is this forum for "trailers & towing" only or can we talk about tow vehicles?

[BOAT]

TOMFOOLERY:
Looks like an A23 on the right, which had a specific port shape. Not sure about on the left - maybe an A21, based on the swooping raised coaming at the front of the cockpit.

That car reminds me of our Country Squire 9-passenger station wagon, also from the early 70's,

The boat on the right is an A21 pulled by a Mercury Marquis by friends and the big Fury is pulling dads A23 with my moms dog in the front seat.


Dad was pulling trailers with station wagons from the get go - he started with a Nash:

then to a 57 Fury:

To Pontiacs top most expensive 65 Catalina Wagon that overheated on any road pulling his larger trailer - he hated that car so much he sold it outright after only owning it for 6 months (dad always paid cash for cars - a habit he passed on to me) He even sued GM over the crappy engineering of that Pontiac and actually got a settlement from them.
So after the debacle with GM products it was back to a Fury in 1965:

The Fury cars had no problems at all pulling big trailers and never overheated so he was happy after that and bought another one when it was old:

And back in those days folks used all kinds of cars to tow stuff:

Cadillacs were popular tow cars and those international Harvester cars were really popular too:


They were different times - Really - I think we live in better times in regards to a lot of the stuff we take for granted now. We are probably living in the "Good Ol' Days" right now and don't even know it.

[NiceAft]

1967. Loved it!

There was a company that made a load leveling system for towing, and used the Toronado as an example of the unit by removing the car’s rear wheels and towing a trailer.



Ray

Way back in 1971. Girl friend then; wife (best friend) today. My first & second loves in the same photo. The car was my first, the girl came second. Girl still around, not the car

[BOAT]

Yeah, the Tornado was the perfect car for that kind of an experiment because it had the strongest front end in the history of cars. The Tornado was front wheel drive and was more locomotive than automobile. Shifting weight to the front was a necessity to tow with some front wheel drive cars for traction, (but not all of them). Everyone I knew with Front Wheel Drive back then had those load adjusting hitches.

Really, it was unibody and the 4 cylinder japanese engine that ruined all towing features in the passenger car market.

After the gas crisis of the late 70's all towing was done with trucks.

[Tomfoolery]

TOMFOOLERY:
Looks like an A23 on the right, which had a specific port shape. Not sure about on the left - maybe an A21, based on the swooping raised coaming at the front of the cockpit.

The boat on the right is an A21 pulled by a Mercury Marquis by friends and the big Fury is pulling dads A23 with my moms dog in the front seat.

A little left-right confusion, but we're talking about the same boats. From the other pic, it looks like the Aquarius/Balboa/La Paz/Ensenada brands were super popular in your area, which I seem to remember, is where they were built.

Those are great pictures, BOAT. You weren't kidding when relating all those stories about boating and camping. We did nothing like that, but living with woods next to our house, camping could be done 20 ft from the garage. But hardly the same thing. And we would have never fit all nine of us into a single axle camp trailer or pop-up, nor would we want to even if we could.

[dlandersson]

FYI, The GX 470/460 Lexus has a tow capacity of 6,500 lbs. Most of them are sold with a "tow prep package" and quite a few come with the factory installed hitch.

[Starscream]

The GX looks like a great vehicle but if I compare base-models I can get TWO pathfinders for the price of one GX and still have enough left over to buy a new trailer and a new dinghy, and the annual fuel savings on the Pathfinder would pay my marina fees
But yeah...Pathfinder = kinda boring.

GX is out of my price range, but it looks like an excellent choice if it fits your budget.

Almost everything from Lexus seems to have an excellent reputation and be incredibly well-built.

[dlandersson]

Just an FYI, apparently the Lexus 470/460 has a LOT of parts commonality with the Highlander. Just sayin'

[Bobsquatch]

I have several tow vehicles. A 2002 F550, a 2002 GMC Yukon and a 2011 Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton. I have only towed my 2002 Mac with the Silverado and it was great, soft and smooth. The Yukon is my wife's daily driver but available to me and has the same 5.3 V8 and 1/2 ton suspension as the Silverado so there should be very little difference. Both are 2WD. What concerns me is my 550 is so stiff, I'm afraid it will snap my shiny black tongue right off if it is rotting out from the inside. I can carry 10,000lbs in the bed alone and pull up to 30,000lbs. You can imagine how 400lbs of tongue weight wont even wiggle my suspension so it will be like hitting the coupler with a hammer over each bump. Even if it doesn't snap, it will likely crack over time. Aside from X-ray does anyone have a good procedure for testing the integrity of the tongue on our trailers? By the way, the reason we have so many big Vehicles is we are big people. I am 6'4", my 16 year old son is 6'5" and my wife is 6' even so we need the room.

