How Times Have Changed.

[haulnazz15]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Oh the gearing is what made it capable of towing the load, with the 3.08 gears it wasn't happening, once I got the 4.10 set I could start towing but it was very underpowered, it made towing unpleasant, kind of like navigating a vw rabbit diesel through today's 70mph in and out traffic.

I think your biggest problem is having admitted to driving a VW Rabbit, lol. :laugh:

 

[Dr. Evil]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

This is as good a thread as any for my first post. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Boats are bigger and heavier now than before. Cars are made much different now than back in the day.
That said, many people go overboard on tow rigs. If they think they need a 3/4 ton to pull a bass boat then they probably don't have the experience and ability to tow with anything else so overkill is good for them in those cases.
I've towed a lot of cars and a few boats in my 42 years. Trucks of today are much more capable than the trucks of yesteryear. My 02 Blazer 4wd with the 4.3V6 does just fine towing my barge, even with 4 people in the vehicle and gear on the boat. I used a 99 GMC Sonoma 2wd ext cab with the 4.3 v6 / automatic transmission to tow my corvette to various races. For instance, towing it from my home just North of Knoxville to Bowling Green Ky through mountains and over the hills it had no issues and could easily maintain 65-70mph across the hills. Avg MPG was just under 17mpg with a load. To be fair this was an aluminum featherlite trailer (with brakes and a controller) and the car tipped the scales at just over 3k lbs. Total load was in in the 4500lb range, well below the rated 5500lb capacity. I went to a shoot out race in Atlanta and when I showed up with my rig... Well, there were 1tons diesels everywhere and people were looking at me like I had 3 eyeballs when I pulled in.
The Blazer with the 3:73 rear does even better. A little common sense, knowing your vehicle and its limitations goes a long way.

 

[500dollar744ti]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

I think your biggest problem is having admitted to driving a VW Rabbit, lol. :laugh:

Touche. At least I didn't have to walk.

 

[bigdee]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

A little common sense, knowing your vehicle and its limitations goes a long way.

Remember step bumpers for towing? What about those CLAMP-ON bumper hitches that Sears sold for passenger cars?

 

[Dr. Evil]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Remember step bumpers for towing? What about those CLAMP-ON bumper hitches that Sears sold for passenger cars?

Those were scary.
Since we're talking about some of the back in the day stuff... anyone remember the wratchet style bumper jacks? Bumpers had holes in em for the jack to fit in. Talk about dangerous.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Had a '79 Fury with a 360 and 727 trans. Towed a 26' camper all over the east. In '84 towed a 30' camper with a new Ramcharger. 1st trip was from Pa to St Louis to Vegas to Ut to Chicago and home-- 5700 miles. Trailer tow package helped make towing a breeze.

Brakes and stopping power were never a problem. Towed every mountain range and brakes never heated either. Boats were much lighter than today and campers had electric brakes.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Those were scary.
Since we're talking about some of the back in the day stuff... anyone remember the wratchet style bumper jacks? Bumpers had holes in em for the jack to fit in. Talk about dangerous.

still got a couple of those jacks around! Great for pulling fence posts out! (they are generally referred to as 'farm jacks' now.) But yeah, in car use, they were stupidly dangerous. They provided zero lateral stability, so even a stiff breeze could knock the car off the jack.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Before bumper holes the jacks would grab under and leverage the front of the bumper. The vehicle was lifted by the bumper-- Today the plastic bumper would never lift even the jack handle before becoming junk. Cars in the 50s and 60s were a work of art-- today they all look the same from a Fusion to a Mercedes - all look like Easter eggs-- only the color may be a shade lighter.

Those were scary.
Since we're talking about some of the back in the day stuff... anyone remember the wratchet style bumper jacks? Bumpers had holes in em for the jack to fit in. Talk about dangerous.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

I towed a 26' and towing was not ever a problem. The older I got the less patience available for ramp idiots. Boating is much more enjoyable when calling the marina 1 1/4 miles from the house and asking them to top off the fuel tank and put her in the water. Returning the dock girl ties the boat down and then they take her out, rinse her, flush the motor and put her back inside.

I do it in a 25 foot cruiser and its not that big of a deal. It took a bit to get farmiliar with the larger boat (was trailiring a 21 foot before). But then again I am 32, so perhaps in another 20 years the idea of cranking an 8K boat on to a trailer will be a bit more than I want to deal with.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Great thread, lots of good/bad memories. First of all the 50's and 60's were a much different time. Most farms were family and small so by the time you were 5-6 you could drive the old small tractor and you did. Dad would load the straw/hay/produce on the trailer as you drove. If you lived in town and 14 then you could go to the unemployment office and get a job working on the farms, and we did.

At 16 you knew how to hook-up and load a trailer, to make a safe tow with a tractor, car, or the pickup. Each setup was different depending on the trailer, TV, and where it was headed.

