Hey man, I noticed that you use your Z as a tow vehicle for your race boat. My stepdad and I are gonna be going to the Ozarks this summer with his 04 Stratos Bass boat.

What i would like to know is....

1. Do you use the car to put it in the water?

2. What kind of hitch do you use?

3. How heavy is your boat and trailer?


I have a 97 Z, with a 383 and a 6 speed. I have more than enough torque to yank it down the highway comfortably. But do you use any reinforcing springs for the extra weight? Let me know, cause i'm thinking about using the Z as our tow vehicle.

 

TTT, I would liek to order the hitch this week..... Little extra money

 

Maybe better if you PM'd or emailed him with personal questions, rather that post them in the tech section.

I believe our cars are rated for 100 lbs. tongue weight.

 

As shoebox stated, it is always better to use email or PMs for questions to a specific person. However, FWIW, I've seen a 4th gen tow a 17' ski boat with a DrawTite Class II hitch with no problems. It's just that if the ramp is less than ideal, there can be some traction problems getting it out of the water

 

I saw a 4th gen Z on I-275 this past summer towing a camper...a BIG camper. Every time the guy tried to slow down for traffic, that trailer would push him all over the place. I don't know what the hell he was thinking.

Trucks are for towing. F-bodies are for going fast.

 

They have a clip of a vette floating away because it was pulled in by the boat from the ramp. Makes you never want to tow anything!

 

When I bought my Z it came with a hitch on the back. I never intended to use it for anything more than a jet ski or two or a pair of snowmobiles or something. IMO that's the most it should be used for, if at all. You can buy mine for $100 bucks with a reece hitch btw. PM me.

 

I've been talking to some dirt track guys here in this area, one guy is using a 3rd get to pull a car hauler with his Sprint car. He's got a custom hitch that he had fabbed out of Plate and solid bar. He mentioned something about helper springs in the back to control squat.



I'm not too worried about braking because the Trailer has electric brakes, and pulls VERY nice. I know alot of you people are thinking I'm an idiot, but I think this rig will look really good rollin down the highway at 70~75 MPH. I now realize that I should have Pm the guy, but now I suppose this is a tech question.


What could I do to the car to increase the tounge capacity of this car?

 

1. Remove radiator cap.

2. Place S10 pickup under radiator cap.

3. Replace radiator cap.

 

Now that was funny....I don't care who you are that was funny!

 

Yea under other circumstances I would feel the same way. But due to the ones I'm under now, It's not. The tow vehicle that we normally use took a dump the other day, and is'nt gonna be back any time soon. Dave only has a little 4 cylinder Ranger, which is'nt gonna cut it as far as were gonna be going.

All I really need to know now, is ways that I can increase the overall towing capacity of the Z, to haul an 04 Stratos 285Pro with a dual axle trailer. Were looking at no more than 3,300 Lbs Gross and about 230 Lbs tounge weight. Like I said, I have more than enough engine to yank this thing anywhere I want to go. I just need to make the car a little more adept with the weight.


Thanks guys.

 

Ok in all seriousness. Towing that much weight with a Camaro is just plain unsafe. It is never an issue of the towing "power" of the engine as it is the vehicle. A stock Z has more hp/tq then a full size truck but it doesn't make it a better tow vehicle. You are right on the verge of outweighing your tow vehicle and on top of that your tow vehicle isn't designed to tow. You can outweight a full size deisel with what your towing but that vehicle is designed to tow,and hence is better suited. The one time you have to hit your brakes hard (even if the trailer has brakes) your gonna be done for. Your either gonna get passed by your trailer or it's gonna keep in pushing you right through whatever your trying to avoid. It's not so much the general towing capabilities that make a tow vehicle what it is, it's everything. I'm sure you'll have enough power to tow, and traction available I'm sure you could pull the boat out of the water too. But towing is a lot more than that. Trailer brakes AID in stopping they don't do all the work. Your tow vehicle is still doing the majority and a Camaro just isn't made for that. Not only could you possibly damage your car somehow, even if you set it up a little better to tow. You could possibly kill yourself or god forbid someone else. I just wouldn't do it. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but your just asking for trouble. Trust me.

 

Ditto the above post.

My buddy has an S-10 with an LT1 engine tossed in. It has more than enough power to haul a car, but it sure as hell isn't suited for it. We towed my car home about a year ago with it and it was all over the place...it just didn't have the weight or the braking power to carry the load safely.

You'd be better off tossing a hitch on your buddy's truck than you would be throwing one on your Camaro. An f-body might haul a jetski or a snowmobile or something, but anything more and you're asking for trouble.