CK5 - The Full-Size GM Off Road Community

Alrighty heres my plan. I would like to make my luv a trail truck. But i then need to tow it. Well my f-150 isnt realy an option as it is technically not street legal so i dont realy like driving it. So then the thought of my newly aquired trooper comes to mind. It has a trailer rating of 3500lbs, and the gross rear wheel weight is 3000lbs. Now the luv curently wieghs in at 2600lbs, im planning on pulling the bed and doors possibly fenders. This will bring the wieght down to about 2200lbs. Now i would need a 14' trailer to pull the luv around. Now i know and plan on needing to get, a wiehgt distributing hitch, trailer stabalizer/anti sway bars, and trailer brakes. My 2 biggest questions are, A: should i get a 2axle or singl axle trailer(im thinking 2axle for better trailer braking) B: how much would a 14' car trailer wiegh in at. As far as will it pull it, this spring im going to do some testing and haul the gravel trailer whith it (single axle trailer that wieghs in at 3,000lbs fully loaded and ill run from there). Well thanks for the help.

How about a single axle tow dolly?

Tow dolly plans (http://www.trailerplans.com/single_axle_trailers_page1.htm)

You could probably go down to the local Uhaul and take alot of measurements and build one on your own from scratch.

my grandpa 16" flat bed with 18" rails weighs about 1200 lbs. he has beefed it up alot to haul old john deere tractors across country.

the only thing i see that you might have a problem with is the power of the trooper

in spring of 01 i went to florida to pick up a 79 k10 swb minus motor. it weighed about 3500 lbs. we pulled it back with a 94 gmc safari it has a towing capasity of about 1500 lbs. the only time we has a problem was when we got into the mountains of tennessee and were crawling up the hills. as long as you load it right you shouldn't have a problem

well im not too worried about the power in my trooper, it has the 2.6L 4cylinder in it. The 1.8L in my luv has towed about 3200lbs up a pass before which not too much trouble, and the trooper is geared lower too.

I know this isn't an answer, but why isn't your F150 street legal, and if possible, why don't you use that? I don't see how the trooper will safely and legally pull the LUV once it's on a trailer. Dolly maybe, but not trailer. It's going to take a tandem axle trailer to carry that kind of weight, and even with a relatively light trailer I'd bet that your trailer is going to be close to 5K loaded, if not more. Your F150 properly equipped would tow that kind of weight, but the trooper won't.

well the f-150 has a header and intake treatment so its impossible to get the motor to pass emisions (it burns cleaner but whithout the smog gear there they wont pass it, go figure). Thanks for the imput, you realy thing that it would wiegh in at 5,000lbs /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
i guess i did forget to take into account parts and such. Well thanks for the imput, thats why i asked /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I spent quite a bit of time looking at car hauler trailers this summer before finally buying one. The vast majority of 7,000 lb. GVW trailers between 16'-18 long (which is the "normal" size you will find) weighed between 1,500 - 2,000 lbs. empty. You could obviously get it a little lighter by going to a 14' deck and maybe an open center deck, but it would probably still weigh 1,000 lbs. or more if it was built half-way solid, plus you begin to limit what you could fit on the trailer. So in any case I'm guessing you will be right at the maximum tow rating.

Do you have any friends or relatives in a non-smog state that will let you use their address to register your truck? Just an idea to get around the smog nazis...

Well i do but im going into the military so i need a vehicle that is trouble free to lisence where ever they send me. Thats why im asking. Other wise i would just register my f-150 whith mountainexplorwers address and be done whith it.

Why would you have to re-register? Military personnel are allowed to keep their vehicles registered in their "home" state or last place of duty if they so please. Register the pig and don't worry about where you get sent... That's just my 2 cents...

haha i didnt know i could register it at my "home" address. I thought i would have to register it whith where ever i was /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I don't know the specifics, but on Guam most of the Military personnel have their vehicles registered elsewhere, mostly U.S., but occasionally you'll see an European plate or two as well.

hummm ill have to ask about that i guess. That might be motivation enough to make the old ford reliable /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Which branch of the service are you going into? Out here on Camp Pendleton you will still have to pass a California smog test no matter where your vehicle was made or registered.

im going into the air force. I thought i would still have to pass smog, thats why i whant my trooper to be my tag along truck(its still stock)