[VAC] Re: Towing With A Short Wheel Base Tow Vehicle

[Dan Weeks <theprofileco@xxxxxxx>]

You're right, Harvey. I tow my 16' vintage SOB (Serro Scotty) with a Caprice
Wagon, 305 4v. Car gets 20 mpg at 75 mph unloaded, firing once to the
telephone pole in an overdrive so tall it will downshift for grades too
slight to even notice otherwise. Towing, it gets 9 mpg at 60, in third,
howling along at what must be pretty close to the torque peak through
secondaries big enough to swallow whole flocks of small birds. There's not
enough manifold vacuum left to keep the air conditioner doors open when
going up hills, so the a/c does a great job of chilling the windshield until
you hit a downgrade. The long wheelbase, big tires, heavy frame, big
anti-sway bars, and 1/2-ton truck rear brakes make this a great tow car
otherwise, and strictly speaking it goes plenty fast enough for me, even up
grades (though conversation stops when you hit second gear on the way down
past 45 mph) but it could use lots more motor. I hang onto it because it's
otherwise perfect for us, and I just tow on annual vacations. But if I were
towing lots, I'd be saving money with a big block.

Interestingly, I used to tow the same trailer with a dodge aspen wagon, with
the rare factory 4-speed and the 225 slant six. Got about the same
performance--maybe slightly less--and 12 mpg, because that little mill is a
stroker with lots of low-end torque for it's size. And of course the stick
helped some. 

Dan Weeks
75 Argosy 26 (Towed home 225 miles with the chevy at 60, and felt no more
drag with the A/S empty than I do with the Scotty loaded. Guess the shape
really DOES do a lot for drag, 'cause the trailer's twice as heavy!)