what prep work should I do before I use it to tow??

[stackz]

truck is a 98 5.0 2wd mountaineer with 165k on the clock.

I'm tired of going once a month to visit my parents back in charleston to work on one of my project mustangs for like half a day and then do family stuff and g/f stuff. I'm just ready to drag the car back here to atlanta so I can work on it at leisure.

anyway, the truck gives me no real problems. It has a cold starting problem sometimes but I'm pretty sure that's just a dirty IACV that I need to clean. Other than that I did a slimline tune-up on it when I got it at 156k in december which consisted of plugs and plug wires (damn original plugs/wires...plugs were gapping out at .1 ). Anyway, I've got the pcv valve I'm going to toss on this weekend as well as the fuel filter finally. I'm also assuming that since it still had the original plug wires on it I'll need to at minimum flush the transmission fluid.

I'm averaging about 20-24mpg on the highway trips between atl and chas @ 80mph in cruise. Is this good mileage? I think it's pretty decent but just curious if it's low or not since I know mileage is a good indication of tune.

I'm thinking of a full u-haul trailer if I cant find a 2wheel dolly to use (mainly to save on weight since a full trailer obviously is heavier). Was going to tow without OD on at around 60-65mph.

truck uses no oil either and has no leaks that I've been able to tell. I'm just wondering what else besides what I mention above that I would need to check so I dont tear anything up??

 

[Mattbuyshouses]

First thing you'll need to do is check other rental companies for trailers, U-Haul won't rent you a trailer to pull with a Mountaineer or Explorer. A good friend of mine has a U-Haul lot and he said there are alot of places out there that will rent you one but put a different vehicle down as the towing vehicle. While that's great and will allow you to take the trailer off the lot, if anything were to happen you could personally be in trouble (insurance claims etc) because it's U-Haul's corporate policy NOT to rent to these towing vehicles. Something to do with the rollovers that happend on Explorers in recent years and since Mountaineers are essentially the same vehicle, they nixed them as well.

Other companies still rent to us, just not U-Haul.

Matt

 

['97 V8]

your gas milage is terrible...just kidding. 20-24 at 80mph is great.

 

[badgett]

Check the T-case fluid. This is overlooked very often. Very easy to check. Beats breaking the thing.

 

[stackz]

it doesnt have a tcase, not 4wd

oh and I have rented a tow dolly from uhaul in the past with this vehicle as the tow vehicle. I was towing a 99 escort across town though so that might be the difference??

 

[diesell]

great mileage!
For a one-time tow like this, just "git-er-done". No special work required.