Posted by derek on Monday, July 09, 2007 at 00:29:43 :
In Reply to: Re: Towing PW? posted by David Sherman on Sunday, July 08, 2007 at 18:03:24 :
The information is out there and there appears to be a strong consensus on how to do this properly with many examples of how not to do it.
How not to tow a PW:
I towed my striped down m-56 (m-37) with a two bar behind an f150 4x4 with tow package. I used chains as safety straps should the towbar fail. Front hubs disengaged and rear drive line unbolted at the rear axle (hung with bailing wire), tcase and tranny in neutral. As I have posted before (previous forums) this may have been the scariest slow motion auto trip of my life. Making the first corner on the driveway should have been a hint to stop. Every time I tried to move forward or back the whole rig slid sideways towards a tree. Did I mention it was raining? Only locking the front hubs on the tow vehicle got me around the corner. Later driving 15mph at midnight over small hills on the frontage road gave me the scariest experience. The towed load was pushing the tow vehicle. I'm glad all the hills were on the straights and that there were no potholes or need to suddenly steer or brake. I WAS NOT IN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. I was just along for the ride. Remember this was at about 15 mph in first and second gear the whole 30 odd miles. You didn't just stop, you had to plan way in advance. I had 5000lbs of rolling mass pushing me nearly every step of the way with only the standard truck brakes.
I agree with everyone else saying that a trailer rated to take an 8000# or greater load
with two axles or more
with every trailer wheel electric braked
a 1 ton tow vehicle
or custom 3/4 ton tow vehicle
properly secured load to trailer
did I ever tell the story about the custom espresso cart i dumped on the highway because it wasn't secured properly?...