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MG MGA - What to use to tow LBCs?

I'm sure lots will suggest bigger and better but I'm more interested in smaller, cheaper and more economical. I've a light, single axle trailer (800lbs) and a ratty '91 S10 Blazer with the 4.3l V6. Something of a gas hog. Under 20mpg without a trailer and LBC. Never checked gas milage with!

With the rising price of fuel, I've been thinking of what might replace the Blazer as it bio-degrades between towing assignments. I thought of the Ford Taurus, as they seem to sell cheaply and probably give better economy unladen, but i see that they only have a rated towing capacity of 1750 lbs.

Any other suggestions? RWD Volvo? Remember, I don't buy new. I'd rather spent the money on LBCs!

Thanks in advance.

TTFN
Derek Nicholson

Stay away from the Taurus, they don't take abuse very well. I would reccomend a rear wheel drive, and stay with two wheel drive. It seems that most 4 wheel drives have an issue with gas mileage. My GMC full size PU with a short box and the 5.3 engine gets 20+ on the highway, and 15 around town. Towing a 3500 lb. travel trailer over the mountains and back it gets about 12.5 mpg. One of the secrets of a good tow rig is the right transmission. At least 4 gears, whether stick or automatic really helps.
Ed Bell

You might scout around for a diesel pickup or SUV. They get much better mileage than their standard counterparts. To tow an LBC, I'd think that you'd want the towing capacity of a full sized unit. I've got a GMC Sonoma, but I'd be very hesitant to tow my MGA with it, as the MGA/trailer combo would be nearly the weight of the tow vehicle. This can result in a nasty situation, should the trailer take control in an adverse situation, like crosswinds, uneven pavement etc. I'd also advise a brake setup for any trailer carrying that much weight.
R. L Carleen

Part of your problem is the 800 Lb trailer That is approaching 1/2 the weight of the LBC.

I was successful some years back using my '87 Aerostar towing my A on a dolly. Hardly knew it was back there except on long upgrades. Oh, I did disconnect the drive shaft at the rear axle and tied it up and out of the way. Pretty easy to do thru the battery access panel.

The Aerostar had the 3 liter v-6 and an automatic. Something around this size in a slightly more modern package should do well. I think it was rated for around 5000 lbs towing.

I agree that using a RWD is the way to go for towing.

P.S. the Taurus has a very marginal transmission. Really won't last for long towing 1-1/2 tons, well over it's rating. It seems that most autos are barely rated for 1000 lbs towing. Havt to go to RWD to get the larger towing capacities.

Chuck
Chuck Schaefer

Derek,
Chuck is right. Your trailer is a lot heavier than it has to be. I hauled 3 MGAs about 400 miles home with a Ford Ranger and a lightweight trailer from Costco or Home Depot. The trailer weighs no more than 200 pounds and has ends that flip down to give a longer bed. I couldn't even feel it although I didn't have to go on any upgrades. I sent you some pictures.
mike parker

Whoa...hard to believe you'd trust your LBC to a cheap Home Depot trailer. An 800 pound trailer isn't "heavy", it's extremely light as far as trailers made to haul cars go. I have an aluminum trailer made by Trailex, tandem axles with dual brakes, total weight just under 800 pounds that I can easily pull with my Honda Pilot. There's no way I'd put an LBC on anything less than that.
Gene

I've got to agree with Gene about the Home Depot trailer, too. Aren't they rated for 1500lbs? I wouldn't feel too safe with a 2300lb car on there. And those little tires.

My "heavy" trailer only has a 6'x12' deck. Not huge! But it has a dropped axle with the deck around 12" off the ground for easy loading. The 225/75x15 tires are easily able to carry the load. If only the rims had the same PCD as the S10 so I could share the spare tire and install a spare set of alloy rims I have. Maybe I'll investigate having the hubs redrilled so I can have a cool, matching look. Even if it'll look like it belongs to the Clampetts!

Chuck, I did think about the Aerostar, but I don't think they've the greatest reliability record around. I actually know a guy who has a 4x4 Aerostar for sale.

