towing with a 67 fj40??? Some real time opnions

[dohcdelsol93]

I'm looking to trade my diesel fj60 for a 40. One problem, i've been working on a project sailboat that weights about 1600lbs and i plan on taking it to the lake/ocean ALOT with the kids.

Plan on making a 14hr trip to the gulf at least once a year with the boat in tow. my weight guess is about 2000-2500 with gear/trailer.

will an f/3spd tow that much weight at hwy speeds.

my old 2f would pull my bass boat of about 1500lbs at hwy speeds so long as it was flat ground in the 60.

Before i make a trade i want to know what i can expect.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Any short wheel based car will be a challenge towing. Mike

 

[dohcdelsol93]

right.

have you had any personal experience towing a boat/long trailer with the 40?

I'm building a custom trailer for it in the next couple weeks so ballancing the weight to meet the demands of the 40 would not be hard while i have it apart/in the building process.

 

[cjgoode]

You will need to go slower, like Mike said towing with a short wheel base vehicle is not the best idea, and much worse at high way speeds. But with your boat weighing less then half of the fj40 weight you should be fine, but to not expect to get down the road at 70 mph, 55 is probably max I would want to go towing something with a short wheel base vehicle.

 

[cjgoode]

I have towed Ski Nautiques with an fj40 and a cj7, which is a lot heavier then your boat. At slower speeds it was fine, but I kept both hands on the wheel. I flat towed an oldsmobile 98 with a cj7. THat is a huge heavy car, and my life was flashing before my eyes the whole way home with it.

 

[Zang469]

A couple things to think about also is you won't get 24 mpg in a 40 and 14 hrs of seat time bouncing down the road. How do you get 24 mpg in a 60 ? I want to know. Z

 

[mjrsfj40]

I have towed with my 40 and I now have a truck. Drum brakes, short wheel base, three speed trans and a siamese port (F135) motor do not lend themselves to comfortable towing. Not to mention the 4.10 gears of the 40 versus the 3.70 gears of the 60 (no fuel mileage with the 40)

Why the desire to give up a diesel powered 60 with overdrive for towing with 40? Admittedly, the 40 is cooler (I can feel the jabs coming). However, the comfort of the 60 (longer wheel base, better seats, etc.) is more desired on long trips.

Just my .02 worth.

 

[dohcdelsol93]

i want the removable top.

I did the diesel swap myself, a second one will be even easier/cheaper now that i know more about them and whatever i get will get another diesel swap in short time. (probably a MB 617 turbo this time around)

Maybe i can find someone local that will trade me their 3.73's for the 4.10!

 

[dohcdelsol93]

A couple things to think about also is you won't get 24 mpg in a 40 and 14 hrs of seat time bouncing down the road. How do you get 24 mpg in a 60 ? I want to know. Z

check sig. I can make any rig that can be adapted to a SBC engine get 20+mpg.