Glyn -
When i brought my 19' Trailwind up to Reno from North Hollywood a few years
back, there was no question of towing it - the 1948 vintage trailer might
have shaken itself to pieces long before i got it home... so i towed it on a
tandem axle flat-bed trailer behind my then-tow vehicle, a 5.9L '99 Durango
w/'tow package', rigged to tow up to 7,500 lbs, safely, with load
distribution hitch, Jordan brake controller, breakaway switch/battery on the
flatbed, etc...
I would probably go along with Dr.J's suggestion to load the Airstream on a
u-haul vehicle-carrier, and tow that behind the u-haul truck. The u-haul
rental place will make sure that you have an acceptably safe rig, and by
renting the truck and carrier from u-haul, you'll be able to get the
coverage you want/need, too.
Most rental trailers use trailer-mounted 'surge brakes' which obviate the
need for (but definitely not preferable to), a separate brake controller in
the tow vehicle, and also prevent the use of a load-distributing/'equalizer'
hitch (no place to mount the trunnion-bar brackets).
I can't find the post at the moment (July or August of 2002), but I seem to
recall that someone on one of the Airstream lists had discovered that Budget
Rent-a-Truck was renting trucks and vans equipped with interchangeable
hitch-balls and (possibly) electric brake-controllers... or at least had
tow-vehicles available for rent... and they'd posted this information while
i was in the middle of three harrowing cross-country trips moving stuff
(including a '93 Mustang 5.0 on a car-carrier).
I've been towing all sorts of things all over the country for nearly 30
years, and the one 'incident' i've had occurred last year when my 1-ton
dually B-van's engine blew up 1400 miles into the third of those six 2,600
mile 'legs'... being that i was running late on a very tight schedule, i
neglected to have the proper service done after two 2,600 mile trips, the
second of which was towing about 6,600 lbs in brutal August heat...
Anyway, i would *never* tow anything without having spent a day or two
checking out the wheels, bearings, tires, suspension, tail-light/brake
wiring, etc. on the trailer... and i'd make sure that the tow-vehicle was
more than adequate to handle the load under 'worst-case scenario'
conditions.
Regarding the Toyota - personally, I don't think a modern-day V6 would meet
my safety criteria for anything larger than a small utility trailer, for
'around-town' hauling, at that.
I really love my Ram 1500, which is rated to tow 7,650 lbs. 'as equipped'. I
did the last two legs of last year's marathon in it, towing a loaded u-haul
trailer along I-80, much of it in rain and snow. Of the Big 3, only the
Dodge Ram 1/2-ton seems to be able to handle a 7,000 lb + trailer with
confidence. IMO, even the new '03 Durango 'Hemi' would out-pull a GM or Ford
1/2 ton... but, for a relative novice trailer-tower, I think most would
agree that nothing less than a 3/4 ton pickup would provide the kind of
safety and comfort you really ought to have.
My personal 'pick' for a '69 Caravel's tow-vehicle would be something
contemporaneous, along the lines of an Olds 'Delta-88', a '69 Jeep Wagoneer,
or even better, a '69 International Harvester 'Travel-All" or 'Traveler'...
an added advantage of using a well-maintained or renovated older vehicle is
that you can use (IMO) best kind of brake controller - the
hydraulic-electric, like the old Kelsey-Hayes...
tuna
reno, nv
'48 Airstream 'Trailwind' (undergoing renovation)
'49 Willys-Overland 'Jeepster' (undergoing re-power/renovation)
'79 Dodge 'Champion' B-van
'81 Alii-Kai fishing/dive boat
'99 Plymouth 'Prowler' (paxton-supercharged, borla exhaust, titanium
gearset)/matching luggage trailer
'83 Burro 13' fiberglass travel-trailer
'02 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9L V8 'Sport' w/tow-package
'99 Parker 24' flatbed equipment hauler
'01 homemade utility-trailer (using the old running-gear from the '48
Airstream)
'61 Kaiser-Willys FC-170 "ForwardControl) pickup truck (way back burner
restoration)