The 50's and early 60's cars and trucks had no power anything. If they had power steering then we called that "Mom's car" and you used it as the last resort. Even using Mom's car for date night was rare.
The radio was AM, and had one bad speaker in the middle of the dash that you couldn't hear because all the windows were always down (no A/C) and no sound deadening.
So you could hear a bad bearing, tire, sway, etc......, just much more aware of what was going on around you.

The dash was metal and you could look at you buddies and see the results of panic stops every time they smiled.
Towing was low speed and a lot of "assured clear distance", or the dentist/doctor was in your kid's future.

Yes, back in the day people towed much safer than today, because they knew how, they saw the results if they didn't everyday, they were aware of what was going on around them, and they had to, due to the limitations of the TV.

huts

 

[bigdee]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Great thread, lots of good/bad memories. First of all the 50's and 60's were a much different time. Most farms were family and small so by the time you were 5-6 you could drive the old small tractor and you did. Dad would load the straw/hay/produce on the trailer as you drove. If you lived in town and 14 then you could go to the unemployment office and get a job working on the farms, and we did.

At 16 you knew how to hook-up and load a trailer, to make a safe tow with a tractor, car, or the pickup. Each setup was different depending on the trailer, TV, and where it was headed.

The 50's and early 60's cars and trucks had no power anything. If they had power steering then we called that "Mom's car" and you used it as the last resort. Even using Mom's car for date night was rare.
The radio was AM, and had one bad speaker in the middle of the dash that you couldn't hear because all the windows were always down (no A/C) and no sound deadening.
So you could hear a bad bearing, tire, sway, etc......, just much more aware of what was going on around you.

The dash was metal and you could look at you buddies and see the results of panic stops every time they smiled.
Towing was low speed and a lot of "assured clear distance", or the dentist/doctor was in your kid's future.

Yes, back in the day people towed much safer than today, because they knew how, they saw the results if they didn't everyday, they were aware of what was going on around them, and they had to, due to the limitations of the TV.

huts

Love your reply....best one yet!

 

[starcraftkid]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

...........................................................................................................................

Yes, back in the day people towed much safer than today, because they knew how, they saw the results if they didn't everyday, they were aware of what was going on around them, and they had to, due to the limitations of the TV.

huts

The problem today is that some people just never catch on. Some never will. No amount of telling, showing, or teaching helps.
I answered an ad today for a free boat, the guy said he'd drop it off if I wanted it. (I'm in NJ, he was in PA, about 120 miles away).
He said he was heading to the shore anyhow and would drop it off. That he did. The boat is junk, the trailer borderline, but its free and I needed a few pieces off it. I had looked at it about two weeks ago but the car I was driving didn't have a hitch, and the trailer was missing its coupler.

Well, this morning at 9AM he was banging on my door asking where I wanted it. When I walked outside I saw how he towed it, he took a piece of chain, stuck one end up into the tongue of the trailer with a bolt through the tongue and chain, using one of the bolts that would normally hold the coupler on, and the other end of the chain wrapped around the ball on his step bumper, he then put a pair of vise grips on the ball to keep the chain from popping off. He came 120 or so miles like that. No lights, no tag, no coupler.
I told the guy he was really taking a chance like that but he said he's towed like that before, no big deal. The truck was an mid 70's GMC with lots of rust and no tailgate. Two back window panels in the slider were plywood.
The trailer frame and axle are good, the coupler was just missing, it needs tires, they don't hold air for more than 30 minutes but the boat was so light it didn't matter. The wheel bearings have no dust caps, and it looks as if they've been gone for years.
To make matters worse, he towed the thing here without tying the boat down, the only thing holding it was the last few strands of a badly rusted winch cable and a winch that has no ratchet pawl, just a screw driver jammed into a drilled hole.
Its a roller trailer and the boat rolled off the trailer with just push. How it stayed put all that distance is beyond me.
It'll be cut up in short order once I get the parts I need off it.

I have little doubt that if I tried something like that I'd have red lights flashing behind me and a list of fines to pay.
I wonder what he'd have done if I said I changed my mind? I suppose someone else would have found a 'free' boat somewhere between here and where ever he was headed.

 

[starcraftkid]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

I had an '89 F-150 with the 300 straight 6, Mazda 5-speed and 3.55 gears and, like you, was very happy with it. With the short gearing you couldn't kill it in 1st; just let out the clutch and go. Maybe the Mazda tranny had a shorter first gear than the old 4-speed. The only thing I didn't care for was the brakes (although they were cheap and easy to repair), but in every other respect it was a very competent tow vehicle. You're not likely to wear it out.

My '86 F150 has a cast iron Clark 4 speed, fourth gear is an overdrive.
First is a bit tall, but it makes enough torque that it don't much matter.
Its pretty tough to stall.

