Towing kit advice help

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Oh yeah, you definitely want, I mean need, a better hitch.

I bought a 1981 Toyota pickup new and put a 3" suspension lift and a 3" body lift on it. When I joined the Air Force and needed to tow a U-haul, I had a local welding shop fabricate a stout hitch with the proper drop. That 4 cyl 20R 4 speed towed a trailer from PA to KS, no problem!!

Of course, speed limits were 55 mph then, lol.
 
pachink13 said:
And here
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I wouldn't tow a radio flyer with that :lol:

The bumper supports are pretty healthy on our cars, but the actual bumper skin ( although steel ) is fairly pliable once it's unbolted from the support. I'd agree with 66fyssh, stop by a local welding / fab place and see what they can do for you. They may not want to get into tow capacity rating, but just about anything they can build will be better than that.
 
I haven't seen anyone mention it yet, but a tow package usually has an additional trans cooler as well, assuming it's an automatic. If you plan on any towing in the mountains, you may want to consider the transmission, especially with the amount of weight it sounds like you'll be carrying.
 
If a hitch shop can weld a bow shaped cross bar where your ball mount bar stops, under your spare tire pan, across to the frame horns on each side, then slot the horns and insert bar stock nuts (the hitch shop knows the correct term) to bolt to.....

I bet the owners manual has a diagram showing exactly that with some dimensions.
 
Here's an excerpt from previous post..

For at least 10 successive seasons,, My 69 Dart carried four adults, a kid, a dog, a trunk full of camping gear,, towing a 16' ski boat/motor across the dreaded "Coquihalla Hiway",, and came back from the "Okanagan" with the 16' boat and every spare inch of car filled with fruit,, hundreds of pounds of it, cherries, peaches, apricots., in a Dart,, using air shocks,, for over 10 yrs.. (with 10 inch drum brakes)..

Was that car overloaded,, probably,, was it unstable on the hiway and mountain roads,, never,, did the 10" drum brakes cause a problem on the "Coquihalla" hills,, not with judicious use of the brake, shifter, and a little common sense..

That car and boat travelled thousands of miles to/from lakes/oceans for 2 decades.. (without the fruit).. lol

Would I do it now,, knowing what I know,, in an instant..

hope it helps
 
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