I have some questions regarding towing with my 1973 Country Squire, 460 engine, C6 Trans. I'm considering having a tow hitch installed for an 800 mile round trip with my band. The car will have 6 adult passengers (~1000 pounds) and be towing an enclosed utility trailer weighing about 900 pounds with about 1100 pounds of equipment (~2,000 pounds total). About the car: The engine has been rebuilt and is in great running condition. The radiator and hoses, heather hoses are all brand new. The original carburetor has been rebuilt. It is stock other than electronic ignition and it has the EGR removed. It did not come with a tow package from the factory. The car runs great and I have no worries about the engine overheating, my only concern is the transmission. Will the stock transmission cooler be acceptable or should I install a heavy duty cooler? Any advice/ input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Here' s a more detailed writeup on my Country Squire if this helps: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16447 I realize that since only I have seen and worked on the car, only I can make the final determination on whether the car can handle it or not. I'm just trying to get some info from people who have similar wagons and how their wagon has handled towing in the past. Again my main concern is toasting the transmission. From what I know, the C6 is a strong tranny designed for towing.
It it was me I would install the extra transmission cooler. You are talking about a full passenger load plus 2,000 lbs. This is what I've heard about how fluid temperature affects transmission life: 160-170 degrees = indefinate transmission life with normal servicing 175-185 degrees = 80,000 - 100,000 miles to overhaul 190-195 degrees = 750 mile transmission life 200 degrees + = 50-100 miles The cooler inside the radiator is not enough for towing. High temps are an automatic transmission enemy. The oil will froth and the clutches will slip causing excessive wear very rapidly. A C6 will cost 1500-2000 for an overhaul. A cooler is less than 200.
TBird has sound advice here...........heat is the no. 1 cause of transmission failure from what I've heard. A cooler and fluid change if it hasn't already been done would be a wise investment.
Good advice, imo, from everybody. I'll just throw my two cents in as well. You should change the trans fluid for sure, but by no means should you get a trans "flush". That could be ruinous to an older trans. Just have them drain the old fluid out and put new in. I got my '87 tranny flushed and had to get the whole thing rebuilt about two months later. Apparently the seals were so old that when I got it flushed, it sucked out some parts of them, hence the rebuild.
Agreed about the trans cooler, and doing a fluid/filter change instead of a flush. I'd never do a flush either, #1 reason because the filter doesn't get changed. My friend got one and it killed the trans. The rebuild shop told him it was because the flush pushed the junk out of the old dirty filter and back into the trans.
Do you want to be worrying about the transmission for the whole trip (I would be...), or be enjoying the drive?
I don't see any mention of the gear ratio in your axle. That could make a difference on the load on the tranny if they are too high.
Good question. My trim codes say that I have a "2" code rear axle. Consulting my Ford shop manual, it says that this is a conventional (non-locking) trans with a 2.75:1 ratio. The lowest that Ford made that year. If my understanding is correct, higher is better when it comes to towing. So that's one big strike against towing with this car My guess is that a higher ratio rear axle was one of the items included with the factory tow package. I guess that explains why it cruises at such low RPMs and gets better highway milage than you would expect out of such a big, heavy 40 year old car with a 460. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Yes a numerically higher ratio is better for towing. Numerically lower is better for highway economy, to a point. But then again it doesn't take a lot to tow 2000 lbs, unless you've got a lot of steep hills. The profile means more than the weight, but a 900# enclosed trailer shouldn't be that huge. It's probably what, a 4x8 or 5x8? I've had both and they weighed about 900#. My 5x8 enclosed wood trailer (3000-3500# full) tows much more easily than my travel trailer (2500# full). Still the trans cooler is highly recommended especially with a non-locking trans like you have. The trans fluid is in constant churn and especially under load it heats up more than with a locking trans. One thing I happened to think about is towing laws. It's different for every state. http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm California says you need brakes for a trailer of 1500 lbs gross weight and up. Which means you would legally need a brake controller in the car and brakes on the trailer with breakaway battery and switch. They also mention a fire extingusher. I would think your big wagon will handle it and stop it with no problems. But it's up to you. I don't know how strict they are there. Here they let just about anything go, it's unfortunate how many horribly unsafe setups I see on the roads. Is this a one time trip? Or is this something you plan to do regularly? If it is just a one time thing, you might consider renting a van or Suburban or something just for the trip.
