Cobra towing with mid-size v8 SUV ???

[decooney]

Pat,
possible towing for track trips or overnight trips to the coast with friends. No thanks on the FEs and bad gas mileage on towing, if I'm going to tow, it will be a new fuel injected air conditioned luxo truck during those 100 degree days. Not sure yet... We'll see. Talk to ya later...

[427SSSS]

F-150 short bed, stepside, 4 X 4, 4.6 engine, no tow package, pulled 22' open trailer with unfinished but running BB Cobra to Knotts, from SF Bay Area, over the grapevine, and back this past weekend. Piece of cake, even with the two storm fronts we went thru. Hadn't seen rain that hard since the Nam. Did not realize I needed to push the "overdrive off" button each time I stopped and turned the engine off, so towed most of the way in overdrive. 838 miles

[decooney]

All,
thanks for the replies. I'm narrowing down my choices a bit.

Wayne,
do you recall being in 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive; and did it make any difference to you?

[Nathan Houghton]

I have a Bronco that's set up for sand racing, that I regularly tow about 100 miles one way with a '96 Jeep Grand Charokee without any trouble.

My Jeep has a 318ci V8 and Reece hitch. My Bronco weights 4,000lbs plus it's on a two axle trailer. The big thing is getting it balanced on the trailer. The Jeep sags a little, but it tows good. Of course make sure you have the overdrive off, or it will kill your transmission.

[Ken Greene]

only us 4 wheel drive when extra traction is needed and if i'm towing a cobra i don't think i would need the extra traction

[dls]

I tow with a 1995 GMC 3/4 ton diesel pick up. I bought it new and it now has with 223,000 miles. It does a great job. What a truck!!

I would like to tow with may 2002 cadillac but it could'nt pull your sick grandmother off of her bar stool. However its a great car for traveling 27mpg.

[terry lee]

dls,
Which Caddy do you have? I am thinking of an Escalade w/ 6.0 engine as a tow vehicle.
TL

[427SSSS]

decooney,
I was always in 2WD.
The '98 truck has constant "overdrive" unless one pushes a button, and then there is a light which states "off".
As I said, I did not realize that each time I turned off the truck, and then restarted I needed to re-push the button to be "out" of overdrive.
There was more power/the engine ran at higher rpm with the overdrive off, of course, but it pulled just fine running in overdrive, when I forgot to re-push the button after shutting down the truck and restarting, which was 60-70% of the time.
Other times I've used the truck out of overdrive, the trips were shorter, w/o any stops, hence, my ignorance as to realizing I needed to get out of overdrive each time I stopped and restarted.
Guess after 34K miles, I ought to read the manual.

[flipper35]

An equalizer hitch will help with trailers that have more tounge weight. It will even the load on the tow chassis.

[Bill E]

Decooney, I have a lot of miles towing an open trailer whit a cobra on it Being a manufacture we do a lot of pick up and delivery. I have a F 250 extended cab whit a 351W is grate but before that I used a Jeep Laredo whit the HO 4.0 6 cylinder and it would out pull the ford. It did float around a bit but the jeep just did that if you were towing or not you get used to it. the power was grata and it would get 17 on the flat. The trailer is the key I used a Hot shot tandem tilt bead with an open center, two 7500lb torsion bar 7" drop axles. Brakes on all fore wheels. the HO6 has moor torque than the 318.

[decooney]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

well... after plenty of research, driving, testing... I decided and purchased a Chevy Tahoe with the 5.3 litre Vortec instead of a mid-size SUV. 5.3=325HP, and plenty of grunt. Wow, what a vehicle for today's market-adjusted pricing out there...

Speaking of deals...
boy the deals are goin' on at the dealers right now for new, and even used vehicles now. Even less than private party who paid too much two years ago. 0% dealer financing is killing the used market some, so now dealers are dealing on used too with low interest rates. Some other big new tow type vehicles that seemed like a great value right now are the Dodge RAM QuadCab Trucks. New Dodge Ram Big Horns with leather - nice truck for 22K and a 7/70 warranty included. These are selling new for the same price as fairly used Chevy and Ford trucks from two years ago. It's a buyers market right now. Some dealers offering $3,000 under (true invoice) +$3,000 rebates just to move that metal out! Good for buying consumers right now...

[snake oil]

So you like the new tahoe?
I think it's a great choice.
Pretty easy around town and super on the road!
Congrats and good luck w/ your new truck.

[decooney]

Hey Snake Oil,

I like it so far, but some getting use to coming from a smaller more nimble sport ute. The most noticeable things are the comfort, rigid feel, good handling, and the revised turning radius coming out in the larger vehicles now. It's really going to take about two years of driving and use before I make any hard conclusions though. Consumers are definitely getting more car for about the same money these days as compared to 5 years ago.

[terry lee]

Are you sure you meant $3000 below invoice? That's unheard off at this time of the year. Bet it wasn't from Turk's dealership. With the new SAI Cobra, my guess is he isn't going into his holdback for anyone.
You've really got me thinking now! I need to do something.

BTW the Durago w/ 5.9 engine did just fine pulling the 22' enclosed trailer. Back springs alittle light, but we could cruise at 65 - 70 mph very easily. Anything over that was just a waste of fuel. 700 mile trip, and fuel average was 9.5 miles per gallon pulling approx. 6000#.

TL

[decooney]

Terry,

Yep, Mfg Rebate + Dealer holdback and all! YES, $3,000 under actual invoice. I'll say it again.... $3,000 under actual invoice, holdback and all. The overflow lots are filling up. They need to move that metal and plastic.

[StuM]

Towed mine 500 miles on open flatbed w/ my '01 Ford Lightening without a problem. Included "The Grapevine" pass on I-5 in SoCal. Biggest issue was RAIN...damn constant RAIN! Ahhhh- brand new Cobra and RAIN!!!!
!@#$%^&*()