ok thanks for all that

I have a couple questions still-

My 1988 Isuzu p'up with 2.3L 128ft-lb engine and 5-speed tranny towed that monstrous home-made trailer from Va to AZ without any real glitch except it did damage the clutch some and the clutch basically died about a year later after I drove the Isuzu back to Va.
My brother told me the Isuzu is a 3/4 ton truck as it had 6-lug wheels and 5th gear wasn't really overdrive as there wasn't much difference between 4th and 5th
but 128ft-lbs is just that 128ft-lbs, or really low

the trailer was steel and had a truck axle/diff with big truck tires attached. it was originally 4x8 but I added sheets of 3/4 plywood to make it 5x12 and added sides made of 2x4's.
then I added at least 1,000lbs of stuff to the bed of truck and at least 1,000lbs or more to the trailer.
the trucks bumper said 2,000lb trailer and 200lb tongue weight
the tongue weight was so heavy me and my brother could barely lift it to get it on the truck ball.
and the trailer had no brakes!

the van I want to tow weighs more than the trailor fully loaded by maybe 2,000-3,000lbs
and I dont plan to have very much in the bed, maybe 500lbs

what's funny is when I was going up over the rockies through New Mexico I had to have the Isuzu in 2nd gear, going about 20mph and scared to death that it was going to quit and start rolling backwards!

heres my 2 questions

how could a little 128ft-lb torque Isuzu tow that big trailor across the US but my 302 f-150 maybe wouldn't make it, given that the Isuzu was overweight by a couple thousand pounds and the f-150 will be over by a couple thousand pounds?
also taking into account the trailer was as aerodynamic as a brick 7'high 5'wide, and 12'L
Please note that in the Isuzu I was avging about 70-80mph, I plan on this trip going under the 70mph speed limit and keep it at about 60mph.

Does anyone here actually have any experience using old, small vehicles to tow extreme loads/weights for long distances??

 

I think he meant 1/4 ton . We scrapped one of those a month ago, I put a bottle jack under the frame so I would have room to get the fuel tank out. The jack went through the frame. (Sure, it was rusty but still....)

It was a 1992 and had 4.30 gears.

 

yeah, I think he meant 3/4 ton, Isuzu had a 1 ton also with 2.6L engine, mine had a 2.3L
I remember the frame was gone on mine too, that's what you get when you use "laminated" steel for a frame, lol

 

I don't think anybody said the F150 wouldn't 'make it," but can it do it safely?

Doing what you're talking about could be construed as reckless endangerment of the public if something were to go wrong and somebody else on the public highways is hurt or killed, I don't know how much support for doing that you're gonna get here....

 

In your previous adventure you where talking about a small 5x7 homemade single axle trailer.

The trailer you are going to need to haul the van will be a 2 axle trailer, and just the trailer itself will be approaching 2000 lbs. Just pulling the empty trailer will load the truck down. If you are positive about the van's weight, then you will be pulling around 7000lbs. Brakes on the trailer are going to be mandatory. California is a long long trip for this rig. I can't think of any good reason to go to California and leave Va anyway

Like I said before, if it's possible, I would get all this setup and take a test run. We can talk about it all day long, but until you experience how it's really going to be, it doesn't really mean anything.

 

no, actually I'm going to be using a tow-bar or tow-dolly so there should be no tongue weight or very little.
I will need to remove the van's driveshaft, is that an easy thing to do or difficult?

I think the real safety concern would be the brakes and the lack of being able to use the van's brakes without spending big bucks.

there's no work here in Va. especially in central Va where I'm at.
AZ and California have alot of jobs right now for my areas (cabinet-making, Unix systems, painting, etc) so that's why I want to go.

I was going to use the van to tow the truck but believe the gas bill may be tremendous as the van gets like 6mpg, maybe 10 highway, hook a truck to it and maybe it gets 5mpg highway?

the van is going up for sale as soon as I get a place to live, job, etc and vehicles are worth much more in AZ and California than in Va. That's the other main reason I want to take the van. In my work I need a truck, thus I also need my truck.
I might get $800 for the van here, guaranteed to get at least $2,000 in California, and I'll have a place to stay till I get my own place.

I''m not doing this for fun or just to do it. The prospect of homelessness and/or getting marooned in Va is the reason I cannot stay here and must go. My budget is very limited and I do plan to go slow and make many stops along the way both for the vehicles and because I've done the 23 hour a day driving to and fro across the US a few times and it sucks.

 

I was entertaining your idea of doing it with a trailer, but with much concern. If you are going to flat tow it with a tow bar I am with the others now, absolutely not. I have done this before, and it's dangerous. Why? Because you have no tongue weight. I have had trucks come around on me and try to jack knife flat towing a vehicle with a tow bar and a pickup truck when trying to make a turn.

The tow dolly may be doable. Tongue weight is a good thing. Also, if you can load down the back of the truck with some stuff you are taking with you, that would be even better. You need to keep good traction on the rear truck tires, and you need to get closer to the weight of the vehicle you are towing. When 3500lbs wants to tell 5000lbs "we are going to change lanes or go around this curve", the 5000lbs may or may not cooperate.