[Todd]

I have several tow vehicles. A 2002 F550

If I had a 550 I'd be towin' like get outta my way!

The Admiral told me she can live with the old jeep so I settled into a 1500 Ram Ecodiesel. I haven't towed yet but should be smooth like that Silverado.

[Tomfoolery]

The Admiral told me she can live with the old jeep so I settled into a 1500 Ram Ecodiesel. I haven't towed yet but should be smooth like that Silverado.

My last tow vehicle was a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the Ecodiesel. Best tow vehicle I've ever owned. Wish I still had it. That longer Ram truck should be even better, especially in the handling and stability department.

Heading out to Toronto from western NY to link up with those lunatic Mac owners up there a few years ago.

[Bobsquatch]

Yeah, that 550 is awesome when you challenge it but when you insult it with a light load expect some feedback.

That Dodge will be perfect. Most 1/2 tons nowadays are pretty confident to 10,000 lbs well equipped. When you add a little diesel to the formula, that's pert near cheatin.

If I ever get back to playing in Mexico I may have to find a little beater mini truck or mid sized SUV that I wouldn't be afraid to leave laying around down there. Heck, buy local an early 70s crown vic or coup deville.

[Catigale]

I've been reading this thread, and I believe everyone is going a little too nuts over deciding their choice of tow vehicle.

In the original MacGregor brochure I read way back in 2003 ( I think), it showed a Mac being towed by a Ford Taurus* ; I believe Catagail towed with a Volkswagen bus. Kevin can probably correct me if wrong.

My first tow beast was anything but; a 2002 GMC Envoy. Six cylinders, and 4wheel drive. Next, a 2011 GMC Acadia. That's what I am still using. Neither of those vehicles are rated at over 4,000 pound (1,814 KL) towing capacity.

If I may, lighten up

Ray

* I had asked a dealer how did MacGregor get a Taurus to tow a Mac. The dealer told me he had asked Roger MacGregor the same question. The response was "I didn't tell the Taurus."

Tow with a T4 , but to be fair it’s got a Torque laden VR6 with 200 HP.

The hardest part isn’t the boat, it’s crew of 6 young Admirals, like that 6 footer cutting the grass

[Starscream]

A little update on the Pathfinder, and dual axle trailers.

I bought and sold a Mac 2-24 last week, and it was on a homebuilt, brakeless single axle trailer, very solidly built. The trailer had iron hubs, and wheels with no center, hard to explain but the nuts just tightened wedges onto the wheel rim. Super heavy and I'd guess the whole rig with the boat was 5k lbs.

I headed out about 60 miles to pick it up. The truck ran at 6.5L/100km on the outbound trip, on mostly highway, and what surprised me was that it towed the big trailer back at 11.5L/100km. I did take it slow on the highway, but still, I was very surprised. I suspect that has a lot to do with 1 brakeless axle compared to my usual 2-axle rig with electric brakes.

[Tomfoolery]

I bought and sold a Mac 2-24 last week, and it was on a homebuilt, brakeless single axle trailer, very solidly built. The trailer had iron hubs, and wheels with no center, hard to explain but the nuts just tightened wedges onto the wheel rim. Super heavy and I'd guess the whole rig with the boat was 5k lbs.

Sounds like old-school Dayton or Webb spoke hubs with 14.5" wheels. They use steeply tapered clamp/wedges. Common on mobile home axles, and small heavy equipment trailers back in the day.



Real shallow tapered wedges were used on the outer wheel of dual-wheel axles on heavy trucks, where the inner wheel would bear on the tapered inside surface of the hub (acting as a wedge for that wheel), separated by a spacer ring. Changed hundreds of those way back in the day, many on the side of an interstate.



And steer axles had clamps, with the wedge action coming from the in-board side of the spoke. Had to be careful they didn't run wobbly.



I don't know if any of those are even made anymore. Budd style steel and aluminium dish wheels have taken over just about everything that rolls these days except for fancy aluminium trailer wheels, and of course, cars.

[Russ]

Changed hundreds of those way back in the day, many on the side of an interstate.

I'm always astonished at the wealth of knowledge and information (and experience) you have Tom.