Trailers and SHO's

[Shadow4Golf]

Greetings,
I bought a used 1998 SHO after getting back from Iraq. Me and that car pulled a 5600 mile road trip in about 18 days. Had a small issue with the idle sensor being coated with carbon, but a friendly mechanic sorted it out and got me on my way.

Now the question. I'm moving soon, Army sending me somewhere else. Can the SHO handle a trailer and what size trailer am I looking at? I have about 6 footlocker sized boxes of stuff that I don't want to trust the .mil movers with and they won't fit in the car, no matter how I try.

Ideas?

Thanks,
GB
Ft Hood, TX

 

[1993MTXSHO]

it can handle a trailer, however, the more weight you tow you need to watch you don't burn up the trans. mainly the tq converter, but it can tow 1000lbs or so safely i believe. Check our owners Manuel it shoudl tell you max trailer weight.

 

[RoadSHO]

V-8 SHO website has a good post on how to install a hitch.
http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/Trailer_Hitch.htm

Good Luck!

 

[98TRSHO]

I'm so glad my dad doesnt visit this site, he wanted me to get a hitch on the 98 last year and I told him that these car's cant tow!! If he know I was wrong it would be getting a hitch tomorrow.... sadly I have nothing to tow so why do I need it?!?!

 

[greenbeanmtx]

Greetings,
I bought a used 1998 SHO after getting back from Iraq. Me and that car pulled a 5600 mile road trip in about 18 days. Had a small issue with the idle sensor being coated with carbon, but a friendly mechanic sorted it out and got me on my way.

Now the question. I'm moving soon, Army sending me somewhere else. Can the SHO handle a trailer and what size trailer am I looking at? I have about 6 footlocker sized boxes of stuff that I don't want to trust the .mil movers with and they won't fit in the car, no matter how I try.

Ideas?

Thanks,
GB
Ft Hood, TX

I just realized your in fthood. Im just up the street from you in Waco. Good luck with your move.

 

[SHOclub1]

I have a hitch on my '96 and have hauled a small box trailer all over the country taking convention stuff.

The trailer is about 5' X 6' X 5'tall. Two wheels, no brakes. Weight of the trailer alone is about 350 pounds, maybe 400. I put 400-500 pounds in it so I get close to 1000.

Have never had a problem, but before I towed anything I had a modest sized tranny cooler put on. Some recommend you bypass the cooler in the radiator when you do this, but I didn't.

I got my hitch from U-haul. They had two types of receiver hitches for the SHO at that time. A reciever hitch has that square tube you slide the ball mount into when you want to tow, and other times, the ball is gone and it is hard to tell you have a hitch.

One type mounts normal, hanging slightly below the level of the bumper skirt.

The other type mounts up under the bumper skirt, virtually invisible, but the receiver is at an angle, and putting on the ball mount in is more of a deal where you have to lay down under the car. Both will easily handle 1000 pounds.

Be sure to put enough tongue weight on when you tow anything. If your trailer and stuff is 800 pounds, you want close to 80 pounds on the ball. If you don't have enough, the trailer can "wag the dog" and cause a wreck. Too much hurts handling and the suspension.

I don't carry anything in the car except people when I tow, putting everything in the trailer and this way the back end isn't near as low as when I just put a couple of h eavy suitcases etc in the trunk!

You can buy a small box trailer like this for under $1000 and probably sell it for that much when the move is through. U-haul type rentals are way too heavy for a car like this. Trailer alone would probably be close to 1000 pounds.

Don

 

[somedude_001]

this is kind of related to this topic, but I want to talk about massive overloading the car. say I was moving to arizona and I have 2 cars. my turbo SHO and saturn. I throw the saturn on a car hauler which would probably weigh 3500lbs + tons of belongings in the SHO. including both cars it would probably weigh 7500-8000lbs. the SHO has a huge cooler on it and a manual switch for the TC and it most definately has the power to haul the load and 13" brakes would surely stop it safely, and with the proper toung weight the SHO's suspention would not be bottomed out or massively sagging.

my fear is damaging the transmission but with the TC locked and the temp in check I don't see a problem. my question is frame damage. the hitches for the 3.8 taurus are only rated for 2Klbs and I would be more than double that rating. If i fabbed up a heavy duty hitch am I going to tear the rear end off the car going up a hill or use my crumple zones if i have to stop hard? or **** shift my subframe in the front?

thoughts?

 

[naval-avi8or]

this is kind of related to this topic, but I want to talk about massive overloading the car. say I was moving to arizona and I have 2 cars. my turbo SHO and saturn. I throw the saturn on a car hauler which would probably weigh 3500lbs + tons of belongings in the SHO. including both cars it would probably weigh 7500-8000lbs. the SHO has a huge cooler on it and a manual switch for the TC and it most definately has the power to haul the load and 13" brakes would surely stop it safely, and with the proper toung weight the SHO's suspention would not be bottomed out or massively sagging.

my fear is damaging the transmission but with the TC locked and the temp in check I don't see a problem. my question is frame damage. the hitches for the 3.8 taurus are only rated for 2Klbs and I would be more than double that rating. If i fabbed up a heavy duty hitch am I going to tear the rear end off the car going up a hill or use my crumple zones if i have to stop hard? or **** shift my subframe in the front?

thoughts?

Dude what your trying to do is totaly unsafe and your going to **** yourself. You need to do some research on the proper way to tow a trailer. I can tell you off the bat that no trailer rental store will even come close to letting you do this. The weight your trying to two exceeds (or close to it) the vehical your using to tow with (BAD IDEA). You will not have the breaking or control of the trailer. Also you mentioned car hauler (wouldn't matter if you ment tow dolley either) but that thing alone ways as much as you SHO. Once again DON'T DO THIS!!!

 

[somedude_001]

it was more of a hypathetical thing. i know better. I was really more interested to hear if anyone has damaged the rear end of the SHO by pulling something too heavy

 

[sdpatt]

Not yet.

 

[St Louis SHO]

 

[red89mtx]

this is kind of related to this topic, but I want to talk about massive overloading the car. say I was moving to arizona and I have 2 cars. my turbo SHO and saturn. I throw the saturn on a car hauler which would probably weigh 3500lbs + tons of belongings in the SHO. including both cars it would probably weigh 7500-8000lbs. the SHO has a huge cooler on it and a manual switch for the TC and it most definately has the power to haul the load and 13" brakes would surely stop it safely, and with the proper toung weight the SHO's suspention would not be bottomed out or massively sagging.

my fear is damaging the transmission but with the TC locked and the temp in check I don't see a problem. my question is frame damage. the hitches for the 3.8 taurus are only rated for 2Klbs and I would be more than double that rating. If i fabbed up a heavy duty hitch am I going to tear the rear end off the car going up a hill or use my crumple zones if i have to stop hard? or **** shift my subframe in the front?

thoughts?

ok first if u did atempt this use a wheel dolly for the saturn no need for full trailer would save u alot of weight but hey i pulled a 6x9 uhaul trailer with my 1996 auto turbo eclipse form florida to new york with zero issues kept it out of od and i noticed it was at full boost most of the trip but its fine good luck whatever u do

 

[SHOtime2511]

id go get myself a nice tranny cooler and replace the lines with larger ones.
before id tow anything with a car that has a weak tranny to start with.
BTW:the stock GEN II ATX coolers are decent from what i understand.

 

[red89mtx]

what are u doin following me around the forum lol