As far as the driveshaft, take the u-bolts or straps loose on the rear of the driveshaft, use lots of duct tape to wrap the u-joint so the cups don't fall off, and then take a heavy piece of wire or something and tie the driveshaft up to the van undercarriage. Don't let it slide out of the tranny or you will lose tranny fluid and have a mess.

 

I have never towed anything with a tow dolly before, but , I think Franklin made a very good point. With 0 weight in the back of the truck I could see how it would push the back end of a light p/u truck around especially when making a turn. That does sound dangerous!

 

I'm not sure of your source on jobs in CA.

Unemployment in the U.S. - Google Public Data Explorer

$2000 guaranteed? By who? Several here asking about that money, but unless you have a buyer, there is no guarantee. Plus, will it smog? It has to be all OEM, no blue cloud, no black cloud.

motorhome $ negotiable

If you flat tow it with the truck brakes alone, you stand a good chance of losing both, and possibly your life. The brakes on the truck are marginal for the stock truck running empty. And, as per prior posts, the troopers in mountain states don't much care for overloaded, underbraked combinations in the hills.

U Haul quotes $362 for a dolly, but won't rent to you for that combo. Towing vehicle has to be 750lbs HEAVIER than the towed vehicle. They won't rent you the $725 trailer either.

U-Haul

The dolly will have surge brakes, but those are not enough for the load you are considering.

IMO you need to go back to square one.

What you got away with before with the Isuzu means nothing. The combo is not roadworthy, it is unsafe, and it is a false economy in the first place.

Sorry, can't find any reason to support such a dangerous idea.

ymmv. You might make it. You might not.

 

I would imagine a higher asking price for native-California vehicles (which are often rust-free) not east-coast vehicles brought to California.

 

Oh my god, flat towing that van with an F150?


Hahahaha don't even think about it!


The '89 F150 in my sig. towed my 6000lbs Diesel van for about an hour (just to get out of the province of Quebec) then drove it the rest of the way.


But both me and my dad both near **** our pants towing that van!


I was in my van driving it, and thank god. I was basically driving both vehicles!


Where ever I would steer, the back of the F150 was heading in that direction!

 

Considering the Dodge B300 is a 1 ton chassis, I would tow the Ford with the Dodge even with the poor fuel economy. The question is, will you save enough to either pay fines or a funeral if it gets away from you? Before you take off for the "left coast" I know of a number of people in CA who are working short hours or unemployed. Check Huntington-Ingalls Industries, specifically Newport News Shipbuilding, it's a lot closer to you.

 

I am assuming you have an inside track for employment there. The reason I say that is b/c I have 4 cousins that are spread out all over So Cal. One is in construction management, another in the concrete workers union and the other that works in a construction trade own an excavating company. They arent doing crap right now and havent been for a few yrs now. My other cousin of the 4 is a driver for UPS and he is the only one working all the time.

If you do head out to CA dont take your guns. Matter of fact you might want to just forget about owning guns period.

 

I towed a F150 supercab 4x4, 90 miles with my then 2wd F150 standard cab. I had a 2.75 rear, with a T-18 at the time.

Would not do that again.

Brakes were not sufficient, and foget about goin uphill with any speed at all. First time I had to stop, the brakes just locked up on me (unplanned highway stop). After I passed five cars on the right hand side of the road, I decided 25-30 would probably be a good top speed.

First long twisty downhill strech you get to chances are you will either end up with a heafty lawsuit or hospital bill or both.

So why is the camper being towed? Why not ditch the truck, and drive the camper? Or tow the truck???

Crazy. You will kill someone if not yourself.

 

after reading all your helpful posts and reading up on four-wheel towing, etc I understand that the F-150 simply isn't up to such a haul...

Brakes and the problem of the van pushing the rearend around are some things I do have experience with and although I will have at least 500lbs in the bed I just don't like the idea of any kind of rear traction loss, jack-knifing, or brake failure.
If it was all relatively flat and straight then I would probably do it but I remember going down the mountains, etc and sharp turns and just don't need that anxiety.

I am trying to sell the truck and may have a guy who's going to trade me his 85 F-250 6.9L diesel for my truck, which I believe the F-250 could do it.

I restored that van after buying it as I live in it and really fixed it up, it just needs a paint job really.

I just don't want to buy any vehicle out west as they are so expensive there or I would just sell everything and go

I am multi-trade, mostly a cabinet-maker and was making between $450-$600 a day in Tucson installing cabinets in condos, and have a similar offer now in Los Angeles, I cannot turn it down

But I always think about Murphy's Law and understand that I must take into account that I may not get the job, and thus I would need somewhere to stay, the van, until employed.
Murphy's Law, bad luck, whatever have yet to get me on the highway. I have had wrecks, mostly in my youth, but have never had even a flat-tire going cross-country.
That means I'm probably due for trouble soon since I haven't had any problems yet.

I also have a trade offer for a E-350 van with 351W which I also think could tow the van.

I may take the diesel, maybe I can feed it used vegetable-oil