I have a 54 f100 with an '89 Mustang 302 5.0 engine, an AOD tranny, front brakes and rear axle from the same car, and most everything else is stock. Original steering, old leaf spring suspension front and back. So, can I tow a teardrop, or will the back end be too bouncy?

I'm just starting to build the teardrop on a 4 x 8 Harbor Freight trailer that can handle 1700 lbs, but I expect maybe 1000 lbs when it's done. (Have not picked out a plan yet)

Do i need to modernize the rear end with a drag link or something? I know my engine/tranny is not very torque-y, will that be a problem? Any other tips, ideas, or pitfalls that you guys can think of? Thanks! Jerry

 

Hell, you could tow a horse trailer with it, just as it is.

I'd look closely at the HF wheels, tires, and wheel bearings.

 

I , also , would be more worried about the trailer components ! The truck should do fine .

 

Back in 1955 my family towed a house trailer from NY to Texas with no problems, with a '54 Ford 239 V8 and Fordomatic. The car was stock except for overload springs. We hit a detour in Chatanooga and had to go up a very steep hill. And up we went, about one mile per hour. The car had high mileage when it was traded and ran fine.

 

Yup, sure can.

 

Have you bought the trailer yet? If not, drop me a line... I have better solutions, ideas....

 

Remember these were WORK trucks as long as you use a suitable hitch (class2 for your load) attached to the frame, not the bumper or crossmember you could tow the space shuttle. (well maybe not uphill ) Biggest problem I can see is getting the hitch drawbar/ball low enough to level the trailer. You may need to modify a draw bar to bring it down low enough.
I used one of the harbor freight/Northern tool 40x48 trailer kits to build a race tire and tool trailer for autocross before I got an enclosed car hauler. I put well over 100K miles on that little trailer (often at speeds not to be mentioned in public)!
Two recommendations: I don't know if there is a choice of wheel sizes like there was on my trailer, but go with the 12". Northern Tool sells high speed replacement hubs with bearings that I'd use. Pack the hubs full of automotive wheel bearing grease for use with disk brakes, and repack one a year.
The two weak points that are not likely to affect you is the taillight brackets and the fenders crack and fall off from vibrations, and the incandescent light bulbs fail very frequently from vibrations. I replaced the marker lights with LED versions and replaced the taillights with a LED light bar that incorporated tail, stop/and turn functions that I mounted in the center of the rear. That solved the blown bulb problem and scraping of the shins from running into the license plate under the taillight. I used a polyethylene plate mount and an LED license plate light. I got all the lights from www,superbright.com
Here's a pic of my trailer with 2 sets of race tires on it:

 

I have that exact same trailer. I built a universal engine test stand on it, and hauled it with several different cars. I've test run everything from a dual quad tunnel rammed 283 to a 780 horse 460 boat engine. (Had to add outriggers for that one! )

The 54 Effie will haul a full out camp trailer, you might even forget you have a Tear Drop trailer behind you.

 

I hauled this one with a Miata!

 

Pulled my car with one of my 66 f100s....all stock.



Trying this on my phone.....

 

Here's what we pull. Hopped up 239, 4.27 dana 44 R 10 overdrive.

 

I'm curious about what your gear ratio is in your rear end (not sure that came out right)? I have the same set-up and I'm running a 3.25 ratio and it's too steep for the AOD's shift points.