How did they do it before 4X4's.

[harringtondav]

I've used the braking trick with some success on our older FWD cars w/o traction control. It takes just the right brake pedal touch to get both wheels to spin. Now 3 of 4 family vehicles are 4WD/AWD, and the FWD has traction control. Good to have up here in the land of Iowegians.

 

[JimS123]

The golden age of Trailer Boating was the 1950's. Prior to that most either had a dock because the boat was a big cruiser, or you threw it on top of your car. A 14 footer with a 10 HP OB was very common.

My Dad docked his boat in the Niagara River, in front of what is now an Interstate Highway. Back then, U-Haul dealers rented boat trailers too, so Grandpa would clamp a bumper hitch on his old Plymouth and haul the boat back and forth to Buffalo twice a year.

When the Greatest Generation came back from the war many wanted boats. Now they were starting families and a 16 or 18 footer with a 50 HP OB was the new norm. Full size cars (Chevy Impala, Ford Galaxie, et. al.) were still quite capable of towing. The only people that had pickups were farmers and construction workers. Who wanted a noisy uncomfortable ride?

I only know about the boat ramps in my area. There are more of them now, but they have always been hard surface and well maintained.

My first trailer boat was a wooden 16 footer with an Evinrude 40 HP Lark, and a single axle all roller Holsclaw trailer. Total weight 1217 pounds. I pulled it with a 1961 Mercury Comet, equipped with a 144 CID 85 HP L6 and a 3 spd column shift. It got me wherever i wanted to go, and it even got me back.

 

[Cortes100]

Ah the old days...……..I do remember boring Dad's Oldsmobile 98 when the parents weren't home. Woohoo let's go to the lake. Never a problem with pulling, but when we got home, realized there was 4" of water in the back seat. Oops, let's poke a hole in the floor to let it drain, and hopefully dries before he gets back.

Yes now I have my fancy 4x4. Most launches are concrete so rarely sees 4H, but on the occasion I might need 4WD in the gravel launch. Come to think of it, it's pretty tough to find a new 2WD truck around here, probably have to order it.

 

[H20Rat]

I'm thinking about it. They say they don't make things the way they used to. Thank goodness. Back when I started driving and up to 30 or so years ago if you got 100,000 miles out of a car before the tranny went, threw a rod, all the seals leaked, engine burned oil, suspension wore out, became a pile of rust and, and, and 100K was time to see the scrap dealer. After putting almost 250,000 miles on my wife's Nissan Altima the CVT tranny finally failed.

I've had similar discussions with people when they get all teary eye'd over the good 'ol days of cars. People have long forgotten a day when 100k miles was somewhat rare and was considered way past the life of the vehicle. Usually people also mention how much safer the steel cars of yesteryear were, built like a tank. Truth is they actually were lighter in many cases than a modern vehicle, and 100x more dangerous. (if you haven't seen the 1959 bel air (3510#) vs 2009 malibu (3650#) crash video, watch it! One crash test dummy is absolutely destroyed, one has a headache.)

 

[JimS123]

I've had similar discussions with people when they get all teary eye'd over the good 'ol days of cars. People have long forgotten a day when 100k miles was somewhat rare and was considered way past the life of the vehicle. Usually people also mention how much safer the steel cars of yesteryear were, built like a tank. Truth is they actually were lighter in many cases than a modern vehicle, and 100x more dangerous. (if you haven't seen the 1959 bel air (3510#) vs 2009 malibu (3650#) crash video, watch it! One crash test dummy is absolutely destroyed, one has a headache.)

I haven't forgotten!

Cars last longer today. They are much much safer. They have better economy. They are quieter and more comfortable. After 4 years they aren't all rusted apart and you don't have to buy a new one. On and on...

OTOH, back in the 1950's my Dad (a professional) made 100 bucks a week. The Full sized deluxe car he bought in 1955 cost $1900, or 19 weeks pay.

Today, lets say a typical factory worker makes 52 grand a year (I dunno what's average, I'm just picking a number) So, for $19K he surely is going to end up with a riceburner with limited capabilities. And if he wants to pull a trailer ain't no way he can afford the pickemuptruck.

My point is that even though cars are better today, they cost more and what we lost was trailer towing capacity.

 

[GA_Boater]

This is how they did it.

 

[matt167]

The '59-2009 video was bogus. If you look at the '59 you can tell it has no engine, and in an X frame car the engine provides some of the structure. The end result would have been similar but, different... Of course YES cars of today are safer and better in that respect.

I daily drove a 1950 Plymouth ( Super Deluxe, factory unrestored but nice ) for a couple weeks when my daily drivers clutch blew up. The '50 is what I had and it ran/ drove great for what it was. But early may was always raining and those vac wipers and the defog system just didn't do justice.

 

[JimS123]

The '50 is what I had and it ran/ drove great for what it was. But early may was always raining and those vac wipers and the defog system just didn't do justice.

Hahaha. Now you have brought back a lot of fond memories. Plymouth....pfffft. Try a VW Beetle. It had NO defogger and the heater was gasoline operated and provided almost nothing except gas vapors.

Also, the floorboards were known to rot out, so if it rained you needed to wear galoshes so your feet didn't get wet.

 

[matt167]

I had a '74 Super Beetle. It looked pretty nice but the kick panels were rotted out to the point air came in. The pans were not horrible but it was still cold and wet in the rain. It had a 1600 DP that was warmed over, very strong runner. But it was connected to an autostick

 

[racerone]

The next automotive revolution will be / is here --------Anyone notice the promotion of electric vehicles on super bowl day.-----Compared to last years ads ?

