GT Hawk Towing

[geojerry]

Heading to 2012 meet this July in South Bend from Ft. Lauderdale.
Its a long 22 hour drive. Would like to take the 63 GT Hawk. My bro says lets rent a 18 Ft. Uhaul car hauler and use his 2008 Toyota Rav4 with the hitch he has installed. Not sure what his tounge wgt is on that hitch and whether his V6 will have issues towing the Hawk. Any incites/tips would be appreciated

Thx,

[63 R2 Hawk]

If it's downhill with a stiff tailwind both ways, you should be OK.

[Bob Andrews]

No way I'd try that combo; extremely dangerous. There are several towing threads already on the forum explaining why; just do a search.

[Dick Steinkamp]

I don't believe U-Haul will rent to you. You can find out for sure here...

U-Haul

[BobPalma]

Bob & Dick are correct.

I am affiliated with a U-Haul dealer / rental place: The Transmission Shop where I sell my vehicles For Sale out front (they also have an Indiana Used-Car Dealer license) is a U-Haul affiliate and rents auto trailers all the time.

If you told them what you were going to do and with what you were going to do it, they simply wouldn't rent you an auto trailer. And that would be with good reason. That vehicle is not adequate to pull and control a load that would realistically be over 5,000 pounds. BP

[sweetolbob]

Bob & Dick are correct.

I am affiliated with a U-Haul dealer / rental place: The Transmission Shop where I sell my vehicles For Sale out front (they also have an Indiana Used-Car Dealer license) is a U-Haul affiliate and rents auto trailers all the time.

If you told them what you were going to do and with what you were going to do it, they simply wouldn't rent you an auto trailer. And that would be with good reason. That vehicle is not adequate to pull and control a load that would realistically be over 5,000 pounds. BP

Bob

You are absolutely correct. I've used Uhaul trailers to tow both Avantis but I had to use my son's 2500HD Silverado w/502 BBC as a tow vehicle. They would not let me use my Silverado 4X4 5.3L 1/2 Ton as a tow vehicle. Great trailers though with the right tow vehicle.

Bob

[Colgate Studebaker]

Yes, all the above are correct. My brother in law is the company president in Tampa and SweetolBob hits the nail on the head. They won't rent you a trailer unless you are pulling it with a vehicle THEY approve. It all boils down to liabilities possible to the company. They are a great trailer, but you'll need a hefty tow vehicle. B.V.

[geojerry]

Thanks for all the quick replys. NO RAV4 will be attempted.
I could switch over to my 21 ft. v10 ford powered 1998 Chinook Concourse Motor Home. But, it gets only 10 miles/gallon on reg gas.
At $4 gallon, it would be very expensive for a 2600 mile roundtrip towing the GT Hawk. I think the tow wgt. is 5500 ponds max on my motorhome.

[studebaker-R2-4-me]

Thanks for all the quick replys. NO RAV4 will be attempted.
I could switch over to my 21 ft. v10 ford powered 1998 Chinook Concourse Motor Home., it gets only 10 miles/gallon on reg gas.
At $4 gallon, it would be very expensive for a 2600 mile roundtrip towing the GT Hawk. I think the tow wgt. is 5500 ponds max on my motorhome.

Good Plan with NO Rav4's. The U-Haul trailer weighs about 2500 lbs plus the Hawk at 3850 lbs your well over what a 1/2 truck can pull safely, I would not like to do in a 3/4 ton and a U Haul trailer. Those trailers are big and heavy, I know, I used one the of the U Haul last September to drive into Michigan I pulled my Hawk with 350 Turbo Diesel Dually Ford. You could not feel the trailer behind that truck.

Your Hawk probably does not much better on the gas mileage anyway. I would tow it to South Bend behind your Motorhome. You certainly don't want to be at the South Bend International Meet WITHOUT your Studebaker. That is the entire draw at an International - driving around South Bend in your Studebaker.

See you in South Bend.

Allen

[hausdok]

Could you not rent a tow dolly at U Haul? If the total weight of the dolly and the hawk don't exceed the Rav 4's rating it wouldn't be that difficult would it?

[whacker]

Is there some reason you couldn't just drive the Hawk?

[rockne10]

my 21 ft. v10 ford powered 1998 Chinook Concourse Motor Home...gets...10 miles/gallon on reg gas.
At $4 gallon...for a 2600 mile roundtrip

Just about breaks even if you use it as your motel.

[LarkTruck]

Heading to 2012 meet this July in South Bend from Ft. Lauderdale.
Its a long 22 hour drive. Would like to take the 63 GT Hawk. My bro says lets rent a 18 Ft. Uhaul car hauler and use his 2008 Toyota Rav4 with the hitch he has installed. Not sure what his tounge wgt is on that hitch and whether his V6 will have issues towing the Hawk. Any incites/tips would be appreciated

Thx,

Why not have a real adventure and DRIVE the HAWK? Anyone remember we are The Studebaker DRIVERS Club!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great way to celebrate it's 50th year, no trailers allowed :-) JS

[skyway]

Bag the RAV4 and just get yourself a Sunbeam Tiger.

[candbstudebakers]

As a Person that has hauled many many cars , trucks and large parts back across the good old USA the most important thing is the hook up system between the truck and trailer, when I started doing this I had a new 1996 F150 with auto and a 5.0 and it pulled my trailer and a car and the bed full of what ever, no problem, after many years with the ford I got a 2001 chevy heavy half with auto and 5.3 V-8 at times like the national meets I would use the 31' motor home with a ford 460 gas engine, now I have been using a 08 Dodge with a 57 Hemi engine, never once did I have a problem towing with my own trailer, I would never tow a trailer with a car or truck with out my easy lift sway system, never leave home with out it. the ford had 150,000 miles on it when I stopped towing with it, the chevy had 200,000 when stopped both are still running strong today,the motor home will be in South bend in July just not sure what car will be on the trailer, the motor home gets 6 miles per gal. but with 6-8 people 3 dogs a trailer and a car it is the only way to go. just made the 750 mile round trip to LA and back yesterday with the dodge, went down empty and came back with a 63 GT from Pat, next week going back and getting the 53 coupe and parts. witch one is the best? the dodge pulls the best with more power, the chevy has the most comfort for the ride except for the motor home when I am sleeping in the bed, the ford was a little under powered at time but always did the job, most Studebaker people in the club know me and have seen my loads at times, every thing still boiled down to connection between the two truck and trailer, it really turns my inters when I see some one with a big heavy pick up truck and a big load behind it and just all hanging on wit h only the ball set up, sure their truck will pull anything but won't help it it starts to sway, been there done that.

Reedsvile a few years back 6,900 miles in 9 1/2 days with 2 1/2 days in Reedsville.



different angle same trip we were in Erie Pa. at the time.



one trip to Minnesota and then to KC came back with empty truck and a 57 Golden hawk on trailer





Reedsville the big three.



Bottom line right tow package make the difference.


Guess where we are here?