Trailer Questions

[deerefanatic]

Hi, in addition to my car, my other mechanical obsession is my two John Deere Snowmobiles (77 & 78 440 Liquifires).

I have an old two-place snowmobile trailer that I put them in and was wondering if putting a hitch on my SD would be ok or a really bad idea? I am sure the engine won't have a problem as the furthest I would haul them would be 50 mi one way, at 55 mph (in winter no less... )

The suspension doesn't worry me either as my trailer is so well balanced that I can pick up the tongue with two fingers, even when it's fully loaded.

My main concern is the transmission. Will it hold up, or will this just be wearing it out unnecessarily? I already planned on running in "S" if I do it at all.

The manual does mention something about trailers. Also, as an fyi, the trailer is 1637 lbs emtpy, plus the two sleds at about 175-250 lbs a piece.

Thanks!

[vahe]

I have a small trailer with 8" wheels, flatbed, I carried lot of building materials including stacks of 5/8" sheetrock , about 1200 pounds, while remodeling my house. The car, 240D manual. With SD I would be very concerned about transmissin, I had a 300SD 81, the constant transmission problems forced me to get rid of that car.
Also, I had U-Haul to install the trailer hitch, they butchered my electrical harness nearly starting a fire in the trunk, ended up replacing the entire harness. Spend a little more and have a mechanic do the job.

Vahe
240D 77/350K

[deerefanatic]

Yah, that is kinda what I wondered. As far as hitch goes, I would install myself. My dad and I have installed hitches on both of the trucks we use.

SD's don't have tranny oil coolers do they? That would be the primary problem, lack of cooling to tranny. does anyone know how hard hooking up a tranny cooler kit would be?

[jbaj007]

Your car has trans cooler in lower radiator tank.

[buyabsellonebay]

I have been towing my sleds with my 300d for over a year. I have put more then 20,000 miles on the car with the trailer and sleds in tow. The load ranges from 1700 to 2500 pounds. I haven't had any tranny problems. I range anywhere from 40 to 70 mph depending on the road. Except for when my turbo gave out a week or so agao power is not a problem. There is a trans cooler built into the radiator. I check the trans fluid often. I have never had any signs of burnt fluid. So far so good.

[deerefanatic]

Glad to hear that, would putting one of those "strip" tranny coolers along the frame, in addition to the already present cooler help?

[MS Fowler]

Extra tranny cooling is a good idea, IMO.