Tow vehicle

[wayne]

How does this sound for a good tow vehicle? A K5 on 1 tons with 4:10's and 33" AT's. Front and rear sway bars with some stiffer springs. You think that will tow a K5 on a trailer pretty good? Not to worried about engine/trans combo but the suspention will be more of an issue.

 

[CCRider]

Better to have something with a longer wheelbase! I've seen some pretty nasty wrecks , friends with race car trailers and both open , and enclosed trailers , towing with Blazers/jimmys ,various years. Just gets into trouble real quick , and if it gets out of shape , WHAM , it's over before you know it! The height of a blazer on a trailer would not help things any ! The longer wheelbase vehicles/dualies are much more suitable . I have seen it done at the bloomsburg jambo , a guy with 1 tons F+R 6.2, 6" lift and 35x 15.5x16.5 on 14"wide wheels , pulling a bobcat, or tractor, deck over trailer, with pretty much the same on the trailer , except a shortbed , and he said it pulled fine . but had gotten a little hairy a couple of times . Good luck . CC
P.S. Why not a Suburban with 1 tons!!!

 

[tRustyK5]

I think longer would be better for a tow rig...but it could be done if you used a weight distributing hitch and the car trailer had really good brakes. I've never had any luck with surge brakes, but electric brakes make towing as easy as it can get. With electric brakes if the trailer does get a little out of shape you can apply the trailer brakes using the controller to help get it back in line. Surge brakes require the tow vehicle to be braking to activate them and this could worsen a potential jack-knifing.

When towing through the mountains I usually have one hand on the brake controller on long descents. A little extra braking from the trailer going down a long hill keeps the ride a lot more stable. The weight distributing bars equal the load on the truck too as well as inhibit any sway.

One last thing is to weigh the entire loaded trailer and then make sure 10% of that weight is on the hitch. Too light a tongue weight will make for a freaky towing experience. you may have to add some weight up front to get the ideal weight on the tongue.

As for the tow rig, Sparky87K5 has almost the exact set-up and he tows a 29 foot travel trailer. He does run a healthy big block though.

Rene

 

[BorregoK5]

I've been fighting a similar dillema. I inherited a 72 Chevy Cheyanne 2wd 1 ton oak bed truck. It gets some of the worst gas mileage of any v8 I've ever had (regularly uses both tanks) but it is extremely consistent when towing large loads. It doesn't fit my family though so I'm thinking of getting rid of it, and looking for something else to use as a tow vehicle. Still debating.

 

[trailblazer87]

Doesn't sound very good at all. I've pulled heavy trailers and even other vehicles with my k5 and it doesn't feel good at all. They are just too light and short to pull right, you will be blown all over the place by any breeze /forums/images/icons/frown.gif .
Got a question for you guys though. I just found an 88 Ford 1-ton diesel, 4-door, 4x4, with 5th wheel for $2500, needs a couple hundred dollrs in the motor, has a new Banks turbo, tranny, t-case, rebuilt the motor 30,000, thinks a rocker is bent. Is this a good buy? I know its a ford and all but I need a heavy tow vehicle for my firewood business, and it will get better fuel mileage than my k5 does.

 

[muddysub]

yeah longer is better... to a point. a suburban would be good or a big K30.

 

[wayne]

Yeah I know longer is better but Donna won't drive anything bigger then a K5.

 

[muddysub]

hhmmmm... she wouldn't drive a suburban?

 

[bablazer73]

Not a good idea with the short wheelbase. I tried it with a 24' car trailer with a car on it. trailer had brakes also. Lots of sway!! got real scary at times!! The only way I have seen it done, a buddy of mine has a "sway-away" hitch system on his blazer. He pulls a 24' camper with his. It's like a 5th wheel set up but it is all under chassis. hooks up to a regular trailer with the parts supplied but moves the pivot point way under truck. almost at rear axel. last time I talked to him, it was for sale. I have info at home, but not there now. he was selling it for 750.00 was over 1500.00 new. but worked the nuts. killed rear clearance and nobody else could pull his trailer.