Towing

[GTRS Fiero]

Actually, yes, but not from there.  I was driving the Fiero, but lost a driver, and have several passengers, so have to tow the Fiero.

[Fierofool]

You may be towing much unnecessary weight with a dual axel trailer.  I've seen far too many Fieros towed on a single axel trailer.  UHaul also has aluminum trailers as well as the steel ones. 

One trailer that I saw had electric brakes as well as hitch activated hydraulic brakes that came into play when the tow vehicle was decelerating without using the brakes.  The hydraulic brakes also had a breakaway feature that applied the brakes if the trailer became detached.  The breakaway feature was one of the things that I liked about the Demco tow dollies that we used to repair for Spirit Car Rental. 

[GTRS Fiero]

That trailer has break-away brakes.  Yes, U-haul trailers are very heavy.  I briefly towed my Fiero on a single-axle tilting trailer, using a Colorado with a 3.6L.  No issues, and the truck was still peppy.

[Fierofool]

A former neighbor used to pull his 20-something foot travel trailer with expander unit with his standard cab Chevy pickup.  He had a load leveling hitch on it and the truck had the standard V8.  Probably a 350. 

Ron768 tows his Fiero on a pretty heavy steel trailer with his S10 Blazer.  I wouldn't want to do that with my Ford.  Fact is, I don't think my Ford would do it. 

[GTRS Fiero]

The S10 Blazer is fairly capable.  I used to have several.  That having been said, I would not try that with this trailer through Colorado.

[Raydar]

I used to have a GMC Sonoma (S10 clone), extended cab. I towed a Fiero backwards, on a dolly, from west GA to Huntsville. Over the mountains between Guntersville and Huntsville. It wasn't fun, but I didn't have any issues.
And yeah... U-Haul trailers are heavy beasts. Most of them (at least the ones I've seen) have surge brakes. They are activated by hydraulic pressure on the hitch, when the tow vehicle slows down. Damned near impossible to back up hill, however. (I found out, after the fact, that there's supposed to be a pin or something that you can poke through the hitch, to keep the brakes from applying.)

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, I have backed a loaded trailer up a hill.  I thought it was just the hill, but there was some resistance.

[MikeMac]

I have 2 fieros to tow from Atlanta to Ball Ground using a Uhaul dolly. I have to tow them front wheels down. One is an automatic and the other has no engine/transmission.

 I've not had issues when towing like that and hope my luck holds.

[GTRS Fiero]

According to GM, the 6.2L truck has the 3.73 gearing, and the 5.3L truck has the 3.08 gearing.  Both trucks are capable of towing the 6,000 pounds.

It would seem that GM is correct; however, the 3.08 rear end is not ideal for towing.  The 3.73 gearing is, but the transmission is geared for fuel economy, so seems to require manual shifting.

I do not understand why my wife's Tahoe, with less HP, less torque, and fewer gears makes a better tow vehicle.

[GTRS Fiero]

Running mostly 70 MPH, I averaged 12.7 MPG, with the trailer.  Not terrible, but not winning any awards, either.  I ran out and back, so any hills or things should be accounted for.  709 miles, round trip.  This trip was small hills, with brief stretches of flat.  I opted for the 5.3L truck.

Bad me, but I used cruise control while towing.  Some hills, the speed fell off a few MPH, but I could put my foot on the pedal to bring the speed back up.  Very annoying that cruise does not hold its set speed.

The transmission did use engine braking when slowing, because I had the tow mode engaged.

The trailer itself did settle the rear end of the truck a bit.

The most annoying part of towing with this truck is the bad gearing between 1 & 2.  The truck gets moving, then there is an apparent dead spot between moving and going.

[Fierofool]

A comment on cruise control not holding it's speed.  Most are set up to vary about 2 mph above and below setpoint.  On m7 87, I made an adjustment on the cable at the dashpot and tightened it up a bit.  I found that when I did that that the car tended to have a jerky attitude because it was adjusting to a minute change in speed.  Any slight increase downhill and the cruise would back off.  Any slight decrease going uphill would accelerate.  Sometimes on a relatively level stretch, it would accelerate causing it to pass setpoint then it would quickly back off below.  It couldn't stay settled on setpoint.  So, I repositioned the cruise cable back to where it originally was. 

[GTRS Fiero]

Your '87 Fiero?  My Fiero now has digital cruise, and holds its speed very well.

This truck is newer, but it seems that it will only apply up to a certain amount of throttle while tunning on cruise.  Yes, it is very annoying to be in a group of vehicles running on cruise, because they vary their speeds.

[GTRS Fiero]

I've been thinking about replacing my truck.  There are trucks I've seen around that look adequate for the task, but no one wants to sell theirs.

Surely, U-haul couldn't claim that this truck couldn't pull a trailer:

[GTRS Fiero]

I got busted.  Apparently, I exceeded the licensed weight limit for my truck.  Plates are for 6,000 pounds, 12,000 pounds, 15,000 pounds, etc.  I had stuff in the bed, and was pulling a trailer.  My plates are for 12,000 pounds.  According to the officer, this entitles me to a trailer OR a load in the bed--not both. 

Point of fact, the trailer was empty at the time.  In the bed of my truck were several pylons and a parking mat.  Probably less than 10 pounds combined.

The officer says he could see the items in the bed of my truck from his car.  LIAR!