towing with a cougarbird?

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towing with a cougarbird?

June 26, 2014, 03:24:33 AM

I've been planning on utilizing the whimpy 1 1/4" receiver that came with my 87 bird. it will have a gt-40 head and intake 302 with t-5 and hopefully tc 3.55 rear. I'm running a "under 8500gvwr" clutch ment for an f-150 and when it.wears out i plan to throw in the over 8500gvwr clutch/pressure plate just for fun as its the same price. will also have 11" brakes up front and tc discs out back.

I'm thinking about adding air shocks or possibly "helper" bags/springs and i kinda like the jacked up camero look. this would also help with fender clearance with my 265/60's as they slightly rub at full travel. I'm thinking.about rolling.the.fenders so this will no longer be a problem, but I'm also thinking about going with a 1" coil spring spacer.

i don't mind if the ride is a bit firmer, but i don't want it to ride like a tank or rip off shock mounts or anything if i hit any pot holes.

eventually i want.to pick up a small 8'x4', maybe a 8'x10' depending on what i find when I'm ready to buy.

any advise? I'm not looking to tow every day, maybe just a few 100#'s worth of work tools when i travel out of town, or maybe borrow a 500lb pop up trailer for camping.

anyone have any advise/ input?

towing with a cougarbird?

Reply #1 – June 26, 2014, 06:41:01 AM

I used to tow with my 83 all the time. It was a stock 302/AOD. I never had any trouble pulling. I think the only issue I had was weak brakes, but that car had weak brakes when it wasn't towing.

I pulled my pop-up camper (900lbs) no problem. Then the camper got destroyed in a storm and I converted it to a hauling trailer. When I moved into my new house, I moved everything I own with my cougar and that trailer (36 mile round trip, probably 30+ times).

towing with a cougarbird?

Reply #2 – June 26, 2014, 10:39:05 AM

I haven't towed with my '87 'bird, but I've towed a good bit with my '06 Accord and '06 Subaru (similar weight and wheelbase). I've got a 5x8 trailer I use for home improvement projects. Wood, stone, concrete, dirt, mulch, etc. Should be no problem for you. The 5x8 is rated for 3500lbs and is ~700 lbs empty. Once I get my 'bird back on the road, I plan to pull the trailer around for giggles. You'll get some weird looks towing 1200 lbs of concrete in a car...

An 8500 GVWR F-150 clutch is probably a 12-13000 GCWR once you account for the F-150 towing capacity. A loaded out '87 with 3500 lb of trailer is <8500 GCWR. I doubt you'll need the beefier clutch for towing.

If it's the same hitch as mine, 36219, it's rated for 3500lbs and I wouldn't worry about it.

I'd go with air bag helpers so you can adjust for varying tongue weights easily. Firestone makes some, although I haven't used them myself. You'll need to make sure and keep a little air in there all the time, else the bag won't hold shape and the steel spring coils will destroy the rubber bladder.

Don’t think anybody makes a custom t-harness for our cars, so you’ll need to get a 3-2 converter. I’d recommend getting one with circuit protection. That should protect the vehicle wiring/fuse in case a trailer circuit shorts out somehow. A non-powered converter should be fine, but may make the blinkers blink quicker with incandescent lights on the trailer. I put in LED lights on my trailer. Much brighter and more reliable than incandescent.

towing with a cougarbird?

Reply #3 – July 03, 2014, 12:53:57 PM

The type of trailers and weight your thinking about won't have a lot of tongue weight to dip the rear much, test and see. It would be like flat towing a car behind you.
EDIT- You still got the receiver on?? lol

towing with a cougarbird?

Reply #4 – July 03, 2014, 05:19:04 PM

I dont actually have a hitch yet. i was thinking of buying a 1 1/4" to 2" receiver and then using a.regular 2" angled up.hitch. the 1 4" sizes are expensive and so are the balls.

I've towed a lot of things behind a f-150 and larger trucks. I've towed well over 16000lbs plus trailer.behind an.f-250. I am not worried at all about managing the trailer, i just don't want to be dragging the.bumper and.hitch on ever dip.