Towing a 2000lb teardrop (1 Viewer)

[fj80rodngun]

I opted not to add a aftermarket receiver hitch. PO installed a hitch on factory 4 hole location and anyone wondering about doing the same thing it is solid as a rock at this weight range. Picked up the teardrop in Pueblo on Friday drove to Canyonlands needles side on Saturday and back to Bayfield Sunday.

 

[rc51kid]

How did it do pulling that from the power perspective?

I would like to do a small Scamp style trailer

 

[SmokingRocks]

I towed this trailer (2,000 lbs) from Fort Collins to Moab and the cruiser did great. On the passes, I thought I would be doing 45mph but it actually held 65mph to the Eisenhower tunnel. It only dipped to 60 when coming home at the top of vail pass.

My MPG went from 11 to about 10.... Stock gears rebuilt 4.6 with 40k on it and rig weighs in at 7,000 lbs.

 

[fj80rodngun]

How did it do pulling that from the power perspective?

I would like to do a small Scamp style trailer

The trip from Pueblo through Salida onto Southfork I was very happy with how it pulled. When we headed up Wolfcreek pass over 9000ft 6.8% grade it would no longer maintain speed and had to down shift into 1st and 25mph. On the flats I can pull as fast as necessary.

 

[rc51kid]

The trip from Pueblo through Salida onto Southfork I was very happy with how it pulled. When we headed up Wolfcreek pass over 9000ft 6.8% grade it would no longer maintain speed and had to down shift into 1st and 25mph. On the flats I can pull as fast as necessary.

That's what I figured 6.8% is steep and 9000 feet takes the guts out of these things. I regularly drive mountain passes like that. I figured it would be slow going.

 

[rc51kid]

I towed this trailer (2,000 lbs) from Fort Collins to Moab and the cruiser did great. On the passes, I thought I would be doing 45mph but it actually held 65mph to the Eisenhower tunnel. It only dipped to 60 when coming home at the top of vail pass.

My MPG went from 11 to about 10.... Stock gears rebuilt 4.6 with 40k on it and rig weighs in at 7,000 lbs.
View attachment 1948678

What motor are you running? 60mph with the trailer. I can't do that without the trailer on i70 over the pass.

 

[SmokingRocks]

1Fz-FE, fully rebuilt a couple years ago. I run about 8 degrees advance on the timing and typically plan my drive so that I'm hitting the passes during the twilight hour. The air temp is cooler and as such more dense which helps with power a bit and keep temps in line.

Added benefit of driving the pass in the late evening is that there is way less traffic on the road. So I can get a solid running start before the grade and there's a far less of a chance that I'll get jammed up behind a semi. Usually my foot is on the floor from Georgetown to the tunnel and the engine is screaming in 2nd gear the entire time. At the base of the hill my temps are 180, when I'm in the climb it will rise to 187-190 then the fan clutch comes on hard and drags the temps down to 175 and holds there.

If I drive the passes in the afternoon then as soon as I get jammed up and loose my momentum its all over.

 

[rgsiii]

In a non Turbocharged 80, the Eisenhower tunnel has always been a bear for me.

The last time up, I was barely able to get up to 25 after a Prius caused me to come to a near complete stop; on the way up to the Eisenhower Tunnel. I imagine he was trying to optimize the angle of a solar panel or had spilled a latte. In my 1994 this has always been a white knuckle experience, when I have to slow down. Do you have a secret?

 

[Heckraiser]

My hiker trailer (boxy teardrop) was only around 800 pounds and I now have an A-liner that is closer to 1200 pounds. Oddly, the A liner tows better, indicating aerodynamics may play a bigger role than weight on the highway.

I have a 35" spare under the truck and looking for a different hitch setup. Glad to see your 4 bolt thingymabob held up. I'll probably go that route in the short term and weld in something custom in the long term.

 

[SmokingRocks]

In a non Turbocharged 80, the Eisenhower tunnel has always been a bear for me.

The last time up, I was barely able to get up to 25 after a Prius caused me to come to a near complete stop; on the way up to the Eisenhower Tunnel. I imagine he was trying to optimize the angle of a solar panel or had spilled a latte. In my 1994 this has always been a white knuckle experience, when I have to slow down. Do you have a secret?