Keep the ideas comming. How about a Mercedes 300SD? Sounds expensive to fix. Volvo 740 Wagon? Maybe.

Derek Nicholson

Yeah, I bough the Aerostar new in 87. Ran it for over 160K miles. It broke down several times. It is the only vehicle That I ever purchased an extended warranty for. I got my money's worth out of that warranty many times over. Reliability, it was on of the worst vehicles i have ever owned...... But I still loved it for some reason. Must have had some British content in it.

I'd stay away from the Aerostar in either 2 or 4 wheel drive versions. But I just mentioned it as a towing vehicle reference. It handled the tow well. There must be a similar type vehicle around. Maybe an extended cab Ranger?

I had a '95 S-10 with the 4 banger. I don't think I'd tow with that small an engine.


Incidently, I do have a vintage picture on my desk here of an MG Magnette towing a Lotus Eleven on a 2-wheel trailer. That must have been a sight to see running down the road.

Chuck
Chuck Schaefer

I have an 2003 Ford F-150 Supercab truck pulling a 18' tandom axle beaver tail flat bead trailer with tool boxes on it. The truck pulls the trailer like it is not even there. With the added advantage that F-150s tend to last forever with higher re-sale value. The only thing about the F-150 with the trailer and my A on it is that it gets about 12MPG. Oh well it is a nice ride.
JP Jim

12mpg! Ouch! I don't know about in Minnesota, but in these parts, Fords have a bad reputation for rusting.

Chevy Astro van? Same engine so probably not much better than the S10, except not 4x4.

Derek Nicholson

Yeah, you're right about the trailer being light, I think it was rated at 2100 lb. I did check before the trip. Given that the coupe was 2000 lb, I felt very safe with it though. Roadster is lighter. I fastened the car down by strapping the wheel assemblies, and had no sway and no problems with the trailer or vehicle at all.
mike parker

BTW, thanks for the pictures you sent, Mike.

Derek Nicholson

I have a neighbor who regularly tows his Morgan plus 4 to shows with his Volvo RWD wagon. He has no problem. I am surprised that you consider the MPG while towing to be significant. Even at today's prices the MPG while towing when compared to the cost of the vehicle is surely irrelevant. If the overall towed mileage were to be 1,000 miles yearly, and the difference when towing was say 8 mpg, we are looking at a cost of around $300. It hardly seems worth breaking into a sweat over.

Dan
Dan Barton

I have a friend who flat-tows his vintage '77 Mini with his Modern Mini Cooper S . Not for me but he gets by.

Chuck
Chuck Schaefer

Dan, I'm looking for something that is capable of towing but that gets better mpg while not towing that my old S10. I agree, that most of my mileage is without a trailer. I miss the 32mpg I used to get with my '93 Infiniti G20 5sp cruising at 70mph. The Blazer gives around 18mpg cruising at 60mph.

Derek Nicholson

Tow? Tow?
What's all this talk about towing?
If you DRIVE it, you'll get about 30 mpg. No trailer, no tow vehicle.
Of course, if it's a "project" car you'll probably have to tow it. But, as often as you'll need it, a rented truck and tailer works just fine.
Cheers,
GTF
G T Foster

Guys what is an LBC? I am up with PITAs and POs but LBC has me stumped.
Mike Ellsmore

Mike, an LBC is an acronym for "Little British Car".
Chuck Schaefer

Thanks Chuck
Mike Ellsmore

Why not get a "next generation" 1995-or-newer S10 Blazer? I had a 1995 for 7 years and it was (for an SUV) economical and reliable, and towed well. Just make sure to have it checked out for electrolysis in the cooling system. That's what finally caused me to trade mine in after 200,000 miles -- I went through two heater cores in 3 months!
David Breneman

I had a 4 cyl '95 S-10 short bed. I gave it up after 3 headgaskets being replaced every 10K miles. The dealer did the repair all three times and had no explaination for it. I did get up to 120K miles on it before I finally made the decision.

If you look at the S-10 Blazer, I would strongly recommend the v-6, both for power and due to the problems I had.