Thanks for the info. Regarding renting a vehicle, that is pretty much out of the question. I actually have a 1989 Ford F250 that we were originally planning on using for the trip, but I'm short on cash and would much rather sell the truck than the wagon. (I'm sure that most people on this forum would agree!). The Squire is so much more comfortable than my truck (especially for the back seat passengers) and the nostalgia of touring with it is too much to pass up. Still, we'll be taking the truck if I can't get the Country Squire ready in time. Here's what I'm leaning towards right now: Adding a heavy duty transmission cooler with a temperature gauge so I can constantly monitor the temperature. Changing, not flushing, the transmission fluid and filter. The other issue I'm having is actually finding the tow hitch itself. I've been searching far and wide and haven't found anything yet that is going to be a bolt on. I don't want to weld anything to my frame! I'm going to start searching auto yards. Another concern I have is the suspension sinking too low. The suspension is so soft that the car sinks down a little when you have people in the back seat. Do you think the added tongue load would bring it down too much? My guess is the tongue load would only be less than 200 pounds on the trailer I described.
Most Ford automatics have a drain plug in the torque converter. Pull the shield and rotate the converter until you see the plug and remove it. It'll take a good 30-45 minutes to drain it's only about a 1/8-3/16" hole. Then you can do the pan and filter. Most of the fluid is in the torque converter. You'll be able to get about 3-4 quarts in before it's up in the fill tube then you can start it up momentarily in park then fill some more until you get around 12-13 quarts in and it sould be full or close. Then run the engine and go through the gear selector from reverse, drive and low 1 and 2 a couple of times and recheck the fluid level. If it's close go for a drive and recheck again after the tranny is all warmed up and you may have to add another 1/2-1quart to top it off. In total I think the C6 with a cooler will hold 14 or more quarts. If you just drain the pan you only get about 2-3 quarts out. Just fill it a little at a time and you won't over fill.
Yeah I'd prefer to sell the truck too. Typically a good tongue weight is 10-15% of the full trailer weight. So 200-300 lbs. Anything less than 10% and it will likely start to sway. Sway gets worse with soft tires, soft suspension, and long rear overhang. But actually the wagon would see more than that since the hitch length acts like a lever arm. Might be iffy. You may be bottoming out the rear end quite easily. Maybe just do a test first, add about 350 lbs to as close as you can get to the rear bumper (since remember you've got the weight of the hitch and drawbar too), then add the passengers in their positions (or simulate with sandbags or something) and see how it affects the wagon. Then you can see if you want to pursue it any farther. They do make airlift spring bags that go in your coil springs. I use a weight distributing hitch with my camper, which has about 350 lbs of tongue weight. (Got a closeout deal on it, usually they are several hundred $$$). I don't on the wood trailer, and I run a lot less tongue weight than I should, but I only go short distances down back roads at well under highway speeds with a load of wood so I don't care that it sways some. But both trailers have overkill for brakes. They also make an add-on sway control, last I checked they were around $80. Don't know how well they work and you have to remember to not do tight turns with it attached or you will break something. I wouldn't weld to the frame of the car either. But I would think you could find a welder/fabricator who could make a hitch or modify an existing one to bolt up to your frame rails. Hitches aren't rocket science, just follow existing designs and know how to weld properly. There are guys all over around here that can do that kind of thing. When it's all said and done it can get pretty costly at first. But if you think you might end up using the trailer regularly over the years, it wouldn't seem like so much.
