Towing for Beginners

[Mach 1 Club]

After reading this article I didn't realize how little I knew about towing!

       
       
       

[Rare Pony]

Good article! I bought a used car hauler trailer last spring on a whim. I was really looking for a small medium utility trailer and came across this one for a price I could not walk away from. It is a 2006 with an 18 foot bed, had two new axles, 4 new wheels, and 4 new tires. I picked it up for a $1,000. The seller had sold his Mustang and was paying storage fees at a storage lot and wanted to dump it. I have yet to put a car on it, but have added removable stake-sides to it to use for hauling stuff.

I'll have to study the section in your article about strapping down a car in case I decide to trailer my 73 somewhere.

My wife's Tahoe came with a towing package and if my memory is correct will tow around 12,000 pounds.

[1969jimmach]

Good article! I bought a used car hauler trailer last spring on a whim. I was really looking for a small medium utility trailer and came across this one for a price I could not walk away from. It is a 2006 with an 18 foot bed, had two new axles, 4 new wheels, and 4 new tires. I picked it up for a $1,000. The seller had sold his Mustang and was paying storage fees at a storage lot and wanted to dump it. I have yet to put a car on it, but have added removable stake-sides to it to use for hauling stuff.

I'll have to study the section in your article about strapping down a car in case I decide to trailer my 73 somewhere.

My wife's Tahoe came with a towing package and if my memory is correct will tow around 12,000 pounds.

6 tons on 1/2 ton brakes hope your trailer has brakes.Sounds scary to me.What it will tow and what it will stop are 2 different things.Not trying to be rude just safe for you and your car.

[Rare Pony]

Good article! I bought a used car hauler trailer last spring on a whim. I was really looking for a small medium utility trailer and came across this one for a price I could not walk away from. It is a 2006 with an 18 foot bed, had two new axles, 4 new wheels, and 4 new tires. I picked it up for a $1,000. The seller had sold his Mustang and was paying storage fees at a storage lot and wanted to dump it. I have yet to put a car on it, but have added removable stake-sides to it to use for hauling stuff.

I'll have to study the section in your article about strapping down a car in case I decide to trailer my 73 somewhere.

My wife's Tahoe came with a towing package and if my memory is correct will tow around 12,000 pounds.

6 tons on 1/2 ton brakes hope your trailer has brakes.Sounds scary to me.What it will tow and what it will stop are 2 different things.Not trying to be rude just safe for you and your car.

Not sure what your talking about about regarding the brakes. I already tow almost a 20 foot power boat with the Tahoe that's well over 2 tons and no problem at all stopping. Both the boat trailer and the car hauler have trailer brakes. The boat trailer has hydraulic surge brakes and the car hauler has electric brakes. I looked up the factory tow rating for our Tahoe and the GCWR is 13,000 pounds, so that would make the maximum trailer weight a little under 8,000 pounds. Plenty of margin for towing my 3,206 pound 73 Mustang plus the weight of the trailer.

What's amazing about the Tahoe (we bought it new) is that it has almost 100,000 miles on it and still has the original brake pads. They must be ceramic. They still have a lot of life left on them too. I tease my wife and ask her if she ever uses the brakes!

I've owned boats and been trailering them since the mid-70's, even had a 1 ton Dodge Maxi-van for a while, but the Tahoe has been the best tow vehicle I've had.

[1969jimmach]

Good article! I bought a used car hauler trailer last spring on a whim. I was really looking for a small medium utility trailer and came across this one for a price I could not walk away from. It is a 2006 with an 18 foot bed, had two new axles, 4 new wheels, and 4 new tires. I picked it up for a $1,000. The seller had sold his Mustang and was paying storage fees at a storage lot and wanted to dump it. I have yet to put a car on it, but have added removable stake-sides to it to use for hauling stuff.

I'll have to study the section in your article about strapping down a car in case I decide to trailer my 73 somewhere.

My wife's Tahoe came with a towing package and if my memory is correct will tow around 12,000 pounds.

6 tons on 1/2 ton brakes hope your trailer has brakes.Sounds scary to me.What it will tow and what it will stop are 2 different things.Not trying to be rude just safe for you and your car.

Not sure what your talking about about regarding the brakes. I already tow almost a 20 foot power boat with the Tahoe that's well over 2 tons and no problem at all stopping. Both the boat trailer and the car hauler have trailer brakes. The boat trailer has hydraulic surge brakes and the car hauler has electric brakes. I looked up the factory tow rating for our Tahoe and the GCWR is 13,000 pounds, so that would make the maximum trailer weight a little under 8,000 pounds. Plenty of margin for towing my 3,206 pound 73 Mustang plus the weight of the trailer.

What's amazing about the Tahoe (we bought it new) is that it has almost 100,000 miles on it and still has the original brake pads. They must be ceramic. They still have a lot of life left on them too. I tease my wife and ask her if she ever uses the brakes!

I've owned boats and been trailering them since the mid-70's, even had a 1 ton Dodge Maxi-van for a while, but the Tahoe has been the best tow vehicle I've had.

Thats what I was speaking of was trailer brakes Im glad to hear it has them and what a great purchase We were looking at 5th wheel trailers for camping and that was my concern on them too if my truck was able to stop it.I wasnt meaning you dont have experience just concerned on the stopping power of your tow vehicle.

[Steven Harris]

Yes - I tow!