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Flat towing K5 with a 1/2 ton?

Lotsa_Faith

Lotsa_Faith

1/2 ton status
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Jul 10, 2001
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Location
Mckinney, Texas
Is this doable? I would rig up the tow bar to hook onto the shackle hookups on my M1009, and would take loooots of time making my way from Dallas to San Angelo, staying between 50-55 mph almost the entire way. Using the hitch on the bumper of the towing vehicle wouldn't be a problem correct, since there is virtually no tongue weight?
 
You are still pulling and stopping 5000 pounds. Make sure the bumper is up to that weight. Also make sure the hitch is level. If the blazer mount points are higher than the bumper, the blazer can walk up if a panic stop is needed. Have seen it happen.
 
Lotsa_Faith said:
Is this doable? I would rig up the tow bar to hook onto the shackle hookups on my M1009, and would take loooots of time making my way from Dallas to San Angelo, staying between 50-55 mph almost the entire way. Using the hitch on the bumper of the towing vehicle wouldn't be a problem correct, since there is virtually no tongue weight?
Click to expand...

Just take it easy. You'll be fine.

Later,
Buddy
 
While I will tell you it can be done, I am also going to tell you to be very careful. I have a tow bar for my Burb and tried towing this with my other Burb. Stopping was a bit of a chore on anything but dry roads and even then it was scary when we hit a little sand in a turn lane. Turning is where we had our biggest problem. If I turned too tight the towed Burb had enough weight to push the a$$ of the towing Burb and almost induced a jack knife on a few occasions. Now part of my problem might have been from making the tow bar too long (4 foot from mount to coupler), but alot of it had to do with 6k lbs of unbraked weight and no tongue weight to add traction to the rear tires.
 
So I could throw a little weight in the bed to help it a bit? If I end up doing this, I will be extremely careful keeping my distance from other cars...
 
We flat-towed my blazer from buffalo, ny to plainview, tx in the summer of 2008 behind my wife's 2003 discovery. Stayed at or around 65 & let people pass at will. These guys are not giving bad advice at all, but you aren't going too far, so as long as you are careful & give yourself & everybody else a wide berth, then you'll be fine. Just understand the physics & be conservative.

Later,
Buddy
 
Haven't been to San Angelo in a while, wish I had time to ride shotgun..n
 
I towed a 4wd dually flatbed with a plow in the back with my old 87 1/2 and a bumper hitch, using a towbar. Wasn't in a hurry, took my time, got there with zero issues. Also towed the same truck with my 08' tundra 3 hours, only thing I got was death wobble.

If you take your time you will be fine....Make sure you have safety chains, and tow lights.
 
OK so next question: what kind of towbar do you guys suggest, or which ones have you used? Also, anybody had any experience rigging one up to the front D Ring hookups on a CUCV? I know hooking it up to those compared to just the bumper would be much stronger.
 
I have a Drawtite. Towed lots of trucks with it, only ever had small problems, but that was my own fault, not the tow bar. Making sure that you mount it SOLIDLY was the problems that I've had.

The one that I have requires 4 holes in the bumper, so most of the trucks I've towed I had to drill holes in it to mount it properly. I towed my crew 3 hours that way, never had a problem, other than looks....
 
I tried to flat tow my rig with my Jeep Cherokee, once. I just needed to move it about 3 miles. The first corner I took (very slowly mind you), as I made the turn, the Blazer pushed the Cherokee completely sideways like it was a toy. It was awesome. Be careful. At that point I disconnected and towed the Jeep with the Blazer.
 
I'm surprised Rene (tRustyk5) hasn't chimed in yet.

He did a flat tow (K5 pulling another K5) from BC to Texas several years ago. And in a short time span, too.
 
I thought about chiming in, but all the comments and advice I've seen here so far is spot on. The K5 I flat towed 2500 miles was not complete, in fact once back in Canada I had to scale it and it only tipped the scales at 3500 lbs. The K5 I was towing it with came in at 5800. The physics worked out quite well everywhere but on wet pavement on a pretty sharp turn.

I built a tow bar specifically to bolt to the front frame horns of a K5 with no front bumper. Couldn't get more secure than that.

For any real distance I'd say any rig over 3500 lbs can be a problem. Remember you need to try to plan for what might happen, even if it's unlikely. Evasive stuff particularly could be quite hairy if the towed rig and the tow rig are very close in size and weight. Keep in mind the majority of states require 'trailer brakes' on anything over 3500 lbs, and a flat towed vehicle is considered a trailer.

Rene
 
Yeah, I forgot about the trailer brake issue. I was going to gamble on mine, but after freezing rain hit the night before we left Kansas, I wasnt about to leave it to chance and ended up leaving the rig behind, returning a few months later to drive it to its new home.

FYI, they do make trailer brake systems for towed vehicles. The cheapest *new* system I found was about $700 for a power unit and IIRC $400 for a setup the operates like a surge brake. The ups and downs of each are that the power unit can be used on any vehicle behind something with a brake controller, but it is more expensive and it requires seats installed in the towed vehicle. The surge brake setup has a cable that is installed and can be used on any towed vehicle with an operational brake system, but isnt transferable. The big difference is also that the power unit has a breakaway feature where as the surge brake doesnt.
 
I said majority...obviously it's best to check out your own state, and any you might be driving through.

Most K5's have a braking system and GVW rated for 6000-7001 lbs, so in TX your even more limited unless you can find a way to document much higher braking capacity.

Having towed a 3500 lb incomplete K5 with a tow bar halfway across the country with another K5 I can say I wouldn't want more unbraked weight behind me. My K5 had a 14 bolt with the large drums too.

Rene
 
The military tow bar obviously would be the best to use since it bolts/hooks right up and was made for that truck. There is even a special one designed to hook onto the front shackles instead of using the pin.

Without that, any of the ones you can by these days would work great. Making it hook into the shackle mount would be a big plus for fast hook up/take down and not cutting more holes in your truck.

Just remember safety chains, stick on lights and popping the rear drive shaft off would probably be a good idea. Not required, but if the tcase shifter were to move out of N while bouncing along behind you, it would mess a lot of things up.
 
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