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Re: Towing things


My 71 Fastback has a trailer hitch that was put on by the dealer, but not 
sure if it was dealer-option. It attaches where the rear bumbper mounting 
bolts are, and the bumper brackets appear to be on top of the tralier 
hitch brackets, same holes. Then the brackets/hardware follow the inside 
of the bumper as a big fat bar and is welded to the inside of the bumbper 
just at the point it passes under the bumper. The bumper itself isnt 
supporting any weight, I think it is welded to keep it from rattling?
At any rate, the previous (original) owners used the car to go visit 
family in Vancouver, Canada each year, towing along a U-Haul trailer. I 
saw the pics. They said it did wonderfully, in all the weight including 
tralier was about 700lbs. 
BUT, the car was new and they did this ritual for 16 years. 
Probably explains why I replaced the tranny at 150K Miles. ( Ibought the 
car with 95 Kmiles)>
I use a tralier myself occasionally with confidence. But then , I have a 
new motor with all the coolin tins in place and functioning, and a tranny 
with only 29 K Miles on it.
I plan to tow a trailer this year to cali from Maryland, but it's only 
about 400lbs including trailer.
I think it's best to also look in your owners manual to see what the max 
recommendations are for towing capacity (pulling) and tongue weight.
I really dont think the car was designed to pull much, but I could be wrong.
I have also pulled a yard of concrete a whole mile! It was on a bet and 
before I replaced engine and tranny. I think the pulling weight was 4,000 
lbs but since it was a four whelled tralier, not much actual weight was 
on the hitch, nicley balanced trailer.
Don't try that at home, unless you have a brother-n-law like mine who had 
money to lose on a bet.
I expected the car to either dig a ditch to China or flip over backwards.
actually, it was an idiotic thing to do.
Good luck, maybe someone here has more technical know-how. 
John 71 Fastback



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