New Tow Vehicle

[DropTop5.0]

1996 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD BROUGHAM

It has an LT1 Corvette motor, 3.42 gear, and an Auburn posi. It has bested 25 mpg highway (not towing) and is pretty darn comfy. Let the ribbing begin...

 

[karzrus]

Way back when I bought my boat

My tow rig was a 1981 Buick Electra Park Ave. Worked OK on any boat ramp that was concrete or had concrete ties/slabs. But I got it stuck a couple of times on sandy/gravel boat launches.

That car might have trouble with that 283 your dreaming about buying.

 

[BagMan]

Beats than the 91 Taurus (co car) I pulled my Starliner with for first 2 years. Got six miles/gallon and blinded everyone on the highway from the front end pointing up in the air.

 

[RNGRDVE]

Let the ribbing begin...

Look out everybody, they let Grandpa out of the old folks home today to go boating.

 

[JW]

1996 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD BROUGHAM

It has an LT1 Corvette motor, 3.42 gear, and an Auburn posi. It has bested 25 mpg highway (not towing) and is pretty darn comfy. Let the ribbing begin...

I love it! Always been a fan of the BIG caddys! Gonna put twice-pipes on there with some Borlas or Flowmasters?????

 

[Sam I am]

Beats my first tow vehicle in college...Nissan 323 Hatchback with a four speed manual. The tranny would get so hot I could feel the heat coming through the floor.

BTW, you need some Dubs or Dub-Dubs on the beast.

 

[Rob B]

Don't forget to add curb finders so you won't scrub up those whitewalls.

 

[sim]

Looks extremely comfortable and ever so handy for funerals. Did you say 25 mpg on the highway? That's great! (albeit a little surprising)
Beats the heck out of my first tow vehicle. 1989 Ford Probe. 4 cylinder, front wheel drive. Quite a bit smaller than the 17 foot Sunbird behind it.

 

[atc250r]

Love the big Caddies! Maybe 'cause I grew up with my Dad always having one. I worked for a place that distributed the press vehicles for Cadillac when those came out back in 1993 and always loved driving them. The first year or two they had the throttle body set up like the pickup trucks had and they were decent, then the LT1 started coming in them and the real fun began. I had to take one from NYC to Cadillac in Detroit, that's the way to travel!!

If I remember right they came with duals from the factory and an aftermarket exhaust for an Impala SS should bolt right on. I can believe 25 on the highway on mostly flat driving, compared to a 4x4 truck there is so little rolling resistance that once you got it going it didn't need much throttle to keep it there.

A little 15% tint would have her looking sharp.

Congrats!

John

 

[ndaniels]

Pretty sharp! It probably works pretty good too from the looks of it.. I'd leave it stock and maybe lightly tint the windows.

 

[Chris]

I like it!

Since it's got the 'Vet motah, just call it a Fleetwood-V!

-Chris

 

[DropTop5.0]

Look out everybody, they let Grandpa out of the old folks home today to go boating.

I know...I can park in the handicapped spots without the tag...

I love it! Always been a fan of the BIG caddys! Gonna put twice-pipes on there with some Borlas or Flowmasters?????

This is the biggest Caddy built, 225" (18.75'). I may put a more free flowing exhaust on there but I don't really want it loud. In my opinion Borlas sound great though.

BTW, you need some Dubs or Dub-Dubs on the beast.

I'm looking for a good set of Impalla SS wheels. I'll put those on there with some Caddy inserts. Sorry no 22's for this guy. I also may find some 9C1 parts off an old cop car to tighten up the handling a bit. I'm loving the air suspension though. I put the tongue of the trailer on the ball and the car squats and then 30 seconds later the air pump kicks in and brings it up to the correct ride height. Pretty slick.

Looks extremely comfortable and ever so handy for funerals. Did you say 25 mpg on the highway? That's great! (albeit a little surprising).

It is pretty comfortable. I bought it in Jersey and on the way home I got 26 mpg. I've since made two 400 mile trips and got the same mpg, averaging 70 mph, but that was when it had a 2.93 gear. I've now switched it to a 3.42 gear so we'll see how it goes. 25 may be a little high, maybe 24 with the 3.42s.

I'd like it to look more like this.

 

[atc250r]

Three chamber flowmasters sound good and quiet too. A friend ran Warlocks on his Mustang back in the late 90's and it was scary quiet.

As for the air ride, I believe its just regular springs with air shocks so if you put the cop suspension in it shouldn't mess that up.

John

 

[RNGRDVE]

It is pretty comfortable. I bought it in Jersey and on the way home I got 26 mpg. I've since made two 400 mile trips and got the same mpg, averaging 70 mph, but that was when it had a 2.93 gear. I've now switched it to a 3.42 gear so we'll see how it goes. 25 may be a little high, maybe 24 with the 3.42s.

I'd like it to look more like this.

Jealous of your fuel mileage, I just drove 240 miles 120 with empty car hauler and 120 with car hauler and wrecked '00 DTS. I average 14.5mpg

That looks slick with the Impala wheels, are they the same bolt pattern?

Rear suspension is factory auto level air spring or shock, I can't remember which.

 

[atc250r]

I like that last pic by the way. You're giving me bad thoughts about getting rid of the sh1tbox Suzuki I drive every day since it only gets about 23 or 24 on the highway.

 

[DropTop5.0]

That looks slick with the Impala wheels, are they the same bolt pattern?

Rear suspension is factory auto level air spring or shock, I can't remember which.

Yep, same bolt pattern. This car is basically the same as the Caprice, Impalla SS, and Roadmaster. They are all B Bodies but this is a D body which pretty much means it's longer from everything i have read.

And from what I have learned the springs pretty much hold up the car and the shocks hold up any additional weight. So when I load in a few dead "Goombas" in the trunk, the air pump kicks in and levels everything out.

 

[atc250r]

Dad's 81 Fleetwood did the same thing only it wasn't Goombas but blue haired German ladies (I.e. my Grandma and Aunts) that would get loaded in it.

FYI you've got me poking around online for a nice one to trade my beater in on.

 

[DropTop5.0]

I like that last pic by the way. You're giving me bad thoughts about getting rid of the sh1tbox Suzuki I drive every day since it only gets about 23 or 24 on the highway.

Seriously, I've achieved 26 mpg three times on road trips driving 70 with the 2.93 gear, and one of these cars comes with a 2.56 gear which will only aid in the mpg. Buy American!

 

[atc250r]

Did you just slam an entire 3.42 rear in or switch the ring and pinion? I don't think 2.93 was an available ratio in the 10 bolts. They went 2.73, 3.08 and up. I know on the Mustangs my buddies had back in the day they picked up mileage when going from 2.73 to 3.55 since the engine didn't lug as much on the highway.

John

 

[DropTop5.0]

So I bought this blue hair hauler in your neck of the woods. It has 50,000 miles on it and it cost me 5 Gs. It did come from a funereal director (LOL).

I put 2 Gs into it as I do want it to pull a Convincor or Enforcer around. These cars were able to tow pretty well from what I read. They all can haul 5000 pounds and there was a package called V4P that can haul 7000 pounds. I didn't buy that one as it was quite rare and it pulls in premium dollar but i said what the hell I can build it from a low mileage non V4P car.

I really don't know much about towing anything but I figure one needs power, gearing, size and weight. This thing makes 260 hp and 330 ft lbs of torque, I now have a 3.42 gear, the thing is huge and weighs like 4600 pounds. So why can't this thing tow a big ole Convincor? If I want to ditch my ABS, I can put some monster drum brakes on there from a Limo or Hearse. Braking is probably it's weakest link but that's why they make trailer brakes, right?