Towing limit?

[Motorhead350]

I recently towed my 65 Chevy Pickup about 60 miles, but I was thinking if the Marauder could do such a thing. The only issue I would have is the trailer bringing the car too far down, but being that it does have over 500hp and my Blazer that towed the truck has 350 could the Marauder tow as much as 5,000 lbs? The only other reason I say no is because the engine itself is still stock, with the blower and demand for constant power I would fear that I would fry the engine especially when it was 91 outside with the A/C on full the whole time... the Blazer held up just fine thank you! ;)

Does anyone know what the Marauder is rated to tow and if there is a difference in how much it can haul when it's blown?

[Blackmobile]

IMO, The main strain would be on your tranny more so than the engine.

[sd8683]

I would also think about braking too! 5000 pounds can really push you around

[Rocknthehawk]

and the toll on the suspension...

you may need that horsepower when the rear bumper drags on the ground.

[zabeard]

shouldnt it say in the manual? seems like the suspension would be hurting with 5k lbs.

[JAYSILVER04]

tow ratings are based on the weakist link of any component on the vehicle. it has nothing to do with horsepower. I wouldn't tow anything with my marauder except maybe a jet ski or canoe

[MM2004]

and the toll on the suspension...

you may need that horsepower when the rear bumper drags on the ground.

Air ride would compensate for the additional weight on the rear.

Mike.

[Bobmiddle]

Breaks and the tranny would be the largest issue. You would want a tranny cooler for sure and trying to slow down 10k in rolling mass will be a handful. Just because you are towing 5k does not mean all that weight is on the rear of the MM. Just need to make sure the weight is centered over the axles of the trailer.

[Rocknthehawk]

Air ride would compensate for the additional weight on the rear.

Mike.


That's an awful lot of stress on those poor bags.

[MM2004]

That's an awful lot of stress on those poor bags.

Tongue weight is much different than gross weight of what is being pulled.

I agree with the above statements that braking will be an issue. The stock MM brakes suck bad enough without pulling several thousand pounds more..

Mike.

[wesman]

With the weight distribution system its possible.

[wesman]

Oh yeah towing limit is 2000lbs but in Europe a Focus is considered a 'great tow vehicle' go figure. Somewhere I read in 1990 a crown vic had a 5000lb rating, but they cut it to sell trucks.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

The stock MM brakes suck bad enough without pulling several thousand pounds more..

Mike.

That's the best answer right there. I barely feel safe in a lot of normal driving situations, having to slam on the stock undersized brakes. 7,000 lbs w/ one of these cars? Holy hell, you must have a death wish. I have seen people tow tons of weight with pickup truck bumper hitches that were not rated for it, but I'd rather not get killed (and take other people out) doing so.

[larryo340]

:confused: What......nobody believes in trailer brakes anymore??

[Pops]

I do and if your trailer has them you should! Great saftey item.

[larryo340]

Unless you have a F-250 or higher I wouldn't like to tow without trailer brakes, and even then you should still have them.
I've done my fair share of towing without trailer brakes when I had my Bronco, and it wasn't fun stopping. :eek:

I've seen guys at Englishtown's Raceway Park towing open car trailers with CV's or MGM's. Not many hills from Flat...oops I mean Long Island to E-town. These cars have enough power unless your one of those lunatics that love to take off from lights as if it were a .........
http://www.thepinballcompany.com/ProductImages/neon/Thumb_drag%20racing%20tree.jpg

[bosscougar]

You mean no one else on here would hitch up to a 4,000 lb car with a tow bar, load up 2 buddies AND their luggage, and then head 800 miles home on a 95-100 degree day through the Smokey Mountains?

Lets just say it I had an interesting trip home for Carlisle this year. The guy I rode with ('03 300A) bought a car on Ebay in WV on Saturday night. We left the show at Carlisle a little early on Sunday and drove to Morgantown, WV. One of our local car buddies hitched a ride home with us.
The next morning we hitched up to Charlie's new 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 and headed south. Overdrive off and kept it at 55 to 60mph max. Only one ridge gave us any trouble. The water temp ran about 10 degrees hotter than normal, which I figure is the car's computer parameters for running in 3rd gear. The temperature didn't drop below 90 degrees until 8:30pm in Greenville, SC. We averaged 15.5 mpg. I wish I had my Scanguage set to read transmission temperatures, but Charlie hasn't noticed any difference in his Marauder in the past month.

I have some pictures of the trip home. If I can figure out how to post the pictures online, I will put them in the gallery. My pics are huge in size and I need my friend to come over and resize them for me. My computer knowledge doesn't go that far.


Michael

[justbob]

I believe your air bags are good to 1000 pounds. Power shouldn't be a concern. Trailer brakes and trans cooler a must have. But the rest of the car was not meant for that kind of weight and one sudden movement steering or brakes would put you in a bad place my friend. My last truck was a 94 f150 ext. cab 302 auto and it pulled my 5000# boat and 1400# trailer to 63rd st dock a couple dozen times but was real hard on it.

[Motorhead350]

I will just keep using my K5 for towing, still shocked it did so well!

[bosscougar]

The saving grace for us was the tow bar vs a tow dolly / trailer. The Marauder was pulling, but it was not holding up any of the Ford's weight. The Ford's tires were on the ground so there was no vertical load on the hitch. A good portion of our luggage went into the Ford's trunk, too.

Still, it pulled and stopped better than I expected. Life is full of adventures!