I have a 49 Merc Sled on 80 Chev Malibu chassis ( disc's front, drums in back) 355 Chev, small block,nothing special & a 5 speed Tremic. Thinking of installing a trailer hitch on it to pull my alum car trailer ( very light , pulls well) so when wifey & I go to long distance shows, we can ride together in Merc. while I pull a 48 Chev Aero Cp I am building for her on the trailer. Do you think the old sled can do it ?
See my OH oh below. Why not? it's basically a disguised 80 Malibu and one of those could pull that trailer without a problem. I pulled my 15 ft camp trailer that was a lot heavier than that all over the state of Washington with both my 48 pickup and my 51 Merc that had Nova subframes under the front of them. OH Oh: I'm going to have to back peddle a bit as the first time I read this my brain wasn't fully engaged and I was thinking aluminum travel trailer for some reason. After thinking about it for a bit I think you would end up with the tail wagging the dog if you didn't make a few changes directed at making the Merc into a tow rig that would handle the extra weight. That includes possibly upgrading the rear axle and adding something to the suspension to handle the extra weight plus using some type of load leveling bars on the hitch. You are looking at hauling right at 5000 lbs which is about the same as my sailboat and trailer and although I towed it 200 miles each way behind my 82 Cadillac coupe Deville once and survived at least a 3/4 ton truck or van will do it a lot better.
I would see if you can find out what an 1980 Malibu was rated to tow. I doubt if it was rated to tow another car on a trailer, but you never know. Always better to be safe when towing. KK
I used to tow our Mustang race car on a heavy trailer with our 75 Bonneville Station Wagon and it did fine, but it was a heavy brute with a 455 engine. I even towed it several hundred miles at times. Not sure the Merc is in the same league weight and sizewise, and you will need a heavy receiver hitch for sure. Don
I'm sure it can pull a light trailer, but we're talking a light trailer with a fairly heavy '48 Chevy on the trailer too! I think it will pull it, but I'm sure you'll find it will take it's toll over time if you do it much. I'd be sure to install brake controls on the Merc also before towing. When I put my lightweight gasser on an average weight trailer and hook it behind my '69 Suburban with 350/th400, I really know it's back there. It doesn't struggle to pull it, but when you hit any decent hills it needs a fair amount more pedal to pull them.
i'm betting no. But what is the total weight of the car and trailer? Would using a tow bar be out of the question?
Nope!---3/4 ton pickup with brake controller & equalizing hitch with bars is your safest way to go. The moment you wind up with a "jackknifed" situation, is when you will say: "Guess I should have". My advice as an old trailer mfg. guy.
Didn't really want to use a tow bar. Have to weigh the rig and car, good idea. Heavy receiver hitch for sure. Have to check out what the Malibu tow rate would be.
Me, nor anyone else , can say absolutley you cannot do this. You can. But whether or not it is (realtively) safe and satisfactory will depend on a number of factors if you don't want to be the scene everyone is gawking at as they pass. The '48 you want to tow is at least 3200#, maybe 3500#.....but in that range. The Aluminum trailer, which is no doubt (?) a tandem, will be at least 1600#. So 6000# or so. To be safe you need first class suspension and damping on both ends of the tow vehicle, brakes in good workng order on both car and trailer, and tires/wheels on the rear of the car that are sufficient load range for this added tongue weight plus side loads. You definitely need a well made Class Three chassis hitch and a good sound chassis to attach it to. It would be well worth considering a load distributing hitch. With these bases covered you can do the job. Back in the day when I was younger, poorer, not well equipped and hadn't learned much about towing, I used a tow bar to tow a '64 Buick Special sedan with my '66 Datsun pickup (powered by a V6 Buick itself) about 45 miles. "Tail wagging the dog" comes to mind...........made it home in one piece...sweating the entire time......never again! Ray
You can probably get away with it if all conditions are right but my thought is you will be pushing your luck. That Malibu wasn't built to tow. Good luck..................
I would pick the car you most want to bring - and bring that one. Or drive seperately which can be fun too. But towing that much weight is best left for the big dogs - you don't want to be maxed out or over capacity. I was towing home the '62 Dodge Dart station wagon on a U-haul trailer last Summer, up the Vantage, Washington 10 mile long 5% grade in 101 degree heat. Pulled it in cruise control at 67mph in T/H and M 5th gear with the A/C on. First time I heard the fan kick-on. Did the speed limit and hardly knew the 6,000 pound load was back there the whole 450 mile trip - got hand calc 13.5 MPG towing that "areo-dynamic" load - what a beast the Duramax is. Point is - much better to be in the middle of your tow capacity. (My tow rig is rated at 13K at the hitch).
I look at what the components are. The motor should handle it as well as the transmission. When pulling a load, I would keep the trans out of overdrive. The brakes should be o.k. I am not a Chevy guy but am guessing the brakes would be similar to S-10. I have them on an Impala and feel they would work when pulling a trailer. The weight of the mercury should help so what is left is the suspension and how squirrelly it will get from the trailer pushing it around. I would say that your car would pull the trailer with a driver that is aware of what is going on. I would not choose the Interstate at 80 MPH as the preferred route. I get a kick out of those that say you need a heavy duty pickup to pull something. Back in the day, cars were used to pull alot of things, campers, boats, and car trailers. You made do with what you got. Using common sense by keeping the speeds at a safe level and planning ahead as you drive helps keep your butt out of trouble. Neal
The Mailbu chassis is probably not rated for approx 6000 lbs trailer and load amount. At the least you should have full trailer brakes, as your malibu brakes (same as S-10) are not up to additional 6000 lbs. Load distributing hitch will help, I assume your Merc is riding low to begin with. At least you should add some supplemental load capacity to the rear springs with airbags or similar; air shocks may not be enough. It really is not safe to do as your towing vehicle is not up to the task. A full size truck 3/4 or 1-ton is better choice, but that defeats what you want to do. If you were pulling a lighter roadster it would be a different issue than a full size 48 Chevy car
I didn't realize what he was asking when I first answered the question. One thing to think about is that you may get pulled over by the state Patrol for towing the car on the trailer with too light of a car. Best bet is to leave the trailer at home and just drive two cars if the world situation requires that both cars go to every show.
