Thinking of towing a car (on trailer) with the 05 Ex V6

Hey all,
So my buddy wants me to tow off his "beater" BMW 528E. Its going to the scrapyard. I have a Class II hitch and the driveline is equipped with a 4.0L V6, 5R55S transmission, and the 3.55 gearing. I've towed a mustang with it, uphill. She struggled to get up to speed, but did it.

Do you all think it's a good idea to tow a car with my Ex? It would be down hill for a little while, then flat. Total distance with the car on the trailer would be about 8-10 miles (at most).

Thoughts, comments are all welcome.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

For no further than you need to go, you should be fine. Watch the tongue weight, lock it out of OD and go on with it, IMO.

 

[NHarris]

Would I be better off with a trailer with brakes? The down hill is only about a mile and most of the way its 50 mph
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Limited02]

You'll be fine. Just take your time and don't push it to hard As MG said, keep it out of overdrive.

 

[2TimingTom]

Small thread jack- when towing, always turn O/D off? Or does it depend on the load and the terrain?

 

[thebrakeman]

I agree. If this is a 1-time deal, for a short distance like this, just keep it slow and "git er done". You will be over your tow rating. But hold low gears so you aren't working the trans hard, and just take your time.

2TimingTom,
Different vehicles give different recommendations in the manuals for towing with or w/o OD locked out.

I can't remember what the Explorer recommendation is, but in my opinion, it's OK to use OD unless the trans is "hunting" or frequently downshifting.

If the trans is downshifting on hills with cruise control engaged, then I will turn off CC and use a steady foot on the gas to keep it in top gear.
If speed is dropping too much with a steady foot, I'll tip in a little, still trying to avoid a downshift.
If a downshift occurs, I pull it out of OD to keep it in a lower gear until I'm out of the hilly area.

 

[FIND]

I towed a 93 bonneville 56 miles with my first gen, a 96 lincoln up and down hills 23 miles, and several other cars shorter distances with first gens.... the only part that concerns me is the fact that it is only a class II hitch... that means you can tow a trailer up to 3500 lbs safely with up to a 350 lb tongue weight. The bimmer weighs between 2900 and 3100 lbs I believe. Hitches can generally handle more than they are rated for, but there is a reason they are rated where they are at. If you do plan on continuing to haul vehicles, I would get a higher rated hitch in the future.

 

[NHarris]

Thanks for the replies. I have yet to actually tow off that BMW, but I do plan on getting a class III hitch and maybe 3.73 gears for the diffs.

 

[Ranger379]

Thanks for the replies. I have yet to actually tow off that BMW, but I do plan on getting a class III hitch and maybe 3.73 gears for the diffs.

how heavy is the car trailer? i wouldnt tow anything heavy without brakes, you can pull anything, its the stopping that is the hard part lol. around town would be ok, but from experience.... you better be able to stop in an emergency situation at a highway speed, or even 45. if you have to go down a big hill, do what big trucks do, get to the right speed before you go down the hill, drop into 2nd gear, or 1st if your going slow enough. and keep it out of OD the entire trip.

pulling a car you would need a class 3 hitch with the 2" receiver.

swapping gears in very expensive, 3.55's will be ok for towing something every now and again. if you have problems getting up to speed, just take it easy, dont over work the motor or tranny trying to get up to speed at the same rate as you would with out a trailer...

10 mile trip you should be fine. take you time

 

[FIND]

I wouldn't worry about having 3.55 gears... not a whole lot of difference between them and 3.73 gears... plus the 5r55 isn't that bad a transmission.

Anyways, I have 3.27 gears in the first gen I am using now, and that towed the Lincoln I mentioned earlier.

Honestly, my only worry would be the hitch. Forget about the gearing, no sense messing with it.

 

[NHarris]

Well the car I am towing is going to be 2866 LBS. Not sure about the trailer weight. Still have to go talk to sunbelt about a trailer rental.

 

[jrford]

It would be down hill for a little while, then flat. Total distance with the car on the trailer would be about 8-10 miles (at most)

for the downhill part if you keep the O/D off, you will get something called compression braking; in other words the engine kinda acts like a brake, therefore you don't have to ride the brakes. With O/D on a one way clutch comes into play which allows the trans to spin faster then the engine to increase mpg so it can coast while in the O/D gear.