Towing weight

[RodC]

Is there a published towing cap. for our trucks? I could not find it on the door or any old manuals.

I have a 1/2 ton truck and class IV Weight Distributing hitch.

A friend of mine wants me to tow a car trailer (2 axels + electronic brakes) and haul a 1/2 ton international pickup.

Has anyone here towed a car + trailer with this type of setup??

I have a 350/TH350 and a large tranny cooler, I think I have the HP but is this going to be out of my towing cap?

[Scrub]

I think you will be just fine.

Going should be no problem, it's the stopping that you might need to worry about.

Your only problem, at least in my mind, might be a emergency stop (wheel sliding, rubber screaching, pedal to the floor thing)

How far do you have to go and how many hills to you have to go over?

I would not have any fear of what you are doing myself, but, I am mostly nuts when it comes to hauling stuff.

Worst case scenario: you have to go down a big steep hill, like a 1000 foot drop or more.
Go slow. if you have to go down a big hill, put it in low gear and stay off the brakes. If you have to use the brakes going down a long hill, Use them fairly hard and slow down a lot and get into a lower gear then stay off of them. What ever you do, don't ride the brakes all the way down a hill, or you won't have any brakes. on a real long downgrade, just figure you get one stop, use it wisely.

Good luck

[RodC]

I think breaks will be OK his trailer seems to have good breaks. I use to be a truck driver, so I think I can manage the break cycles OK. I'm more worried about too much sway. My weight distro hitch helps a lot. I just wanted some reassurance that I won't look like a total Idiot! And I can not find out how much his truck weighs, I'm looking for a public scale as we speek.

There are several hills but all interstate (with nice warning signs and exit ramps) , and I will have someone following me with a radio.

[pierce]

If this makes you feel any better...I towed my blazer 5500lbs on a car trailer from North Carolina to Ohio with a 305/350 Bronco with a bumper hitch that was reinforced to the frame, don't know what class rating but it was factory. It was a hot day the trailer blew a tire but that was the only problem, hills really slowed me down.

[busterwivell]

I Towed that Olds wagon last week with my 1 Ton. Had a little problem with sway, just moved the wagon further forward and the problem went away. (but with your experience you probably already knew that). I don't think you'll have a problem.
We towed Jeff's Suburban to Desert Rat about 100 miles of interstate with a 3/4 ton Suburban with 350/400 and had no problems other than tires.

[Fast68Chevy]

pulling a 4,000lb vehicle with a 67-72 1/2 ton is no big deal, easycake, but if the trailer is damn heavy then you could be reaching limit, helps if you have 3.73-lower ratio gears and a nice engine and damn good brakes, the GVW of the truck is stamped on the door VIN plate, should be 5000-6000 if its a C10

[murph396]

towing that truck should be no prob. a few weeks ago I pulled an '82 chevy pickup on a tandem axle trailer. the trailer itself was quite heavy however my truck had no prob with pulling it. i think i could still beat a few imports off the line. haha. anyway the truck didn't squat at all nor did i lose any rpms at highway speeds. however my brakes suck so i just took my time and the trip went problem free. well good luck with towing that old pickup!!

[WORNBRAKES]

Put the weight to the front and make your tie downs =. That will eliminate a lot of sway. No prob. You got it.

[tom hand]

I pull heavy trailers all over the country for a living with a 2001 Chevy 3/4 ton truck. Pulling is not the problem, it is stopping. If you are pulling on farely flat ground no biggie. If you head into mountain country,watch out. In the mountains they have hills that while are not that steep, they go on forever. Probably no matter where you live you have gone down a hill with a 5% grade. Now go down a hill with a 5% grade that lasts for 15 miles. You know you are in trouble when you see the emergency stopping for semi s. If you have never pulled a trailer with eletric brakes before, make sure to learn how to operate and adjust the brakes while driving before trying to pull somthing.

[RodC]

Thanks for all the replies, I may be towing it to Carlisle PA and I don't want any of you guys sain "Look at that nut with the blue '71 stepside. How did such an Idiot get a '71? That guy should be kicked out of the club.. bla bla bla."

You know the ones, they are out there lurking now, or posting: go ahead, don't worry you can pull at least 12,000 lbs with that chevy.

[Longhorn Man]

LOL...Jeff and I towed the one ton Longhorn with his little K 5 87 Blazer. scared teh hell outa me...whit nuckles all the way. From a small town 50 milew west of Philly, all the way here to columbus Ohio. The Turnpike is in grate shape except for a couple spots of construction.

[jhwkns]

On a recent trip to Mohave Valley Raceway I towed the car down with my friends 72 GMC (500cid Caddilac/400th) It was a fun trip. His truck towed great. We all had a good time. John

[Dan69 step]

Like they said, pulling is not the problem, stopping is. I've towed 2 (yes that's two) 50 Buicks from central Ohio to Ashland,VA at the same time,with the 69 short step. One on the trailer, the other on a dolly. If anyone doubts this, I DO have a picture of it. Averaged about 55 mph,too. Of course the steep grades were as posted before, very slow. Properly balancing the loads are the key to pulling as you know.(And having trailer brakes.) The reason I could tow one on the dolly,(info for you younger guys), is the motor,tranny and torque tube were removed, but the rear axle had to be chain bindered in place to keep it stationary.It has no driveshaft, but a torque tube to hold the rear in place , otherwise it is just free floating. I've even pulled 1 ton fords with my 69 and 72.Have even pulled an 88 1 ton 4x4 crew cab from Phoenix to Sioux Falls,SD with the 69,too. Made it up and down Wolf Creek pass with it.(wouldn't want to do it again though)
Good luck!

[DennyB]

Towing a tandam axel car hauler with a 3/4t Would be no problem (as you mentioned, the trailer has good breaks).
As for sway with a half ton, maybe someone can share their experence with that. You may want to add a rear sway bar.
I would also suggest adding a trans temp guage just to monitor that t350 with. Otherwise, if it gets hot in the hills of PA ya wont know till its too late

[Fast68Chevy]

jhwkns ! thats frickin cool ! i want to learn more about those races, i wil see that some day, probably next year if all goes as planned!