out more info, cause i would only like to get one set of wheels and i could find a delta 88 or something else big if nothing else. i have seen wagons and such towing trialers, but what class hitchs do you guys run on them? i was hoping to avoid getting a cheap truck, but i might have to look at something if nothing else. thanks for any help guys.

Sorry I got nothin' on the AMC, maybe you need to have a custom hitch built? From my quick google search, they're rated for 3500lbs which is REALLY pushing the limits when it comes to car hauling. My stock miata on an open trailer is 3700lbs total.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-hitchclasses.aspx Class III should be 3500+ and ussually 5K lbs.

Yeah, I'd be concerned with using an old AMC to tow a full size race car. Probably asking for trouble. Even an old Olds would be in the same situation. Even if the engine was strong, the suspension, etc...was not built for it.

You're best with an old truck/SUV of some kind to tow something like what's in your avatar. I'll be using my family minivan to tow my race car on a dolly. But my car only weighs about 2200lbs, and the van is newer with a 3500lb tow capacity. Even so, I'm not too thrilled with it, and am trying to keep my miles to a minimum. I already had the tranny fluid changed and plan to do it much more frequently than what the factory calls for.

Class III hitch should suit your needs fine.

Towing anything with a 25 year old vehicle would be dicey at the least. Since they weigh about 3400 lbs. towing any thing very heavy is not a good idea..

Your best bet is a truck. Any 1/2 ton pickup would handle it and can be found fairly cheaply, especially if its an older model. V8 engine is best choice. Even Dakotas can handle an open trailer with a car, plenty of them out there.

They were popular tow vehicles in the 80's, I saw a few of them towing rally cars at POR. I would think you'd be able to find a hitch and make sure you run trailer brakes.

i was going to do the dolly route for a while since finding a trailer if hard to store anywhere right now. the dolly is going to be very easy for now. the car is going to be fore now. i might start lookig for something cheap for a truck later this year since the race car aint gonne be used much this year. i am hoping for the challange and thats about it beyond one or two locaal car shows.

Safe towing = 1/2 ton PU

wha tth ehell fellas?!

P71.

that was like the eighth post even.

The factory offered a medium duty tow package which included a load equalizing hitch, electric brake controller and transmission cooler for trailers not exceeding 3500 lbs.

I'd be hesistant.

belteshazzar wrote: that was like the eighth post even.

bah. the answer here is a 91-96 b body with towing package. think 5k towing with a car. i had a 91 caprice with a class 3 hitch and towed a flat car hauler with an el camino on it, very nicely.

pick up a cheap wagon and you're in business.

patgizz wrote:

belteshazzar wrote: that was like the eighth post even.

bah. the answer here is a 91-96 b body with towing package. think 5k towing with a car. i had a 91 caprice with a class 3 hitch and towed a flat car hauler with an el camino on it, very nicely. pick up a cheap wagon and you're in business.

Pantheres were rated at 5k as well, at least until Ford decided if they lowered the rating they might sell more trucks/SUVs.

^^^^^ yeah.

plus i'll bring up the argument that you get more for your money with a P71 right now.

I'm partial to vans, especially an older conversion type. If the interior is crap, the price will be low, they can be found in 3/4 ton style, secure storage, not bad on the road. I had a Chevy 3500 that would pull a house and not even notice. Also, the higher capacity vans had seriously upgraded brakes and cooling systems.

I will never understand all you cheap bastids that almost go out of your way to tow without the proper equipment.

AMC Eagle as a tow vehicle? Really? I wouldnt tow a lawnmower with one.

If you tow a lot, buy a truck. If you don't, find a friend with a truck. End of story.

^^What he said.^^

I'm usually the one to say it, but I was trying to abstain.

As a dakota owner i just wanted to pop in and say that i have not enjoyed towing a car on a tandem-axle trailer with the dakota. Will it do it? Yes. Is it confidence-inspiring? No.

ok, i guess its looking for truck then for cheap in a few months. thanks for the advice.

When I bought my 1987 Subaru - with a carburetor, so you know it was the powerful model - it had a trailer hitch. It was screwed into the plastic rear bumper with two big coarse self-drilling screws. Compared to whatever that person had in mind, towing with an Eagle seems totally reasonable.

But me, I'd look for an old F150. As an added bonus, you get a pickup truck and then you'll wonder how you ever survived without one.

Vigo wrote: As a dakota owner i just wanted to pop in and say that i have not enjoyed towing a car on a tandem-axle trailer with the dakota. Will it do it? Yes. Is it confidence-inspiring? No.

Loading the trailer correctly is necessary with a Dakota, plus trailer brakes and a weight distrbuting hitch helps as well. This also applies to mid-size SUVs as well. Full-size vehicles do make better tow vehicles.

I've been towing with a '99 Durango since... well... '99! ;)

The V8 helps but you definitely need to make sure you've properly loaded the trailer. I have a dual axle with trailer brakes and it does great.

However, I am looking for a 2000-2003 Turbo Diesel Excursion to replace it...

A guy I race with used to tow with an 82 Old's rear wheel drive coupe. I can't tell you how much time he wasted attempting to raise the dead going to, coming from or at an event. The poor thing had an endless litany of failures, some pretty amazing. Junk is junk, and there ain't enough Holy Water in the Vatican to make it work.

Ok, I know a lot of you are saying that an Eagle wouldn't be a good idea to tow with, BUT working for a guy for years that towed with one when the Suburban was occupied, I would say otherwise.

The Eagle has a class III hitch with air shocks. Oh and that's an all steel car trailer.

I'm going to throw another vote in for "find a cheap blank" instead. Minivan would do fine if you tow a car on a dolly, on a trailer, it's dicey, but doable (a V6 one, not one of those I-4 Chryslers, yikes!). If you want to do a trailer all the time I would find a cheap diesel truck on Craigslist. But I'm sure a big wagon with a gas V8 could do it as well, it just wouldn't be as comfortable.