Towing my rig (part of becoming hardcore)

[PKP80]

Caddy Escalade Towing

The Escalade is rated to tow 7800lbs as per the factory specs... I have no experience towing, but want to haul my chopped Fzj80. The trailer is a featherlite 10K (which weighin in at about 1800lbs and my truck last time I measured at around 6100lbs totally loaded. This brings the grand total to 7900, my question is the obvious one, would it be okay/recommended to tow my 80 with the Caddy?

In my ideal world I would have a nice Ford F350 to haul the toy, but all i have access to is the Caddy.

Penny for your thoughts and a thanks in advance.

 

[PKP80]

I never thought I'd trailer the 80, but the more stuff you do, the harder you want to wheel, and the better chance of stuff being pushed to its limits, therefore:

You guys probably have more experience towing since most if not everyone with a "hardcore" rig is towing it, so I hope you can help.

The Escalade is rated to tow 7800lbs as per the factory specs... I have no experience towing, but want to haul my chopped Fzj80. The trailer is a featherlite 10K (which weighs in in at about 1800lbs and my truck last time I measured at around 6100lbs totally loaded. This brings the grand total to 7900, my question is the obvious one, would it be okay/recommended to tow my 80 with the Caddy?

In my ideal not borrowing stuff world I would have a Ford F350 to haul the toy, but all i have access to is the Caddy and the feather.

Penny for your thoughts and a thanks in advance.

 

[jodo]

pkp80,

Although the caddy will pull it, how will it do while doing it? The wheel base on your puller is very importatnt. I pulled my 82 toy behind a Navigator and it was white knuckle all the way. I switched out for a F350 SD... Don't forget think about how your tow vehical will handle in a panic situation. Hope this helps.

Jodo

97 LX450, locked, frt steer, JK linked, "14 Fox coilovers, ARB bumpers, 16,5 thermetric, 35's... project under way.

 

[PKP80]

That is food for thought, thanks Jodo.

 

[hicruise55]

Having worked on farms, you tend to tow a lot of stull that you should'nt be!

Like jodo said... it's the panic stuff! I'm assuming you have the 6.0 Escalade which has self leveling rear suspension? I have been told (?) that most towing ratings on trucks is rated on the STOPPING not the power and suspension! I would have no quarrels with towing this setup myself, but you need to make sure you have the proper tounge weight for the loaded trailer, and the trailer brakes are working perfectly!!! Then practice driving with the loaded package before you HAVE to! Learning how to take corners, and putting more space between the rig infront of you ect... oh, and it will make you respect the big rig drivers more... dont forget to practice your backing in skills nothing will knock your awsome Escalade/Featherlite/BADASS80 down a notch like not being able to put it where you want!

 

[Michael Hanson]

Traler brakes are a must! Mike

 

[PKP80]

trailer has brakes...thank you for all the great info.

 

[Bogo]

Load balancing hitch is a must with over 5000lbs loads on a bumper hitch.

Personally I'd get a 5th wheel trailer and a pickup. Any "heavy duty" or 3/4th ton or greater pickup with towing package will do. Once you've pulled a heavy weight with a 5th wheel hitch you'll never go back. I pull a 4,500bs 5th wheel hitch cattle trailer loaded with 10 1,450 lbs steers using a stock 4x4 2500 Silverado with towing package. It only has the second largest gas engine and does fine.

 

[Poser]

Towing eight thousand pounds behind an Escalade is going to be far from ideal, and is something that I would avoid like the plague. Just because you can, does not mean you should.


Having hauled my and others Land Cruisers all over this nation behind a one-ton Dodge diesel since 1993 or a Volvo tractor/trailer, there is no way I would consider going forward with what you are contemplating.


Your vehicle is not going to be able to control the weight and leverage that is behind it in the event something goes even a little bit wrong, and things will spiral out of control in pretty short order. Besides the towed weight, how much gear and people are in the tow rig? How much gear is in the towed 80? You will be asking way too much from your Cadillac, which while it may be rated for a certain weight, it was not designed to pull that. An Escalade is not a tow rig.



