[Noggin]

I'll be getting my old Firebird back in December and will need to tow it from Mississippi to Texas. Although I don't want to spend more money than I have to, I should probably go ahead and get the 7 pin wiring harness and an adapter in case I need the 4 pin at some point in the future. What size ball should I get? I noticed that some of the ball mounts have more of a drop than others. Am I correct in assuming that I should get one with the shortest drop since my truck is at stock height?

UHaul hitch is pretty inexpensive and people here seem to like it. Is it worth spending a few extra bucks on a hidden hitch? Hidden hitch I think has a higher weight load if you get a distributed hitch. Since I'm inexperienced at towing, and I think the distributing hitch is supposed to somehow make towing easier, is that what I should buy?

Lastly, Uhaul suggested that for a Firebird I should use a dolly that only holds up the front wheels. That's ****ing retarded right? Its a RWD car.

And I already know to get a Nissan wiring kit....

Edit:
The best I've found for Hidden Hitch is at www.etrailer.com. Its $152 w/ free shipping compared to U-Haul being $125 with free pickup. However, the U-Haul is 5000 lbs or 6000 lbs with weight distributing hitch. The car trailer itself is about $2000, and I HOPE it has brakes on it. The '68 Firebird weight is listed as 3400 lbs or so, but this is a convertible and I think weighs a bit more. Still gotta be under 4000 lbs though, so the UHaul should work for me if I use a weight distributing hitch. The Hidden Hitch has a weight limit of 5000 lbs or 8000 lbs with weight distributing, so I suppose either way I should get a weight distributing hitch.

 

[TheRealDoug]

uhaul trailers have surge brakes.

 

[Mathster]

dont tow the FB with the drive shaft in and the rear wheels on the ground. Thats not good on the transmission.
As far as ball size, 2" ball with the larger shaft (1" I think) is the way to go. Its a 5000 pound ball.
If your renting a trailer, find out what the trailer weight is before you rent. a 4000 pound car only leaves you 2000 pounds for the trailer before your over the combination weight of your truck.
As far as drop length, I would go with a 2" rise, 1" drop. depending on how you load your trailer, you may find you need a bit of rise to get the trailer to sit level.

 

[Noggin]

How do you get a rise? Raise up the ball?

Uhaul car trailer is 2200 lbs. I should be good on weight with either hitch, but the hidden hitch has a bit more headroom. So it won't hurt the differential to tow it with the rear wheels on the ground? It doesn't have LSD.

 

[HKYStormFront]

you talking about a full car trailer or a tow dolly that only holds the front wheels off the ground?

 

[Noggin]

I plan on using a full car trailer weighing 2200 lbs. The question about hurting the differential was with a pulled drive shaft and using a car dolly with the front wheels off of the ground.

 

[M Cribbs]

Do yourself a favor. Crawl under that car and remove the four u-joint saddle bolts. Don't remove the driveshaft, just secure it to the floorpan. You WILL wreck the tranny if you leave the driveshaft spinning. The fuel you save will be well worth it, not to mention the reduced wear on your truck. I worked for u-haul and those full car trailers are BEASTS. A tow dolly only weighs about 400 lbs.

 

[ffips]

Do yourself a favor. Crawl under that car and remove the four u-joint saddle bolts. Don't remove the driveshaft, just secure it to the floorpan. You WILL wreck the tranny if you leave the driveshaft spinning. The fuel you save will be well worth it, not to mention the reduced wear on your truck. I worked for u-haul and those full car trailers are BEASTS. A tow dolly only weighs about 400 lbs.

So I guess in your rush to post, you missed this part:

I plan on using a full car trailer weighing 2200 lbs. The question about hurting the differential was with a pulled drive shaft and using a car dolly with the front wheels off of the ground.

Carry on....

 

[HKYStormFront]

Carry on....

seriously :wtf:

yea you should be fine OP, i've towed my boss' track 350z before with no issues. as for the ball size, find out what size the uhaul trailer needs and get that

 

[M Cribbs]

So I guess in your rush to post, you missed this part:



Carry on....

Yes, actually, I did catch that. Thank you. That's why I said he should do alittle extra work and rent the dolly instead.