Its a result of many factors; Power, Driving style and time of day.

POWER:
Sure the 1FZ is not an LS1 but it does make good torque when set up properly. Make sure your engine is maintained; Properly tensioned throttle cable, Fresh plugs, Fresh air filter, free flowing Cats, functioning fan clutch, fresh coolant (I run a 70% Water / 30% Coolant mix in the summer for increased thermal transfer capacity). Finally, and after everything else I just listed is baselined, advance your timing to around 8 degrees but no more than 9 or 10 (factory setting is 3 degrees). You will feel a decent bump in responsiveness and mid range umph by running 8 degrees. Having a scan gauge or KOSO temp gauge to monitor water temp is a very nice feature when climbing passes and IMO should be mandatory for 80's owners.

DRIVING STYLE: Preservation of momentum is the goal.

1. Start the hill before you are on it. What I mean by this is get the cruiser wound up as fast as you can on the flats before the incline. I typically do this on the straight away that’s right next to Georgetown.
2. Look way up the road, this will let you see what you are going to have to deal with as far as semi’s and dumb ass Prius drivers. If you see semi’s ahead understand that at some point you will need to pass them, since you don’t want to ever let off the gas you should always be looking at traffic coming up behind you and planning your move. When you need to make a pass choose the time to get over that allows you to never lift, sure it may blow for those coming up behind you for a minute but whatever make your pass and get back over.
3. Keep the foot to the floor. The 1FZ-FE is a low stress overbuilt engine it can happily sit on the redline for hours if maintained correctly, don’t feel like you need to be easy on it.

TIME of DAY:
Plan your trip to take advantage of light volume traffic times. The added bonus is this is usually early morning or late evening which gives your cruiser dense cool air to burn for more power while also increasing the ability to shed heat.

Sometimes I give it all I've got and still get skunked by unpredictable yokels, thats just the way it is. But when I get a clean run in I am always maintaining 60-65

 

[fj80rodngun]

Do you run premium gas?

 

[LC4LIFE]

Been dragging this teardrop all over the country since the LC was just a baby. The teardrop weighs just about 800 lbs and is no problem to pull unless the road points uphill at altitude. Then, as mentioned before, act like your trying to push your right foot through the floor and it will do okay.

FWIW - I would change that hitch to a proper one. Lots of leverage twisting on that thing with the drop hitch.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Do you run premium gas?

Nope

 

[BILT4ME]

I opted not to add a aftermarket receiver hitch. PO installed a hitch on factory 4 hole location and anyone wondering about doing the same thing it is solid as a rock at this weight range. Picked up the teardrop in Pueblo on Friday drove to Canyonlands needles side on Saturday and back to Bayfield Sunday. View attachment 1948355View attachment 1948356

The torque induced in the hitch is scary! It's about 12" of drop (appearances), so a 2000 LB trailer will have a marked increase in torque under braking on that hitch. That's most likely when it will fail since these trucks don;t have a lot of acceleration.

No scare chains? Or scare chain attachment points? Or do you use the lower bolt holes for that?

I would not run that at all, but that's me.

 

[SmokingRocks]

It is a factory rated hitch location in the not US world. Can’t remember what it’s rated at but think it’s somewhere around 2-3k lbs

 

[BILT4ME]

It is a factory rated hitch location in the not US world. Can’t remember what it’s rated at but think it’s somewhere around 2-3k lbs

Yes, but with a pintle, not a 12" drop.

 

[fj80rodngun]

Yes, but with a pintle, not a 12" drop.

It’s not a 12” drop and if that hitch gets ripped off I probably went off a cliff

 

[amgraham]

Where do you hook the safety chains?

 

[SmokingRocks]

Yes, but with a pintle, not a 12" drop.

We've all seen the video clips of a FJ40 loaded with railroad ties 8 ft high and the driver is leaning out the side crossing streams on high alpine unmaintained roads in India somewhere... I don't think this is anywhere near that scale. If anything there might be some torsional bending on the frame at the mount but that's not the end of the world.

 

[stevezero]

My 80 with my teardrop. Mine is about 1500lbs ready to roll. I use a combination pintle with a milsurp chain plate.

I usually tow with my gx470 though. Much nicer ride