[VACList] RE: Towing Question

[Dan Weeks <theprofileco@xxxxxxx>]

David:

As always, Dr. J asks good questions and ones you should try to answer. But
my gut is, you'll be just fine. Fleetwoods were huge in '71, the 472 has
enough torque to change the rotation of the earth. (Prepare to burn LOTS of
gas.) Just get the biggest trans cooler you can find, and install a trans
temperature gauge at the same time (B&M Makes a nice one) so you can keep an
eye on things. The equalizing hitchwill distribute the tongue weight to all
four wheels equally, lowering the car somewhat. Even unloaded, Caddy's are
pretty badly undersprung, so my gut causes me to differ with Andy--who is
admittedly much more of an authority than I--and agree with you that adding
air suspension assist makes sense, both to increase the spring rate and
avoiding a bounding, leaping ride, and to bring the car back up to stock
ground clearance‹cause with the amount of rear-wheel overhang that caddy
has, you're going to need every inch! The trick is, the assist must be equal
on all four wheels, and it must be static--IE, something you pressurize
manually, and NOT an automatic load-leveling system. I wouldn't use air
shocks for the purpose, as you can end up overloading (and breaking) the
shock mounts. Instead, I'd use air bags mounted inside the coil springs, or
between the rear axle and frame if you have leaf springs. At very least, I'd
ask Andy why this setup wouldn't work.

Dan
75 Argosy 26
Des Moines