Towing with a short wheel base

[CG]

Ive never towed anything with a short wheel base truck, but as I get down to making a decision on what truck Ill be keeping I have a lot of questions bouncing around in my ol noggin.

Half ton, short wheel base, big block with turbo 400 auto. Stock coil suspension all the way around, but lowered a bit. Front and rear sway bars, maybe some helper bags if things get a tad heavy in back.

If its set up right would you feel comfortable pulling something as large as a call hauler (with car on it) or a small travel trailer?

Ive seen plenty of pictures of guys pulling with their short wheel base trucks, but I'm wondering if this was out of necessity, or hey I do this all the time.

What do you think, its a terrible idea? Or, with the right set up it there shouldn't be any problems?

[randy500]

I did it weekly for years and only had one accident which wouldn't have happened if I had a long wheelbase truck with truck duty tires....true story.

i would not recommend it unless absolutely necessary then your limited in speed to probably 55mph. Gvw is just not there on one of these old trucks.
Trailer weight 2500lb with 4K truck on it being pulled by 4K truck is 10.5k gvw...just bad idea all the way around

[lowrollin70gmc]

I tow regularly with my 84 short bed, to include a few cars, and it handles it fine. There is a difference in stability compared to using my Cummins Burb but nothing alarming and I drive a little slower and utilize a quality trailer brake controller.

However, I don’t like to tow more than about 7000lbs behind it as I don’t know GM’s factory rating (aftermarket hitch is rated to 10k) and the 6.2 isn’t quite the powerhouse my Cummins is.

[bigdog55]

I have used a short wheel base truck out of necessity, Having done it I would not do it unless I just had to. Its a stability thing once you get up around 50 mph.I have better luck with a long wheel base

[randy500]

Square body leaf spring trucks tow way better, never had a 72 leaf spring truck for comparison. Long beds are considerable better that short beds and almost safe. So since it takes a leaf spring long bed for adequate driveabilty that means you should be towing with a 3/4 ton for your safety and other drivers.
Like i said though I have towed a lot with 72 half ton short beds. I had a 2wd blazer and towed long bed 3/4 trucks on a 16 foot trailer, now that was really scary, did it a bunch too but I was about 25 at the time.

[truckster]

I towed my 79 Camaro on a car hauler behind my Blazer. Max safe speed was about 55, and when it started to rain things got really squirrelly. I'm comfortable towing my 14 ft single-axle utility trailer behind the Blazer, but I'd only tow a car behind it in a pinch.

[In The Ten Ring]

So it's mainly a speed issue, this "safety" concern you guys have? I ask because my truck is a SWB.

Previous owner put a tow hitch onto my truck but it's never been used. After I get it running I plan to change that but at the moment I only plan to tow a single axle "cart" and maybe a single axle trailer for my rowboat.

55 mph is about "comfortable max speed" for my truck, what with the 3 speed 4.11 rear end.

[tutone]

Take a hundred bucks and put trailer brakes on it. My car hauler has electric brakes on both axles and I have pulled it on quick trips with my 98 swb z71 with no problems. The 72 had absolutely no problem with my camper and it weighs in at 1100 lbs. I will pull it with the 67 as well. Use your head and as mentioned before, watch your speed.

[haysonj]

I've towed this boat for 12 years now and never had a problem. The boat weighs 5500 and the truck was built just to tow it. Truck is fuel injected 383, turbo 400, gear vendor OD, one ton 14 bolt rear with 4:10 gears and overload bags. Truck will cruise at 2200 rpm at 60 mph. It gets around 12 mpg when towing the boat. boat trailer has disc brakes on both axles, surge on the front and electric on the back. With the large tires and big brakes on the 14 bolt this rig has no problem stopping. This said I would not tow it with a stock 1/2 ton just not enough stopping power.

[special-K]

Car haulers require more than a 1/2t in my mind. I've used short beds to tow less and they do just fine. When you double your vehicle weight or better, you better have something built beefier, meaning eight lug minimum (full-floater). Everyone should drive slower when towing no matter what it is.