I did with the 48 and with my 51 Merc both but didn't pull another vehicle that weighed the same as the tow rig with either. I towed a older two wheel camp trailer that probably weighed 3k. I towed a 16 ft U haul loaded with everything I owned from Texas to Washington when I had a 283 and Muncie close box in it and that was totally nuts on my part. The tail really did wag the dog on that trip for 2500 miles.
this stupid subject comes up 5 times a year. if you want to tow a car and trailer safely get a truck rated to do the job. the fact that others have gotten away with overloading thier cars and haven't killed anyone yet will offer little comfort to you when you do.
Back in the day, cars were truck sized and had the suspension/frame to match. Of course, the Malibu Brakes are better than a 4 wheel drum setup, but... The stock Malibu brakes will be rather inadequate to handle a car+trailer with vehicle on it should a long downgrade or quick stop be needed. If the trailer has brakes, the chassis might be able to handle around 5,000lbs, but the 1980 Malibu is way more a car chassis than a truck chassis. For comparison-the El Camino, I think, maxxed out at 5,000lbs, and the chassis between the two are probably close enough, if not the same, to go with the Elky rating. I found this nifty gem on a malibu racing forum: "What is the towing capacity of a 78-88 El Camino? (Author: Ernie G. from <!-- m -->http://www.malibunirvana.com<!-- m -->) According to the Chevy Recreation and Trailering Guide there are three possible trailering configurations for an El Camino. All require a deadweight hitch bolted to the frame through pre-punched holes. Equalizing and antisway assemblies were also required and were available through outside sources. Light towing (class 1 hitch): An El Camino equipped with a 3.8L (LC3/LD5) motor, automatic transmission, and a 2.73 rear can pull up to a gross weight of 2000 pounds with 200 pounds tongue load. Medium towing (class 2 hitch): An El Camino equipped with a 5.0L (LG4) motor, automatic transmission, and a 2.41 rear can pull up to a gross weight of 4000 pounds with 500 pounds tongue load. Heavy towing (class 3 hitch): An El Camino equipped with a 5.0L (LG4) motor, automatic transmission, and a 2.73 rear can pull up to a gross weight of 5000 pounds with 600 pounds tongue load. Medium and Heavy towing also require a heavy duty battery and heavy duty radiator."
Pulling it wont be the problem. It will pull it fine, and car trailers aren't as likely to sway as say a camper. Stopping is going to be a bitch. Full working trailer brakes would be a must.
I would think the rear suspension would be too soft to haul a loaded car trailer. I have towed my car trailer loaded with my 52 Willys wagon on a blazer chassis but it has a heavy leaf spring rear end and heavy torsion bar front, not soft coils all the way round like the malibu. My car trailer is an all steel tilt deck and weighs 2000 lbs. empty.
I've owned a G body equivalent to a Malibu. My memory is that all the structure in the frame was in the front and rear suspension crossmembers and that the framing under the trunk area and between front and rear crossmembers was downright flimsy, almost like bedrails. Regardless of brkes and power, I don't think this chassis is up to the job.
Sorry I didn't think it was a stupid question , what's the old saying "There are no stupid questions only stupid replys " or something like that.
It's only stupid if you do not ask the right questions or if you fail to analyze what you find out...
Suggest using the 48 to tow bar the mercury---the malibu chassis is a very tow-bar-able chassis. This would achieve the ultimate end goal. To answer the original question, no i don't think it can adequately tow the particular job. The analogy would be sort of like asking a 12-13 yr old to do an adult's job.
Now IF you insist on doing it, then you need the lightest possible aluminum trailer and something like this: (And i can understand because it's a romantic idea, and i'm a romantic thinker) http://www.tufftow.com/what_is_tuff.html And/or a) the malibu's frame has to be reinforced b) Truck leafs will have to be put on--preferably from a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. c) and 8.5 10 bolt rear at the minimum should be used, although if we are going to go this far we should use a full floater. d) brakes will have to be beefed up. Essentially, what we are doing here is converting the frame and suspension to mimick a 1-ton pickup. Are you willing to do this? If not, to put it succinctly, but not intended in a condescending way, the original plan, is, an offensive term beginning with "W." Also, the wheels might not look right.
I think your pushing it real close you have the power but the suspention load even with overloads are not worth chance. in the 60s we towed a big ass proweler trailer with our 61 starliner but there was a few times it was a real oh shit moment like when a Pete with a set of trailers goes by at 70 mph.
I had a 78 El cum, and it was a problem pulling a 2000 LB boat n trailer on flat ground. Hills were a total joke and I live in San Diego so I would not reccomend it just my 2 cents worth
it always amazes me when people say you don't need the proper vehicle to tow with cause they did it before unsafely. remember it's not if you can pull it only but can you stop it safely many boats crossed the atlantic before the titanic sank many airships crossed the atlantic before the hindenburg blew up think of it this way "are ya feelin lucky today punk?"
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