There was a thread in chat a few years back about a guy with an 80 series hauling a 55 on a trailer and things went wrong.


Take a look at that thread and those pictures.

Should be all the proof you need.


Good luck.

 

[PKP80]

Towing eight thousand pounds behind an Escalade is going to be far from ideal, and is something that I would avoid like the plague. Just because you can, does not mean you should.


An Escalade is not a tow rig.



There was a thread in chat a few years back about a guy with an 80 series hauling a 55 on a trailer and things went wrong.


Take a look at that thread and those pictures.

Should be all the proof you need.


Good luck.

I need to hear all this b/c I am a total newb to the idea of towing my rig...for now I'm still planning on driving for all the reasons you've stated and my own.

I've seen the 55 disaster pics

The tow rig would be pretty empty except for 1 passenger, but that's besides the point. All of my concerns would be with the stability of the trailer and tow rig.

 

[Brentbba]

Don't know if you're still monitoring this thread Sam.

Trailer brakes - no brainer and required on anything over 1500 lbs in the Republik of Kalifornia. I'd think ANY car hauler trailer would have them already.

If you need a weight distribution hitch, I've got one I'll sell you dirt cheap and you can make the check payable to Troop 774 and take a tax deduction to boot! I used it to tow our troop trailer until I installed the Airlift bags on the cruiser. It's in good shape. $400 new, $whatever for you!

I'd second the practice, especially the backing up part! It's a bitch with a trailer, period! Even knowing you have to turn right to have the trailer go left, etc. it's a bitch!

I only tow about half the weight you're talking about. We recently put a 2nd axle on our trailer and it made towing much better/easier. Car hauler would probably already be there and would make the tongue weight less of an issue if the trailer and load are properly balanced.

BIL tows a huge car hauler with a vintage 240Z race car using an Infinity Q?? (their big SUV). Trailer would be heavier than yours, but race car substantially lighter than your 80. He's got the self leveling suspension on the SUV. I'd guess he's probably a little lighter than what you've got, but he has no issues at all.

 

[REKCUT]

Your trailer may have brakes but does your caddy have trailer brake controller added to it. I have towed my 60 for years with starting with a suburban, then a f250, f350, excursion, and now a tundra. I would not have and issue towing with the caddy if it was set up correctly and the trailer is a good one. It sounds like it is. My buddy towed his 80 behind his tahoe out to colorado with no issues.

All that being said, it your experience that bothers me the most. If this is your first towing experience then I would say dont do it. You need to get time in the sadddle pulling lighter weights, even empty trailers to get the hang of it. You will also put undo stress and wear on the caddie as its not really designed for heavy towing like this . Things will break.

Air bags and a proper hitch system will help out but in the end you need experience more than anything.

 

[Leaping Deer]

I wouldn't do it. Its just not worth it. If you were to injure someone after knowing overloading your truck you are fawlked. The cops probably won't bother you unless there is an accident.

That being said I towed an FJ40 with my 1997 Tacoma and no trailer brakes as I didn't have the controller over 300 miles. Braking was awful and I could have easily gotten into an accident.

I now tow my 5,000lb FJ45/1,300lb trailer with a 2008 5.7 Tundra double cab.

 

[Land Speeder]

There was a thread in chat a few years back about a guy with an 80 series hauling a 55 on a trailer and things went wrong.

That was a mere example of what not to do... ONE: strap the rig down... if you want to strap the axles too then fine... but any heavy rig needs to be strapped down hard to limit suspension bounce. The piggy started bouncing against the trailer suspension. TWO: never use a trailer with surge brakes like a uhaul trailer. A buddy used a uhaul trailer for one event and it was the scariest I've ever followed... every crack in the road made that thing jerk violently.

Sam, I desperately wanted a 100 to DD and tow Lorena, but all my towing buddies convinced me to get something bigger, so I went with the 5.7 Tundra for DD/tow. I think you'll be able to tow short distances with your proposed setup, but don't try anything over 2 hours.