Chuck
Chuck Schaefer

I had an '88 Ford Ranger, 2.9L V6, 5 Spd. I towed my brother's '32 Rolls 20/25 about 100 miles on a rented dual axle flatbed. The Rolls and trailer together probably weighed 6000 lbs. The Ranger had about 5000 miles on it at the time. The load was so heavy that when I stopped on a slight grade I couldn't get started again, the clutch just slipped. We made it to our destination and in the follwing years I towed several, much lighter, trailers without incident. I put 192,000 miles on that truck, same clutch.
Bill
Bill Boorse

I've heard that the 1st generation Audi A6 Wagon has a 3000lb towing capacity. Myself- I use a Jeep Cherokee and tow dolly. It works very well though the jeep gets only about 18 hwy.

j
johnB

Well I am glad Chuck asked what an LBC was - it had me puzzled for a while and I thought I must be the only one being a Brit and all - now I know - thanks to Chuck. It should be LBSC of course - with the emphasis on S for sports!! Hope you get your tow vehicle sorted Derek - why not try a good British Range Rover - the early pre Ford ownership ones should be cheap by now. Cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

How about a Toyota pickup? I had 3 of them, reliable as hell, and great mileage. I think some of them have V6's now, too. (I'm assuming you want something that's a few years old.)
Tom

If you want THE definitive story on how strong the Toyota pickups are, look at this very entertaining video from Top Gear - they did almost everything possible to this truck, and it STILL ran and drove..... The link is here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/prog28/toyota.shtml
dominic clancy

Has anyone transported an MGA inside a rental truck (a Budget rental for example)?

G Goeppner

Don't have it any more but I used a 4 cyl 89 toyota 4x4 longbed to tow my MGAs on a custom made trailer for years. Great gas mileage and durable as they come. I use my Toyota Sequoia now,barely tell its back there 15 mgp. A tow dolly does a good job if you don't have a trailer.
R J Brown

Derek, Ii don't know if I gave you the history on this trailer, but it was built by one of the guys at Brit Auto to haul his race car up to Mont Treamblant. I've used it as you know and I think it's a great little trailer.

What to tow it with is the question.

I rented a GMC and borrowed the trailer (before you bought it) and the V6 was not up to the job. I think I had to fill up three times to get to New Hampshire and back. You need a few more HP's than the average driver to do the job. Particularly if you have to go up and down mountains as is the case in the North East.

So renting something a little guttsie when you need it is probably the best solution.

Cheers, Mike
Mike Trainor

Mountains in the north east? your kidding right. Hills maybe MOUNTAINS start at 5,500 feet and go past 14,000. My 22RE powered Toyota pulled the trailer Queen to Glenwood Springs and the Steaboat Springs no problems more than once.
R J Brown

Cam, I've actually already got an '89 Rangie sitting outside the barn. Runs strng enough, but it only gets around 18mpg without a trailer. It needs some repairs to the front end and over here the price of spares is rather horrendous. And there aren't (m)any lying around the scrappie. I would certainly love to drive an all British set-up! Oh, and LBCs cover non-sports cars, too. If my (rented) barn was bigger (it already has 7 cars, 2 spare MGA frames and tons of spares), I'd probably be hounding the local fellow who has 3 Morris Minor 1000s. And I might have tried to buy the Armstrong Siddeley Star Saphire and Jaguar 420 that were available locally a few years ago. Hmmmm! I think I just figured out why I'm divorced!

R J, don't start that, now. There is Mount Washington (el. 6288')! http://www.mountwashingtonautoroad.com/ Not that I plan to drag an LBC up there.

TTFN (which I hope Cam understands).


Derek Nicholson

The Volvo 740 & 760 is rated for a 3300 lb trailer with brakes, 2000 lbs without, with a maximum of 200 lbs tongue load. Sounds interesting. But the fuel economy of the 760 is only rated at 21mpg (highway). The 740 is rated at 26mpg. Anyone ever owned one?

TTFN
Derek Nicholson

This thread was discussed between 03/04/2006 and 10/04/2006

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