just found an 81 chevy shortbed 2wd with a streight six for $700, i need it to pull a 20ft long landscape trailer with a riding and walk behind mower. would it be worth it to buy it and add in some add a leafs or swap the suspension??? and is the streight six going to be decent enough to pull the trailer without problems? any input will help
Id run it, but Im out in the flat lands of IL. Where are you located? If you have alot of hills to deal with it, itll be slow going, but then again if you are a landscaper you arent gonna be out on the interstates anyway. With a 20ft trailer you should be able to balance out the load fairly well. Throw in a set of overloads and be done with it. I think the truck would do ok for what you need it to do.
he lives in CT, (i work with him and good freinds) and ya theres barely flat roads around here, i dont think itd be that great because from what ive seen and read (i may be wrong) you want long bed instead of short, a v8 not a streight six or any 6 cylinder, atleast 3/4 for decent towing, and the brakes probably arent the best for towing, i could be wrong about all this but this is just the general idea ive gotten from reading different posts on other sites.
I think it'd work fine. Make sure the trailer has brakes on at least one axle and the truck has a brake controler. A straight six won't be a speed demon but should get desent gas mileage too.
thankss im buying this truck to use as a tow truck for bout a month or so and then im gonna make it into a hot rod ya i think an add a leaf in the rear and some brakes would be fine im not looking to go fast and the 6 will help me with gas so ya thanks for the posts
Are you sure? To the original poster, One thing I always notice about "will this truck pull this trailer?" threads is hardly ever does anyone mention how much their trailer will weigh. So.....how much will it weigh? That will make the biggest difference by far than anything else, if the short bed I6 will do it or not.
Good point, when he said landscape trailer I just thought of two 3500lb axles, nothing HD at all. Being in CT the truck will get a good workout climbing the hills out there. And yes, a long bed might be better for landscaping, but if its only temporary, Id run it.
Even with twin 3.5K'ers....7K total would be way too much for that pickup IMHO. I wouldn't feel compfortable pulling anything more than about 4,500lbs or so behind that pickup.
Yea, I didnt meant a 7k load, all I was implying with 3500k axles is that it would be a light duty trailer, and not a heavy tag for larger equipment.
He also just said it will be towing the landscape trailer with a riding mower and a walk behind. The load should not be too much, and especially since it's only temporary, I'd just make sure it has good brakes and run it.
Like i said, i may be wrong. im not that knowledgable about towing, thats why im apart of here....so i can learn waytogo Also i no what theyre pullin on the trailer and it would be a ride on scag, walk behind mower, 2 walk behind blowers, 3 back pack blowers, and maybe a leaf sucker, not sure of the weight, thats all i no.
