Towing thoughts...

[DJ1979]

It's decided. In February am moving from Melbourne to Brisbane, and we are using this chance to take our time and drive up, taking a couple weeks probably.
Am now in the market for a *shock* caravan.. which turns out will be a good way to haul some crap up there, and off set some of the moving costs - plus we plan on travelling a bit when up there. I am 27 and even i feel old talking about caravanning accross the countryside..... However, it all makes sense.
However, I need to sort out the tow vehicle. I have an ED Auto wagon gas with 280k on the clock. She is a fully svcd stock thing, but obviously starting to feel her age... I have no real reason to replace her other than a couple thousand km's to get to QLD with Van, and then the odd juggernaut accross QLD with the van in tow when the mood strikes. Otherwise she has demostrated herself as an economical reliable thing..
So, do I spend the money to firm up my suspension, get an auto svc, auto cooler, or simply look to replace it with something newer? The ED has had a new head in recent times and runs just fine.
So I am keen to hear if anyone does any industrial towing with a car into its twilight years, and also, any thoughts on suspension - in all honesty i have no idea....

[Kryton]

id just firm up the suspension and put in a tranny cooler. may as well do a full service before you go, even if it doesnt need it.
other than that, if the car is reliable, keep it.
if you buy something else, you dont know the history or how its going to cope. last thing you want to do is upgrade to find out its not cut out to do the job.

[Jason[98.EL]]

my olds tow a caravan with an ea cfi on gas over 500000 ks on the clock and it tows it fine

the only thing you really need to do is get the trans cooler the real thing is not to over heat ya trans and just cruise along at your own pace

jason

[northey]

Originally Posted by DJ1979

So I am keen to hear if anyone does any industrial towing with a car into its twilight years, and also, any thoughts on suspension - in all honesty i have no idea....

As above post said, stiffen up the car suspension. Towing is easy when it's all setup correctly and VERY stressful when it's not.
If your car is reliable it will be a decent tow car. It'd be a good idea to add a trans cooler and service the trans before you go. Do a few short trips if you can before the big one; at least you'll have some idea.

We always used a basic rule of thumb for towing caravans or cars on trailers - place 10% of the towed vehicle's weight on the drawbar. If the van weighs 3500 lbs; then 350 lbs on the drawbar. The suspension will probably need stiffening to cope with it. When you have the trailer close to correct if the trailer sways it's generally too tail heavy.
Simple things like moving the spare tyre from the rear to the front of the van will shift enough weight forward to stop it tailwagging. When towing cars we used to move the race car forward 2-6 inches; you'd be amazed at the difference.

If it starts tail wagging DO NOT TOUCH THE CAR BRAKES. Gently pull on the trailer/van brakes and straighten it up. I used to mostly use acceleration to help pull it straight but only experience will help you define that. Sometimes you just can't accelerate due to traffic etc.

Make sure all tyres are in good condition and wheel bearings; van brakes working well.
I learnt the hard way with all the above stuff a long time back; when I do it now I have no trouble at all.

Enjoy it. I wish all the mexicans would get some advice before they caravan interstate.