300d towing trailer: successes, failures?

[Jack None]

I'm planning to tow around 1000 pounds with my '84 300D in the summer across the country. I'm wondering about issues, specifically I'm thinking overheating or transmission. I'd like to hear from folks with experience towing trailers. Did you have trouble, or did it go off without a hitch? har.

[GregMN]

No problem.
Watch your temp. gauge.
Crack the sun roof open and turn on the defrost if needed on a long incline.
Don't abuse your equipment and it will be happy. Don't try to keep up with traffic. Keep in the right lane and enjoy the countryside.

I have made over a dozen 200 mile trips towing 1000 - 1500 lbs of lumber each trip this spring in my E300D. No problems.

[Jack None]

Thanks. Just to clarify: 1000 pounds of cargo max. So a gross weight (probably) of around 1800 pounds max.

[whunter]

Originally Posted by Jack None

I'm planning to tow around 1000 pounds with my '84 300D in the summer across the country. I'm wondering about issues, specifically I'm thinking overheating or transmission. I'd like to hear from folks with experience towing trailers. Did you have trouble, or did it go off without a hitch? har.

I suggest disconnecting the transmission from the radiator permanently, and install a remote RV transmission oil cooler.

Something like this.
Dorman/Transmission Oil Cooler (918-251) | AutoZone.com


.

[Jack None]

Does an overheating tranny give any warning signs?

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by Jack None

Does an overheating tranny give any warning signs?

Likely not until its too late.

[cooljjay]

I have contemplated on towing a little trailer behind my car....but seeing how slow she is going up an incline and at altitude....I have changed my tune.....I will just curl into a ball and sleep in the back seat.....I don't mind going slow, I like it in fact....what I don't like is all the ahole drivers that get right on top of your bumper.....flash lights....honk....give you the finger.....scream at you....etc.....long gone are the days of cruising the country side.....its more like driving on a race way......use to deal with it all the time in California when I would decided to go for a nice cruise down the coast.....turned into a buckle up and floor it situation.......since you have a turbo, you might have it a bit easier.....

[whunter]

Originally Posted by Jack None

Does an overheating tranny give any warning signs?

Very little.

The other point you need to be aware of:
As the vehicle ages, the wear factors build using up most of the design intent extra cooling capacity.

Separating the transmission thermal load from the radiator is a CHEAP way to regain a large reserve cooling capacity.

This upgrade can if done correctly, in the worst conditions increase your cooling capacity under load near 50% = extend the life of the engine and transmission..

FYI:
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If you research on the Motorhome / RV / 4x4 forums:
Most owners add over size transmission coolers, and many new owners find out the hard way that they should have $,$$$.$$.

.

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by whunter

The other point you need to be aware of:
As the vehicle ages, the wear factors build using up most of the design intent extra cooling capacity.

Very true. Scale and other fouling add up over time.

Separating the transmission thermal load from the radiator is a CHEAP way to regain a large reserve cooling capacity.

This upgrade can if done correctly, in the worst conditions increase your cooling capacity under load near 50% = extend the life of the engine and transmission..

Also very true.

Several years ago I worked at an automotive test facility that did full load and road load cooling tests. During my time there I supervised a full load cooling test. The test article failed rather badly, and I got to dust off my heat transfer and thermodynamics textbooks from college to analyze the failure. The test article was a diesel truck with a conventional torque convertor automatic transmission. I determined that the torque convertor was getting the trans fluid hot, and the resulting heat being dumped into an oil (transmission) to water (rather engine coolant) trans cooler was causing coolant and engine oil temps to heat up enough to massively fail the scoring criteria. In my conclusion to the report I recommended they go to a rather large sized oil to air transmission cooler separate from the radiator. I never did find out if they took the advice they paid considerable thousands of dollars to get.

I'm following this thread because I'm considering getting a hitch and small trailer so I can use my car to trailer my bike to track days.

[pawoSD]

I tow a trailer all the time with my SD. Longest I've gone was a round trip to Cincinnati and back to buy an engine/trans. Drove home @75-80mph for 5-6 hours no sweat. Total distance traveled that day was nearly 800 miles over the course of 13-14 hrs. 0 issues other than the license plate almost falling off my trailer.

[t walgamuth]

1000 pounds is not a big deal if you have it in a low profile trailer. If its In a large profile u haul it would be significant. Once on the road I'd take it easy at first and stop and pull the dipstick to see how hot its getting and edge up on whatever cruising speed I desired.

I'd also consider a cooler as Roy suggested....not much cost for some good insurance.

[kerry]

I've pulled a trailer quite a few miles with my 85TD. For peace of mind, you could install a transmission fluid temperature gauge. I've typically put my transmission coolers in series with the radiator transmission cooler. It would be interesting to experiment with some control valves and a temperature gauge to see if installing in series or eliminating the radiator cooler better controls the temperature of the transmission fluid.

[Simpler=Better]

82 300D, automatic, stock fueling:

I've pulled a medium uhaul trailer(about the size of the car, and taller), and a flat trailer loaded with furniture & motorcycles (3,000lbs est?), and some other random hauls. EGTs hit 1,000°F on hill climbs, at which point I backed off. Never overheated, but drove slower than normal.

The trick is to take it easy on the speed-it's going to take at least twice the distance to stop when you double your weight, and overheating brakes is easy. Coast to a stop when possible.

If you plan on towing often or in the summer a trans cooler is a necessity with an automatic

[chasinthesun]

Its a rule that some haulers just forget ,tow what the car or truck can handle ,a trip into Houston I witnessed a Dodge Durango trying to tow a 18ft trailer with a large JD tractor on board .The strandeds ,which Ill call them , had the hood up and one guy looking underneath the Dead Darango for answers of the crawl to a stop .Hmmmmm. Ive got a small tow hitch that came with my 190e cosworth ,still cant see what someone would haul with this smallish car ,the horses are their ,just not the body.

[kerry]

Small Car towing caravan crashes - YouTube