Using a Charger to Tow.

[Brock Samson]

  anyone use a tow hitch on their charger?..

  as you may or may not know,
   i bought one for my parade float (Thanks Rocky!)  and a two inch drop hitch and want to tow a U-Haul trailor to the Charger Registry meet in August loaded with parts and stuff...
  and so being a complete idiot I could use some advice and tips...
  one thing im concerned about is drilling the frame rails to bolt the thing to, and and any possible way to prevent rust or other isues...
any idea how much i can expect my MPG to suffer?..   

the previous thread:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=21783.0;id=32398;image

[67_Dodge_Charger]

I would recommend an air shock setup with heavy duty leaf springs.  What gears are you using in the rear end?  Hmmm..... What should the load limit be for a Charger? 

sounds like fun.

Robert

[moparguy01]

MPG will more than likely drop like a rock. I wouldnt want to pull very much with it, since the rear suspension of these cars wasnt designed for a trailer. Just watch your tongue weight and try to keep it relatively low.

[Zentelis]

Your MPG will switch to GPM

[Neal_J]

Wait.  You're running a 440 right? 

OK, so my magic kryztal ball sez your mileage will suck regardless. 

Is there that much difference between 10 mpg and 8 mpg?

Neal

[Troy]

Is there that much difference between 10 mpg and 8 mpg?

Neal

About 20%.

Troy

[Neal_J]

Ahh, so that means you'll have to stop for gas every 160 miles instead of every 200 miles.

[Troy]

In my Suburban that's about a 70 mile difference (an extra hour of driving). In my Barracuda it's the difference between running out or making it to the next exit (22 miles). I couldn't deal with 88 miles to a tank since I drive almost 40 miles each way whenever I take the car out. Stopping for gas every hour and fifteen minutes would get old real fast! My motorcycle gets 54 mpg but only holds 2.2 gallons with a small reserve. Fill-ups are quick though.

As for the hitch, it probably depends on the trailer being towed and the weight more than anything. U-haul has a small open trailer with about 500-700 pounds capacity. I doubt if that will really impact the Charger much. (For example, check out the BullRun thread where Mike explains what all they had stuck to the Charger.) Trying to pull a 16' enclosed full of exhaust manifolds and iron heads would be a completely different story. I remember when I was in high school my friend's dad had a 18' or 20' ski/motor boat that he towed with an old Pontiac with a 350 2bbl. I couldn't tell much difference in the car with or without the trailer except when braking. A friend of mine has a 59 Chevy station wagon that he uses to pull his race car to the track and it's about the same way. I think both had similar hitches to the one shown.

Troy

[Charger_Fan]

Strat, just get a van & paint your Charger on the side...problem solved!
No need to even get a motel, just sleep on the waterbed in the back.

[Dave22443]

Strat,

  Do you have hardened valve seats in your engine?  If not, towing will likely burn them out quickly.

[daves68]

Trust me, it won't hurt the car. I bought my 68 Charger in 1971 and , in the old daily driver days, pulled a 16 ft ski boat, 2 and 4 place snowmobile trailers, Starcraft pop-up camper and a car haul trailer.  That was with a 318 and 2/71 gears. Added air shocks to cure the rear drop. Mileage was around 12-13 instead of 17. Now that it's on the rotisserie, it probably will not be towing anything, but, I still have the hitch in the rafters.  Only substandard thing was the brakes. Got a little sporting in freeway traffic.

[chgr500]

I think every Charger I ever owned(6)..(69-71's)  had a trailer hitch on it....of course they were all big blocks....these cars were one of the choices for people to pull huge house trailers back in the day when there were no 5th wheels.  Big car with a big engine...good handling lol....these were the 70's.....The Charger was not a hot rod it was presented as more of a luxury vehicle and people towed lots with them.  Good springs and air shocks and away you go...oh ya mpg will suffer....why wouldn't they.... the hitches on my cars were welded on...lots of fun to remove.....tow with it just take it easy..have fun!

[Rocky]

Hey Dave,
  I've still got the old air shocks if you're interested, but I did toss the old plastic tubing.

[wetfeetmi]

 You could check into a weight distribution hitch! It works fantastic with my F-250 and Airsrteam camper
  Troy, I didn't know you had a Barracuda! Give me the low down, please?  Rick

[Brock Samson]

so little will be towed that im gonna use the small u-haul troy mentioned... i just thought i try it for the meet..
thank you too much... 


   

[Troy]

You could check into a weight distribution hitch! It works fantastic with my F-250 and Airsrteam camper
  Troy, I didn't know you had a Barracuda! Give me the low down, please?  Rick

Yep, got it almost a year ago. It's a 1973 Barracuda 318 auto Y1 with white interior. I painted the Cuda hood myself over the summer. It isn't quite stock any more...


Troy

[kab69440]

so little will be towed that im gonna use the small u-haul troy mentioned... i just thought i try it for the meet..
thank you too much... 


   

What meet are you headed to?

[Rocky]

I think he is planning on the Eureka, CA meet in August.