Body / Glass: Towing with a classic car

[studebakerjoe]

our little serro scotty 1966 camper is nearing completion. ive gone on facebook, asked this question ,no one knows. asked trailersupertores. we are looking into buying a homemade hitch but i was wondering is there a commercial hitch out there that would fit the car. our serro scotty is 975 pounds . our car is 3905 pounds. does anyone recommend anything other than buying a homemade hitch. the person was towing a tent camper which may weigh less or may not , than the serro scotty. just asking. i just want to be safe for everyones sake. do any of you tow travel trailers with yours, what did you do for a hitch. in two months or less this camper will be ready to tow. im thinking about the towing part now. thank you for your input-judy

[StudeRich]

Are you sure? A 3905 Lb. Studebaker? It would have to be Lincoln or Caddy to weigh that much! Is it a Truck?

On the Trailer hitch, on a Car that old and with the Load weights that will be towed varying as much as they do, the best way to get a good hitch is just go to a Welding, Trailer or Muffler Shop where they build them to suit.

Then with a Light to Medium weight Trailer like that, you could choose a flat steel draw bar or a Receiver type that allows different Draw Bar Heights and the removable feature.

UPDATE: from your other post, it must be THIS combo you trying to tow with:

If that IS a Lark VI, I would hope it has Overdrive and you live or travel on flat ground.

[JoeHall]

I would not tow without a rear anti-swaybar, electric brakes on the camper, and modern brakes on the Stude. Also, would prefer not to tow with a Flight-O-Matic transmission.

As for a tow hitch, there is one that mounts to the inboard sides of the frame rails, with a slip-joint in the middle, to adjust to the width between the frame rails. That would be most preferable to me.

Good luck and please think safety first.

[Gunslinger]

I agree...go to a professional shop and have the hitch made to suit. I used to work at an RV sales and service center back in another life and when we couldn't obtain a hitch made for a vehicle, we had a local welding and fabrication business make one. They would only build a hitch to whatever service rating the tow vehicle was designed to handle. As already said, modern brakes, electric brakes on the trailer and anti-sway bar are a must for safety. Let them handle the liability.

Unless you plan on towing across the yard, install a transmission cooler with an automatic transmission. The heat buildup will kill a transmission quickly and leave you stranded. One Saturday morning when our shop wasn't open someone from out of the area pulled in with a full-size pickup truck (don't remember what make) pulling a large trailer with its transmission barely operating. They didn't see the need for an auxiliary cooler and after about two hundred miles found out otherwise. Their tranny was burned up.

[sals54]

Here's one I made for my 54 Coupe years ago. It bolts onto the frame in place of the skid plates. I towed a trailer weighing more than 1500 lbs for a couple years with it. I was using 12 inch disc brakes up front and a 1-1/4 inch sway bar in place of the stock unit. Never had any trouble towing, stopping or handling with my car.
If that's your car pictured above, get rid of those shackles and get your leaf springs re-arched. Jacking up the rear like that while towing a trailer is gonna give you trouble.

[studebakerjoe]

My husband is an ase ttech he can make one.don't know if can put cooler for transmission car has no tranny lines.were planning to take rear shackles off..66 serro has no brakes made that way.

[studebakerjoe]

Sooooo back in the day when there there were no electric brakes how DID they pull trailers????

[70Avanti2]

Sooooo back in the day when there there were no electric brakes how DID they pull trailers????

Not as far. Not as fast. And not as much traffic as is on the roads to day.

[63 R2 Hawk]

Time to watch "The Long, Long Trailer" again with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Pulling that 28' trailer with a '53 Mercury flathead V8. IIRC, they used bogey wheels on the trailer and I think it was gutted to make it lighter, but I remember seeing a lot of big trailers being pulled by passenger sedans "back in the day". Didn't have stuff like a/c to rob cooling power from the engine....

[sals54]

Maybe its time to define the terms of your towing. How far will you be going with this? Up mega mountains? Leisurely jaunts through Death Valley in August when its 127 degrees? Or long overland traveling at 70 mph across the country? Or are you actively searching out dangerously potholed roads with wicked switchbacks and steep grades?
Maybe its just casual driving through back roads leading to a nearby campground? If you're just bopping around home and looking for some nostalgia to hit the road with, I don't see how you're going to get in too much trouble, as long as you've taken some precautions. Make sure your brakes are in excellent shape, suspension bushings are new, sway bar and bushings in good condition, good towing mirrors, etc. You'll be fine.

[t walgamuth]

I remember one of my uncles talking about towing in the fifties with a big Chrysler new Yorker....plenty of power but fried the tranny. He bought a dodge one ton with a red ram hemi and stick to tow with after that. Problem solved.

[Ed Gray]

Driving down to a local car show may be OK, however, my experience with towing, even with top rated gear, is that it is way more dangerous than driving an old car. Properly set up trailer brakes are essential, or there is a good chance of fishtailing. Brake fade on the car is very likely to happen. Folks will cut you off or blow your doors off so even more than normal defensive driving will be necessary.

I'm one of those guys who has driven from California to Maryland towing a car trailer, so I may be more of a pessimist than others.

[Gunslinger]

Sooooo back in the day when there there were no electric brakes how DID they pull trailers????

Depending on the state, trailers under either 2000 or 1000 pounds gross weight are not required to have brakes. That's why it's so important to have car brakes in top-notch condition.

[studebakerjoe]

we live in the flat part of wny, and its not hot here most of the time heh heh believe me. also the weight of the car is 3095 not 3905. we will be going to a couple of local cruise ins 10 minutes away, and maybe the state park which is twenty minutes away. rest of the time it will stay in the back yard. we arent going anywhere mega distance seeing he works 70 hours a week mostly, lol

[studebakerjoe]

there is only two hills around here and they arent huge either. thats all its going to be towed just to a couple of towns ten minutes away. then we are selling it.