I replaced my extremely heavy small enclosed trailer with a substantially
longer but much lighter one. The difference is remarkable--my 2000 Yukon
with whatever engine comes in them (not that interested) pulls it well. But
the mileage is still not great. My next rig will be a diesel, and I'm going
to do a diesel conversion to my 49 Chevy pickup real soon now.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Larry Young
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 7:07 PM
To: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Chevy 5.3 Litre Powered Tow Vehicle
The shape and height are as important as the weight. I pull an 18'
enclosed trailer, which is extra tall to hold my Model T sedan.
However, it has a sloped nose to cut down on drag. It pulls well with a
Ford 5.4 Expedition at usually 65 mph. I also have a lower than stock
rear gear ratio. The stock ratios are insanely high, so they can
advertise higher gas mileage.
Larry Young
Don Marshall wrote:
>Another option to consider is a lighter enclosed trailer... I didn't
>want to buy a huge tow vehicle so I got the smallest, lightest enclosed
>trailer I could find that a TR4 would fit into. It's not as convenient
>as the bigger trailers, in that I can't carry spare engines, trannys,
>etc. like Henry does, but my '99 Tahoe (350 with factory towing
>package) pulls it very easily and it's way more convenient than an open
trailer.
>I bought a Featherlite 16' all aluminum (I probably should have bought
>the 20' but the concept is the same) with an empty weight of about 1800
>pounds, not much more than some of the steel open trailers I looked at.
>Cost was about double a comparable steel enclosed trailer but I think
>it probably saved me that much on the cost of the tow vehicle and I
>might even get most of it back when/if I sell it. Don
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