Hi,

hoping for some advice on the various towing set ups you guys have and how you feel about them.

I have a single carb 1500 sp engine and it is lowered with a straight axle conversion. It can be quite slow on long or steep hills.

Just wondering whether it was worth the cost of going down the tow bar route to drag a trailer tent or maybe even an eriba pan/familia as my van is or will I need more oomph in the engine department?

any advice greatly welcomed.

cheers
Jezzer

I towed my familia a few times last year
1500sp..SA…


trailer tent it will do better - i tow a small trailer sometimes and with that, you literally don't know its there
However
Familia, it towed it fine TBH…stuck to 50-55mph and plodded along…dropped to maybe 45 on long inclines….

never tried to accelerate…just left the torque of the engine do its thing…and sometimes as speed was dropping, I found if you just stuck with it, it settled down and could sit in 4th for most long runs except the biggest inclines


I did suffer from engine getting hot after about an hour, and found that propping the engine lid open when towing totally cured this…not ideal, but trust me, it worked well

can't say the bus really enjoyed it…but it did do it without hiccups (once i popped the engine lid open)

reckon you might struggle with straight axle towing a small caravan/puck etc .one reason i've kept the reduction boxes as we tow a puck with a 1500sp

I also tow a Familia with a 1500 sp on reduction boxes. As Maddison says 50 55mph is fine although mine too got a little warm after an hours towing at that speed. I have now fitted a deep sump to see if that makes a difference (can of worms) if not i'll try popping the engine lid open a tad.

^^ just bungee the lid wide open, the bus LOVES all that cool air

I have just gone back to RB's, mainly so the towing hopefully will be a little better with the 1500sp


just to point out…through the gears, 1,2,3 to 4th, the bus loves towing, obviously I knew I was towing as I could see the thing in every mirror, but the bus pulled really well, only hard work was hills at 55….and thats more to do with the SA as even without the caravan , the bus sometimes struggles in this area

When me splits finished I will put a double tow bar on it so I can tow the trailer off me bay [/URL[URL=http://s459.photobucket.com/user/PYE-O-C/media/IMG_1318_zpsa6648625.jpg.html]

[quote="maddison"]^^ just bungee the lid wide open, the bus LOVES all that cool air

Don't want to hijack the thread but still to do with towing I have done a bit more exploring on towing with the engine lid open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmwkrQbTgNQ

My guess is that due to the turbulence created between the bus and caravan the cool air is actually forced into the engine bay when the lid is open.
Wish i'd have known that last summer !!

Yep, exactly that.

If you run it open without the caravan it will hinder cooling as you recirc hot air, but with it you will get lovely cool air entering the engine bay!

I had to put my sunglasses in the engine bay , the engine was running so cool

Cheers for the advices. Seems that towing with a S/A rear end is not best practical.

tks
Jezzer

Don't be put off……if planning ahead, i used to sometimes stick 195/45/15 tyres i had on a spare pair of wheels on the back, this effectively lowered the gearing and only took 10 mins

I would guess towing an early Puck (only 400kg) or trailer tent with a S/A would be fine if you take it steady.

its all fine if you take it easy, once you accept on a big hill you might be down to 3rd sitting at 45mph to the top, its no big deal….i,ve seen tractors doing 25mph, i know which one looks cooler

once you get over the stress….its actually fine, familia, puck, trailer tent..trailer
but…TBH…trailer tents do tow very well, you really don't notice them that much (i'm talking about old more basic ones)














(I actually used to have 120HP when towing the puck…and could sit quite comfortable, up hills with the needle off the speedo


I think the biggest issue I have encountered, was actually due to ride height …being pretty low too start, then sometimes sticking 195.45.15 tyres on, bringing it down more….but not wanting the caravan to be nose heavy
i actually pack EVERYTHING in the BACK of the familia, so its back heavy, and my tow bar has a riser plate to lift the hitch , i find it tows best like this with the caravan actually trying to lift my back end, rather than weigh it down

but personally….if you can live with a cool old trailer tent….it will pull one of those NO problem, something like a nice chateau mobile