Towing a Grand AM with my X

This weekend i will be towing a 1993 pontiac grand am 2rd. I have a 98 Sport with the 4.0 SOHC and 4.10 gearing. My truck is extensivly modified (no lift but lots of suspension improvements) and has all Moog suspension parts.

I have installed front and rear oversized suspension bumpers (load levelers from Timbren) they have proven to make my ride while towing a boat extremely sturdy, even in high winds the trailer tracks right behind the truck and keeps pulling straight with no signs of wobble or sway. I installed a class 3 hitch last night (what a pain) never the less its in. I have upgraded every bushing to urethane due to the very sloppy handling when i first got my truck. My tires are 10 ply and rated at 2200 lbs load carrying capactiy at 40psi each. I run Mobil 1 synthetic oil since purchase and have synthetic 75-90 gear oils front and rear.

One of my friends told me that if i try to pull a dolly with a car on it my explorer is going to flip because the wheel base on my truck is shorter than the trailer. Now, im not going to be driving nascar speeds like everyone seems to assume, i plan on doing like 80 - 90 km/h at the most. I will be traveling about 350km's with this thing, hopefully in good weather conditions.

Ive read that towing with overdrive is not a good idea. Will my transmission be able to handle this tow?

Any opinions are welcome!

 

[levishake]

you should be fine, i would keep your overdrive off.I hope you aint planning on renting one from uhaul, they wont rent out to explorers.Good luck with the trip!

 

[IZwack]

You will not have any problems towing a vehicle with a tow-dolly. A tow-dolly does not have the common ill effects of a normal car-trailer. You will not flip your vehicle or sway out of control.

I have towed several cars at highway speeds with a second gen Explorer and I've had no problems at all. My 15-passenger E-350 PSD van was also towed with an Explorer for about a hundred miles w/o any swaying problems.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

You should have no problems at all. Do not use overdrive when towing. It can overheat the transmission. I've seen Explorer sports pulling good size boats that are way longer than a Grand Am.

I am going to move this to the towing forum for you. You will get more responses there. The moderetaor of the forum pullsa 23 foot camper with his Mounatineer so he can go ito alot of detail.

Oh one lat thing. Welcome to the site

 

[matt98sport]

Yes i did call U-Haul first, they turned me down much to my surprise, so i called the main office thinking this guy just has a prejudice against Explorers, and it turned out they have a policy of not renting to exploreres, which i find is rediculous because after i found this out, i asked them what about a Mercury Mountaineer, and they guy said no problem with that, and i asked the guy why would they rent to a Mountaineer and not an Explorer, and his response : Well they are two completely different vehicles and manufacturers.. Hrm.... this sounded a little strange to me, dont you guys agree?

So as long as i dont use my overdrive i will be fine. Ive been told this by a few people but now im certain it is true and will not be using overdrive.

Well i feel confident about this now, at first i was a little leary about my transmission but im sure it will be fine. Thanks for all your help guys.

Thanks for the welcome guys, look forward to taking part in lots of discussions about our rigs and other rigs...

--Matt--

 

[Nocturnall]

just tell them you have a navajo which is made by mazda and you have explorer emblems due to an accident. That's my plan when I rent a moving trailor in a month.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I'm late to the party, but it sounds like your well prepared

The wheelbase / flip thing is BS. You can tow that car no problem, especially with the 4.10s.

 

[Doug]

How far are you towing it? If you're going a long distance I'd be careful towing a grand am with a sport. A buddy of mine was towing his explorer on a tow dolly with a ranger, and ended up flipping the explorer multiple times and totalled his ranger. He hit some ruts in the highway and the explorer started swaying and flipped. Granted a Grand Am is lighter and has a lower COG but if I was you I'd take your time and dont try to go over 60.

I don't know how U-hauls tow dollys are but thier trailers are generally garbage. The surge brakes suck, I don't like using a trailer with surge brakes.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I could see maybe a ranger towing an explorer, the explorer is heavier than the ranger.

That being said, I pulled an 86 2500 Chevrolet full size conversion van 40 something miles on a tow dolly with no problems.

I hate surge brakes too, I'd want one without them.