[Mike C]

Originally Posted by special-K

Car haulers require more than a 1/2t in my mind. I've used short beds to tow less and they do just fine. When you double your vehicle weight or better, you better have something built beefier, meaning eight lug minimum (full-floater). Everyone should drive slower when towing no matter what it is.

Yes! Slowing down the best thing you can do towing ANYTHING with anything. And trailer brakes are legally required in Texas for more than 5000# GVWR trailer. I would have no problem trailering with my short stepper with the right trailer and trailer brakes. But I'd need airbags to keep it off the frame!

I got my first 3/4 ton '70 GMC in 1998 and used that to pull my car trailer with. No doubt that's the way to go. Big block, Dana 60 with 3.54 and I did a disc conversion. Loved that truck. But sold it because I'm a "dog in the truck" kind of guy and when my kid was born we didn't all fit anymore!

But for the 10 years before that I towed with my Jimmy. Everything. Surge brakes are your friend. I have 3/4 ton rated 4" National lift springs in the rear to keep from squatting too much. 331 small block and 4.10 gears with 35" tires left it a little down on power, but even after I got the truck I pulled my 3500# boat/trailer with the Jimmy as the 2x4 single truck of the truck just left you spinning the wheel at the boat ramp!

[CG]

So what I'm hearing ... If its purpose built along the lines of haysonj's truck you can pull the bigger heavier stuff. And the trailer should also have all the extra safety features.

If the thing being towed is a smaller, lighter single axle without a heavy payload on it you should be fine. But having the extra safety features on even a smaller trailer is a always a good idea.

[special-K]

Yeah, you can tow with a short bed, and you can prep one to do better, but it's not ideal. If I was buying a dedicated tow vehicle it would be a long bed 3/4t or 1t.

[72 tigger]

Chevylands Blazer brochure he just posted shows a Blazer tied to a decent sized horse trailer- I'm sure they wouldn't advertise something that was not recommended

[cooperhw]

I would not plan to do it with a truck with coil springs on it period. Even the same 1/2 ton truck with leafs were more stable. I would want a long bed for any towing over a veryyyyy small camp trailer.
A lot of times it's not that it will not tow it, cause it will "pull it". It gets scary when you are up to speed and you crest over a hill and start down a long hill with the weight of your trailer pushing you. We see crashes all the time in the mountains just out of town just like this. The thing starts swaying, and trying to push you faster, then bamm.
As far as I am concerned these trucks didn't haul very good with a simple load of wood in the bed on the coil springs when they were new. They kinda bounced again and again over any little bump.
Towing for me long bed with leafs. My $0.02.

[theastronaut]

Where the weight is distributed on the trailer is important too. I've pulled a lot of cars with our '96 2wd Tahoe, some from out of state (3 hour trips). It's set up with a trailer brake controller, it's lowered a couple inches, and we've added a Suburban rear sway bar. Used to have a heavier 18' steel tilt car trailer, but now we have an 18' aluminum trailer, both were dual axle. If we load the trailer properly so there's the right amount of tongue weight then it pulls fine and is stable, even at 75 mph on the interstate. Too much or too little tongue weight will make it very unstable.


Here's a good visual of how the weight distribution affects stability.

Trailer weight distribution - YouTube

[Keith Seymore]

Back in the day you towed with what you had.

K

[outfield]

I've been pulling a 4000lb travel trailer with my Nissan Xterra which has a 5000lb towing capacity. I have an equalizer hitch and brakes on both trailer axles. Surprisingly the Xterra scaled out at 5000lbs.

I would not pull my car trailer with this rig because I don't have an equalizer hitch set up for the car trailer. I think this is required if pulling more then 2500 pounds with this size vehicle, this is basically the size of your short bed, it does have rear leaf springs.