I've been knocking around the idea lately of finding an earlier distributor and carb for a few more hp. The feedback system in 1986 robbed a bit of power. Right before I bought my 1986 new, I had a used 1981 that was almost identical, it got better mileage and had gobs more power. Looking at a parts list, the only change was the carb, distributor, and the addition of a processor. The earlier wiring is even still in the harness.

Back in the 80's a buddy took one of these 4.9L motors and retro fit it into his 77 LTD wagon and made a tow vehicle that can haul people and his boat. He used a New Process trans with the granny low, a 4.11 rear end, and built a custom hitch welded right to the frame.
The thing would pull like a tractor and still carry 8 people to the boat ramp and the boat. It had a 351M-V8 in it from the factory that went bad, he got a used 4.9L I6 from a wrecked truck where he worked for free so in it went. He swore the 4.9L pulled better than the old 351 did, and got decent mileage doing it. In the last few years he used that car, the rear gate was missing, rust had taken its toll to the point where the two back windows were falling out and there was a self made moon roof where a CB antenna used to be over the rear seat. It had to be parked under a tarp so as to keep the seats dry.
He used to back that thing into the water deep enough to float on the 26' cabin boat he towed, often the water came up the back seat when loading the boat. The biggest issue he did have with that car was that the top of the tank was rusted out and it was taking water on when you backed in to load the boat. When drygas wouldn't solve the water issue anymore the factory tank got disconnected and it ran with two metal boat tanks in the back of the car just behind the seat.
He would always invite all the guys in the neighborhood, but most guys wouldn't get in that car.
The thought of watching the road go by under your feet bothered some people I guess.
As did the strong smell of exhaust from the exhaust that got sucked in from behind as your drove. If you were lucky you got to sit on the side with the working window.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Thanks Bigdee, just a different/simpler time.

 

[freeisforme]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Can't get much simpler than this: Vintage trailer hitch 1940's through early 50's model cars and trucks

When I was a kid, a relative who towed a boat and camper every weekend had one like it on his 54 Chevy sedan.
The boat trailer had a strange lever set up and cable brakes too, the tongue was sort of hinged at the coupler and forward force created when braking applied the cable actuated brakes.

These days such a rig would rip off the bumper on a modern car.

 

[Bronlonius]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

I love how his buddy stopped him from straightening it out to fit on his tractor, because someone with an old car could use it.

 

[dingbat]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

The older I get, the more I realize that the good old days where not all that good and not all that long ago.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

This is as good a thread as any for my first post. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Boats are bigger and heavier now than before. Cars are made much different now than back in the day.
That said, many people go overboard on tow rigs. If they think they need a 3/4 ton to pull a bass boat then they probably don't have the experience and ability to tow with anything else so overkill is good for them in those cases.
I've towed a lot of cars and a few boats in my 42 years. Trucks of today are much more capable than the trucks of yesteryear. My 02 Blazer 4wd with the 4.3V6 does just fine towing my barge, even with 4 people in the vehicle and gear on the boat. I used a 99 GMC Sonoma 2wd ext cab with the 4.3 v6 / automatic transmission to tow my corvette to various races. For instance, towing it from my home just North of Knoxville to Bowling Green Ky through mountains and over the hills it had no issues and could easily maintain 65-70mph across the hills. Avg MPG was just under 17mpg with a load. To be fair this was an aluminum featherlite trailer (with brakes and a controller) and the car tipped the scales at just over 3k lbs. Total load was in in the 4500lb range, well below the rated 5500lb capacity. I went to a shoot out race in Atlanta and when I showed up with my rig... Well, there were 1tons diesels everywhere and people were looking at me like I had 3 eyeballs when I pulled in.
The Blazer with the 3:73 rear does even better. A little common sense, knowing your vehicle and its limitations goes a long way.

I respect the Blazer as a capable tow vehicle but I had to give up the ghost it just wasn't pulling my rig as well as I was comfortable with. All though I had the Trailblazer EXT 4x4 with the 3.42 gears and the 4.2 I6 and it just didn't have the grunt to pull my 30 foot pontoon boat. I did it a few times but the second time the temp gauge started climbing on me that was enough sometimes there is no replacement for displacement.

 

[rasbury]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

Yes, things have changed and reading through the posts it seems everyone has a point...boats heavier and cars are lighter is the bottom line. Few new cars are rated to tow anything (Ford Fusion is) so suvs and trucks are the heavier designs although not all have a full frame any more as the new Explorer is a uni body construction. Most of the changes in safety have kept us all alive for sure...when I was growing up, I didn't know anyone that had a boat!

 

[wolfe1974]

Re: How Times Have Changed.

For me the need for a "large tow vehicle" is that the only thing available today are truck/suvs. the ford explorer is a good example. I own a 1996 with a 4.0 it is rated to tow 5000lbs but a new explorer is rated for I think 1500lb or so. the choices are limited if you want to tow safely. the days of the family car towing anything are gone.