 

[Noggin]

seriously :wtf:

yea you should be fine OP, i've towed my boss' track 350z before with no issues. as for the ball size, find out what size the uhaul trailer needs and get that

U-Haul trailers will use any size ball, I guess they ask what size I have. I guess I'll just get the medium size one. I didn't know if one size was more common than others. In any case, they're cheap so if I need a different one I can just get it.

Yes, actually, I did catch that. Thank you. That's why I said he should do alittle extra work and rent the dolly instead.

Maybe I will do the dolly. I don't know, I have a few months to figure it out

Thanks again for all the help guys.

 

[HKYStormFront]

a dolly would be easier to tow i would think... never used one tho. like i said, i've towed my boss' 350z several times (with no trailer brake) and it was just fine, no issues at all. these things tow pretty good despite their relatively small size (compared to full sizers)

 

[Noggin]

a dolly would be easier to tow i would think... never used one tho. like i said, i've towed my boss' 350z several times (with no trailer brake) and it was just fine, no issues at all. these things tow pretty good despite their relatively small size (compared to full sizers)

I used a dolly to pull my sentra from MS to TX a couple years ago using a UHaul truck and dolly. Didn't have my Frontier then.

 

[ffips]

[apolgy]

seriously :wtf:

Yes, actually, I did catch that. Thank you. That's why I said he should do alittle extra work and rent the dolly instead.

I went overboard. I am sorry.
[/apology]

If you tow much of anything a 2" ball will be the most likely size you will run up against unless you are towing a small jet ski trailer or a very small trailer in general (those tend to use the 1 7/8" ball).

As for tow dolly vs. car hauler, tow dollies are used a lot, but given the choice I would go with a car hauler every time. Reason being if there is a tire failure on a tow dolly, you only have one good one left. Might be a bit of a wild ride with another car wagging around behind the truck. With a car hauler a tire failure still leaves three other tires to cover for the failure. I have had a tire fail on a car hauler (object in road) and even with a blown tire, it pulled straight and true to the side of the road.

 

[Mathster]

How do you get a rise? Raise up the ball?

Uhaul car trailer is 2200 lbs. I should be good on weight with either hitch, but the hidden hitch has a bit more headroom. So it won't hurt the differential to tow it with the rear wheels on the ground? It doesn't have LSD.

you get rise by flipping the receiver over. you have to flip the ball too. make sure you check the nut after a few mile to be sure its still tight.

I plan on using a full car trailer weighing 2200 lbs. The question about hurting the differential was with a pulled drive shaft and using a car dolly with the front wheels off of the ground.

The car haul trailer I use weighs in at 2000 pounds for a 16' flatbed. Those Uhaul trailers just look heavy even tho they are shorter.

[apolgy]



I went overboard. I am sorry.
[/apology]

If you tow much of anything a 2" ball will be the most likely size you will run up against unless you are towing a small jet ski trailer or a very small trailer in general (those tend to use the 1 7/8" ball).

As for tow dolly vs. car hauler, tow dollies are used a lot, but given the choice I would go with a car hauler every time. Reason being if there is a tire failure on a tow dolly, you only have one good one left. Might be a bit of a wild ride with another car wagging around behind the truck. With a car hauler a tire failure still leaves three other tires to cover for the failure. I have had a tire fail on a car hauler (object in road) and even with a blown tire, it pulled straight and true to the side of the road.

You may also run into a 2-3/8" ball on some trailers for over 10K weight.

Personally, if your on a tight budget, I would go with the tow dolly and disconnect the driveline. If your worried about your differential, consider, its being loaded in the same manner as reversing or engine braking. however, its being loaded VERY little.
If you can budget a brake controller, and a trailer, that is the better way to go.
One other thought, talk to Uhaul, Its been a few years, but last time I tried to rent from uhaul, they didn't care what the truck's plated capacity was, compact trucks could get a small enclosed trailer or a tow dolly. you had to have a full sized truck to get a dual axle trailer (car or enclosed).:thatswck:

 

[M Cribbs]

[apolgy]



I went overboard. I am sorry.
[/apology]

No prob. Apology accepted.

 

[WeRideNTruX]

should also prob mention that w/o trailer brakes & a weight distributing hitch youll void the warranty on the truck and ur gonna sit low w/ that much weight on the truck your gonna sit low so use as little drop as possible

and given the choice i too would take a trailer over a dolly