Just wondering how much weight anyones hauled in the trunk of their thundercat.
I've had a complete 2.3T with oil in it and the car had a full tank of gas. I've also hauled other heavy items but that motor was probably the heaviest. BTW this with a 3.8 AND it I took it on the hiway with the trunklid in the backseat because it wouldnt open far enough to clear the hoist:mullet:
So am I the only one who uses theirs as a truck?
I moved alot of my dads house in the back seat, including the two dinning room tables. It was a tight fit, but it worked out.
Just so you know, a door will fit inside the car, as long as your okay with the doors being open and inch or two both sides. An engine jack and stand will fit inside the trunk if you tie it shut. It will not quite latch.
I've hauled a LOT of stuff,but after paint,those days are OVER.
I was actually surprised how well it handled the load with the 3.8 and highway speeds.
The trunk in these cars is too small for serious hauling. That's why I built this:
That trailer was modified into this (but not hauled by the T-Bird since the modifications because the T-Bird's still not together). This trailer was recently sold, now I'm building one that holds two ATV's (you can actually see the trailer base I'm using for the larger trailer in the background of this pic):
I've hauled a traction lock but that is about the heaviest. didnt want to mess with trying to fit the new engine back there so we wedged it up in the back seat of the blazer :hick:
3.8 auto, 88 bird: hauled 400# of deer feed 45 miles up and down the hills no problem.
let me go dig up a picture
most i had in there was 5.0 motor and some mowing stuff. i still raced a truck with pulling that junk.
I hauled my complete 5.0L HO motor to the shop. and swapped out the s SO motor..... that motor had major bearing issues too... thought it was going to let a rod go before I got there....
I pulled a U-Haul 5x8 box completely full, and a 2.3 longblock on my dad's 5x8 open trailer behind mine. I did it with the Sure-Pull hitch I found at the junk yard for 25.00 :hick:
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a38/cb400f75/Mark%20vii/04-07-08/trailerhitch.jpg)
On the subject of trailers, I wonder what my new maximum towing capacity would be? I know the factory rating is 2000 pounds (and 83-86 have a capacity of 3500 pounds), but most of my car's mods should increase the capacity by quite a margin: 8.8" rear with 3.55 gears, rear discs, 11" front brakes, tubular rear control arms, TC front and rear swaybars, Mach 1 springs (higher rate than stock 'Bird springs), heavy duty shocks & struts, a huge transmission cooler, and subframe connectors. I should be good for pulling a 40-foot trailer now :hick: Especially after I get the HO and T5 in...
depends how much weight you added to the car... that's why a 4x4 has less towing capacity than a 4x2.... that extra axle weight negates any pulling advantage
Yes, but the extra weigh of a 4X4 does nothing to make the truck any stronger, either. Everything I've done makes the car stronger. It's a moot question, of course - the hitch is only rated for 3500 pounds (even though it's designed for a car with a max capacity of 2000), so that would be my limit anyway
Lets see.... 10 bags of wood pellets in the trunk,-400lbs, me- 180lbs-, my dad-250lbs, my mom- 135lbs, my little bro-140lbs, and half a tank of gas......grand total of 1105LBS! minus the half tank of gas......... car pulled fine and rode pretty nice too!
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l178/winkysrides/collegehumor_e8ecc9d50b4eac833c0-1.jpg)
^not mine^
I fit 9 people in my old '84. And none of them were in the trunk.
Handling = .
That's almost as bad as the time I had six people in my '82 Toyota truck. Not an extended cab, and everyone was in the cab (not the box). Early 80's mini trucks were actually
mini trucks. I'd hate to have wrecked - they'd have had to count the eyeballs and divide by two to see how many of us were in it.
HOLY did that make me laugh hard!.... man my stomache still hurts! thanks man, I needed that today....:bowdown: :D
Weight wise, I've hauled 25 of the 4" x 12" wall stones. Per the Home Depot website, they weigh 24#/ea., so that's 600# in the trunk! Obviously the trunk wasn't full, but the car was squatting a lot, so I had to make 2 trips.
Quantity wise it was 20 large bags of mulch...not all fit in the trunk. I got 12 in the trunk and the other 8 had to be in the back seat. My wife and I rode up front.
I really need to get a truck, cuz the Cougar isn't really the best "truck", but in a pinch it works! I do have a trailer hitch, but use it for a bike rack, so I don't have lights wired for hauling a trailer.
It'd be nice if one could legally increase the GAWR and GVWR.
if you get a dot inspection you can. We do it on our work trucks.
A good 250 in stereo in the trunk. My uncle-250-275, me 170, Two cousins 160 and 240. My car was about to drag a**. The front was sitting high though as always!. Ive had a complete seat if gt-40s, 2 turbos,2 bowling balls, and about 200lbs in random one time. Both times it felt like my front tires where barely touching the ground around turns.
When I pick stuff up in my car or drop off people look at me like I'm crazy. The guy I got my SHO bumper from couldn't believe it fit in the back seat with me and my girlfriend not moving our seats up. Header panels, my h pipe, tails, and lers with flow tubes all fit in my car at one time. I have had 2 rims and tires in my pass seat alone. It is amazing what you can get in these cars.
hauled my fat a#*, my wife and another couple to
red lobster during the mercury nats in northbrook
this year. thats the most it will ever haul. i guess
you can say i hauled a**.--irv:D
Ive had a beer cooler in the trunk.....
I'm only concerned about private vehicles.
Thats what we call Redneck Rollin'!
I'm not particularly concerned about legality, since I would never tow anything larger than the double ATV trailer I'm building right now (with two ATV's aboard it'll likely close in on 1800 pounds). My question was more a rhetorical one, and probably could have been worded better: I wonder what the tow capacity would have been if I could have it re-rated based on the same criteria (with the different, upgraded components, of course) that Ford used when it was stock?
I guess my reasoning would be that if the car could adequately tow 2000 pounds before, it should be able to tow 2000 pounds with ease now...
Yep...being primer black, it sure is. But if it was painted up all nice, we'd be calling it a 2-seat sport truck. :hick:
Which goes to show how awesome these cars would be in a Ranchero-type of conversion, if done correctly.
I once put 650 pounds of topsoil (13-50lb bags) in the trunk of my old red '87 v6 car. It looked like a Mark VII with the rear bags blown out.
That's assuming the 2000 lb limit has any basis in reality. :hick:
I doubt Ford had any good reason safety reason to reduce the tow capacity from 3500 to 2000 lb in '87.
Ford reduced the Crown Victoria's tow rating from 5000 to 2000 in '98 with the rear susp. redesign. I also severely doubt the new design diminished it's capacity to such an extent.
But if I had to guess, I don't think Ford would have ever rated our cars over 3500 lb for towing. Any more would require stiffer springs that would be considered undesirable for the segment it was competing in.