I'm looking at the 1969 Chevy Truck specifications, I have a '69 K20, for the
C-10 it shows a towing capacities of:
2000 lbs - frame mounted hitch (power/glide tranny)
4000 lbs - frame mount hitch / equalizer (Turbo hydra- tranny) 2000lb springs
6000 lbs - equalizer hitch (Turbo hydra- tranny) 2000lb springs

I think the 5000lb number is the maximum I would be comfortable with using a equalizer hitch and trailer brakes.

Steve

[Keith Seymore]

Bottom line is I really can't comment on a coil spring short box, as our '69 GMC never really pulled the trailer (only flat towed, as shown above).

But these leaf spring shorties pulled upwards of 5000 lbs combined car and open trailer with ease, all over the US.

K

[LUCKTRUCK]

"Weight distribution hitch" I wouldn't tow without it.

[brown7373]

Are you talking about an open or closed trailer, and how heavy is the trailer,. the car and everything else you throw in. I used to tow a nearly 5000 pound 64 T-Bird convertible in a 24 foot enclosed trailer, which was close to 8500 pounds plus tools, luggage and other "stuff" so it was close to 10,000 pounds. I used a 3/4 Suburban 454, 8 lugs heavy towing package with weight distributing hitch. Even with all that, you had to be careful when braking, and when semi trucks passed, the wind turbulence was white knuckled. I would never tow with a 1/2 ton short bed unless it was an emergency and for a short distance. It's not the pulling that's the issue, it's safely handling and safely stopping.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by LUCKTRUCK

"Weight distribution hitch" I wouldn't tow without it.

Public Service Announcement: for those of you (us) towing with weight distributing hitches: check and make sure the ball mount portion is a weldment, or if it is a casting that it is shimmed so that the sides are not squeezed in compression.

I had a cast mount break upon arrival at my destination (Atlanta), after an 800 mile jaunt. I was standing by the trailer and heard a "BANG!" that sounded like something fell over inside the trailer. I couldn't figure out what it was until I went to unhook and noticed the ball mount was hanging on by one side.

I spent the day chasing around to get another one so that I could get home. Purchased one at an RV store and then followed up with Reese after I got home and they gave me another.

So now I have two (both are the welded type). You can imagine what a mess that would have made if it let go even a few minutes earlier.

K

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I've towed FAR too much weight with my little SWB, though nothing for very long. Once was a large trailer for a friend. The trailer had control of the truck not vise versa.

The longer the wheel base the better the tow. To me a C10 is a "sport truck". Doesn't mean you can't tow with it. In fact, the original owner of my SWB figured the truck was all things recreational, from a boat launching hitch to saddle tanks to a 5th wheel to a receiver hitch on a step bumper.

Anymore, I error on the side of caution when towing. I wouldn't pull more than 4Kish with a SWB, if that. You might check the gross tow ratings for our trucks. I imagine that can be found in the user manual.

Speak of weight distributions, I can tell you EXACTLY what not to do, and the pain is INTENSE. I can also tell you exactly how to mount and dismount. It would have been nice to know beforehand..............YIKES!

[72 tigger]

"Weight distribution" is very important when towing with a trailer- had my scariest moment in a vehicle while towing a C-10 with my 72 coil LWB back in 1995. I knew the tongue was on the light side (the trailer would start to sway a little from time to time). About 550 miles into the trip it cut loose & started whipping back & forth like a old hay wagon- I was all over both lanes of the interstate trying to get it back under control. It finally came out of it at roughly 40 MPH- much to my relief. I shifted my load forward (after I got all (4) wheels back on the trailer- one was hanging off) & it was fine. The only good thing was that it happened at 12:30 AM & I was starting to fight sleep- after that ordeal I was wide awake & drove until 5:00 AM

[Boog]

It can get really real in a hurry when the heavier towed end of the deal is much heavier than the tow vehicle. Long wheel base trucks weigh more and help with controlling the towed trailer or vehicle.
It's a sickening feeling to get into a tail wagging situation where the heavier load pulls the truck back and forth. I've seen a suburban with a fairly normal sized camper tail wag and end up both of them all upside down and destroyed.
And i can't emphasize enough how much easier a 5th wheel trailer setup pulls compared to a bumper pulled trailer.