<VV> Tow Bar, Trailer, Tow Dolly, Tow Vehicle

[K. Michael Kost]

I have not towed with a Corvair but have towed Corvairs for over 30 years. I 
first started towing Corvairs with a tow bar behind my Chevy LUV 4x4 (1.8l 
stick) and found it worked OK around town in the dry if you drove with great 
care but if it was wet you had to use 4wd to avoid jackknifing. Later I got a 
GMC S-15 extended cab 4x4 (2.8l stick) rated to tow 5000 lbs. This worked well 
for for flat towing. When I got a trailer (all steel about 1000lbs no brakes) I 
found the towing ability was marginal and learned a lot about weight and 
balance and their contributions to stability. After some near misses on stopping 
I added brakes to the trailer. One time when I weighed this rig the truck 
weighed 5K and the trailer weighed 4K. It may have been rated to pull 5K but the 
2.8l engine was overworked. My next tow vehicle was a GMC C2500 extended cab 
short bed (350 automatic). This pulled my Corvair on a trailer with no problems 
stopping or going and no stability problems. My only problem with this rig was 
the transmission which needed a torque converter and front pump at 30K miles 
(after towing to the convention in Ontario, CA by way of Denver, CO) and at 65K 
when I got rid of it it acted like it had the same problem. My current tow 
vehicle is a Silverado 2500HD 4x4 Crew Cab short bed (Duramax and Allison) is 
the best so far and is rated to pull 12K. I even got 18mpg towing to the 
convention in Detroit keeping up with traffic easily and no question of 
stopping. What I learned from my 31 years of towing is get the best (and longest 
wheelbase) tow vehicle that you can afford and take extra driving precautions 
the smaller the tow vehicle you use.

Mike Kost