 

[dingbat]

Hahaha. Now you have brought back a lot of fond memories. Plymouth....pfffft. Try a VW Beetle. It had NO defogger and the heater was gasoline operated and provided almost nothing except gas vapors.

Also, the floorboards were known to rot out, so if it rained you needed to wear galoshes so your feet didn't get wet.

Learned to drive in my parents 63 they bought new. Complete with blankets and a board over the hole in the passengers side floor. Went on to own many more over time. The last was a 74 convertible I bought in 78.

Got to the point I could swap out a motor in under an hour.

 

[sphelps]

Dad had a Dodge Custom 880 1963 383 push button trans he used to tow with .. That thing was a beast ! Never had any problems towing that I know of ...

 

[jimmbo]

I haven't forgotten!

Cars last longer today. They are quieter and more comfortable.

Can't beat this for Comfort, 79 Coupe DeVille

My 2012 STS has horrible Bucket Seats, and worse yet, they are Leather, The Fans for cooling them help a bit though

 

[briangcc]

The MFG was my family's first boat in 1986. We towed it with a mid-sized Chevy Malibu wagon which had an anemic V6 setup for gas mileage as it was bought at the heart of the oil embargos. It towed fine launching in all sorts of conditions as it had posi. Actual, honest to god, posi - locker in the pumpkin, not this computer controlled, wait for a wheel to slip and apply the brakes crap.

It only got stuck (1) year when it got burred in the sand on Baptiste Lake in Bancroft ON. Pretty sure my uncle pulled it out with his V8 Chevy Malibu Classic sedan.

That car had a full frame and had a frame hitch. My dad had never trailered anything before and never had any issues other than blowing out a trailer tire on a back country road and not having a spare - lesson learned there.


My very first tow vehicle was a '95 Nissan Pathfinder XE 4x4 which towed my very first boat purchase - '99 Bayliner. It did it fine. Full framed vehicle with 150hp V6/I6 - I looked up the specs and I couldn't believe it had that little HP. The only reason, and I mean only reason, I got rid of the Pathfinder was that GM in 2001 opened up the Employee Discount program to step-grandkids. My step-grandfather was a GM mechanic at the Tonawanda Engine Facility and retired from there.


As recently as 2018 I towed my Chap with my '17 4Runner 4x4 - full framed V6 and it did just fine. None of the ramps I launch at now require 4x4 but I live where it snows and its needed for that.

 

[racerone]

Most did the best they could with what was available in the day.-----My dad said that as a kid they ran to the school yard fence because the DOCTOR in town had gotten a new bicycle.----They were amazed to see a bicycle where the pedals were not turning all the time !-----New technology of freewheeling.--------Baptiste Lake , I know where that is.

 

[Silvertip]

Regardless what vehicle was used for towing in the day, people knew how to actually drive rather just "aim" the car like drivers today. A good majority of folks today have no idea how to open the hood or where the dipstick is. As for tow vehicles, some of the worst I had were pickups and some of the best were the oldies such as my 1970 Olds Delta 88 and 1981 Olds 98 Regency Diesel with a 455 gasser transplant. It's amazing when I look back at how well we were able to get around in Minnesota and Wisconsin snow with 2wd cars and I wouldn't think about going out in today without hopping into my AWD drive itself (almost) SUV. AWD/4WD, locking differentials, traction control, etc., are all beneficial but knowing how to actually drive in bad conditions is key.

 

[GA_Boater]

Some one once said "4 wheel drive lets you to get stuck deep further up the road if you don't know how to drive it."

It doesn't help with some of the ads we see. Jeeps, Subbies and all the AWD/4X4s driving up and down ski slopes, roller coasters and the like.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Can't beat this for Comfort, 79 Coupe DeVille

My 2012 STS has horrible Bucket Seats, and worse yet, they are Leather, The Fans for cooling them help a bit though

Man that pic brings back memories from the 80's. Remember the Chrysler Cordoba with Corinthian leather what ever n Hell that was. Man those cars just sucked. Both my brothers had one at the same time, no idea why. My last Caddy was a 81' Eldorado. If you went to a furniture store today and bought a leather sofa the same size it will cost you 2 grand or more. A few years we were looking to get my wife a newer car. We took a 16' Caddy out, cn't remember the model they all have numbers now not names. After 15 minutes test driving it was the most boring 15 minutes driving in years. Comfortable enough to fall asleep in fact. She didn't bother driving it, she was bored just sitting in the passengers seat. It sure would tow a boat I'm sure.

 

[JimS123]

The term "Corinthian Leather" is merely a Madison Avenue ploy to make the consumer think that his leather seats are designed after classic Greek Corinthian architecture. In actuality, the cow probably came from an ordinary farm in Michigan.

My Lincoln is advertised as having "Bridge of Weir" upholstery. But there is logic to that claim. FMC actually imports the leather from the Bridge of Weir tannery in Scotland.

 

[JimS123]

It's amazing when I look back at how well we were able to get around in Minnesota and Wisconsin snow with 2wd cars and I wouldn't think about going out in today without hopping into my AWD drive itself (almost) SUV. AWD/4WD, locking differentials, traction control, etc., are all beneficial but knowing how to actually drive in bad conditions is key.

I grew up driving a full sized RWD car with a V8 and a stick shift. I never got stuck in the snow and there was never a day I didn't get to work on time.

When it looked like they were going to be obsoleted, I retired the almost new one I had and it has been my valued towcar for all these years. (My Ponch's 40 year birthday is in a week).

The auto companies always touted FWD as the end-all for winter driving. After buying my first one I wished that I had another RWD. FWD in the snow is a myth.

But then again, after experiencing 55 years of winter driving in Buffalo, NY, I'm pretty sure that I can navigate thru anything in any car.