How much pre '86 diesel reqd. to pull 2200lb boat and trailer.

[Gene in NC]

Thinking about replacing '94 5.7 gas Suburban with early eighties Mercedes diesel. New to Mercedes but have several years experience with Banks Turbo diesel in '82 Chev Suburban, and long experience with trailered boats.

[compress ignite]

Some one will hopefully "Chime" in here in the morning (Eastern DST)

Personally,I'd not try it with anything other than one of the Old Glendewagons
with the 617.951 , 3.0 liter , 5 cylinder turbo-diesel engine.

Certainly not any of the cars.

[pawoSD]

yeah the only suitable vehicle for that load would be a MB 300TD wagon with the self leveling suspension....it will easily carry that load. You would also want to upgrade the front brakes/calipers on the car to those found on the 300SD W126 series sedans, as they are larger calipers with vented rotors.

An extra transmission cooler would also be a good idea. Other than those few upgrades, a wagon MB would be a great hauler.

[t walgamuth]

Most of the mercedes of that era are rated to tow 1500# without brakes on the trailer and 3000# with brakes.

A stick would be ideal but with the automatic you would want an auxiliary cooler. Folks tow large travel trailers in Europe with these cars and a lot less all the time. I once saw a vw beetle pulling a rather startling trailer which must have been 20' long.

We are used to towing with large things like Suburbans but there is no reason in my mind why you cannot tow a 2200# trailer if you get the car set up and use care in your driving habits.

Tom Walgamuth

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Most of the mercedes of that era are rated to tow 1500# without brakes on the trailer and 3000# with brakes.

A stick would be ideal but with the automatic you would want an auxiliary cooler. Folks tow large travel trailers in Europe with these cars and a lot less all the time. I once saw a vw beetle pulling a rather startling trailer which must have been 20' long.

We are used to towing with large things like Suburbans but there is no reason in my mind why you cannot tow a 2200# trailer if you get the car set up and use care in your driving habits.

Tom Walgamuth

Reminds me of the "Top Gear" where they were pulling a caravan with some dinky little diesel car. It pulled it but it was S L O W
I mean slow to the point of holding up traffic for miles.

I don't know if I would pull a 2200 pound load with anything less than the 300TD turbo. All I know is that wagon had better be tuned to an inch of it's life too especially if you want to do any interstate highway driving. I would do the IP, intercooler, etc as well as the brakes to get the most out of it.

On another note, I just pulled the CJ down from NY to WV with the Suburban. It rode on a 2000lb trailer and the total weight was something around 3700~3900 pounds (Jeep, metal cab, snowplow, trailer + junk in the trunk) The 'burban did it with no problems averaging 73 mph on the trip -- but and it is a BIG BUT, I only got 8mpg!!!

if you are going to tow for long distances on the highway at today's speeds, you might want to keep the truck

Originally Posted by Gene in NC

Thinking about replacing '94 5.7 gas Suburban with early eighties Mercedes diesel. New to Mercedes but have several years experience with Banks Turbo diesel in '82 Chev Suburban, and long experience with trailered boats.

Pulling and stopping should be no problem but I have doubts about yanking that up the boat ramp at the end of your day, especially if it is in poor shape with lots of algea as most are.

[Jetmugg]

I just like 3/4 ton trucks for towing boats, and tandem trailers with brakes for boats over 2K pounds. That may just be for my own personal piece of mind, and others may be comfortable towing with less heavy-duty equipment.

My 2 cents.

SteveM.

[mobetta]

some ??'s I have-
how far?
how often?
is the boat trailer equipped w/Trailer brakes?

maybe use a load leveler setup?(not required w/ SLS) which are not available for the 1 1/4" hitches, so maybe you need to modify a hitch? add SLS to a sedan-(electric pump) or get a 126 sedan w/ sls? or airshocks?

I have towed quiet a bit of weight w/ my TD, and it does great. even better now that I got "New"(different) accumulators and ditched the wicked bouncing. I have towed a 500lb trailer w/ 2 600+ lb motorcycles on it, and also prolly about 3/4 yd of blacktop in a 500 lb trailer. I have a 5x8 enclosed utility trailer i just picked up(2900gvwr), and plan on towing. I did upgrade the hitch(JCWhitney) and have new brakes/ rotors all the way around. I hope to upgrade to 126 front brakes next time around.

[SD Blue]

I wouldn't even consider it!

The flex-disc drivetrain, uni-body structure and cooling for engine and transmission is not designed/rated for towing large loads safely. Having towed 5th wheel trailers, boats, and goose-necks over the last 25+ years, I would at least find something with a ladder-frame and drivetrain beefy enough for this. Contrary to common belief, power is usually not the issue.

[Hatterasguy]

I wouldn't, I'd rather have fun when I was going to the lake and not worrying about if I can make it up the next hill.

Get a smaller pick up truck, around here you really need 4wd to get up the steep ramps.

[bustedbenz]

Scooting the Benz down a ramp into the drink would be pretty unfortunate - and with mine, fairly easy. Doesn't seem to grip as well as larger vehicles in situations similar to that. If I was using something other than high-mileage road tires I'm sure I'd feel better on such things but still... wouldn't risk it. Also, it's a lot of work for a sedan frame to hold up for, even if the power plant survives. I have a deep mistrust of overloaded automatic transmissions, and there's nothing more irritating to be roadsided by than a transmission, particularly an expensive twenty-year-old transmission.

My personal opinion... keep the Suburban or swap it out for a pickup truck, as mentioned earlier.

[2.5Turbo]

Originally Posted by bustedbenz

Scooting the Benz down a ramp into the drink would be pretty unfortunate

I've seen that happen before, not on a Benz but on a truck. It was a stick and the guy didn't put it in gear, and the parking brake failed. Rolled straight into the bay all the way up to the roof of the cab. I think a photo got into the local newspaper.

[Hatterasguy]

Originally Posted by bustedbenz

Scooting the Benz down a ramp into the drink would be pretty unfortunate - and with mine, fairly easy. Doesn't seem to grip as well as larger vehicles in situations similar to that. If I was using something other than high-mileage road tires I'm sure I'd feel better on such things but still... wouldn't risk it. Also, it's a lot of work for a sedan frame to hold up for, even if the power plant survives. I have a deep mistrust of overloaded automatic transmissions, and there's nothing more irritating to be roadsided by than a transmission, particularly an expensive twenty-year-old transmission.

My personal opinion... keep the Suburban or swap it out for a pickup truck, as mentioned earlier.

These cars are not built for towing, you need at least a true locking rear if you want to yank a boat up any kind of ramp.

My friends late model Chevy 2500HD does an excellent job of yanking his boat and trailer up a steep ramp. The Bullydog tuner really helps as well, firms the trans right up.

You can get away with a V6 or even a 4 for a tow vehical, but real 4WD is really, really nice.

I used to eat lunch down the boat ramp all the time, the entertainment was priceless!

[bustedbenz]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

These cars are not built for towing, you need at least a true locking rear if you want to yank a boat up any kind of ramp.

My friends late model Chevy 2500HD does an excellent job of yanking his boat and trailer up a steep ramp. The Bullydog tuner really helps as well, firms the trans right up.

You can get away with a V6 or even a 4 for a tow vehical, but real 4WD is really, really nice.

I used to eat lunch down the boat ramp all the time, the entertainment was priceless!

I have a personal conviction never to go somewhere like a boat ramp (and the potential sinking of the Benz) with its current configuration... if anybody could drop one into the lake it'd be me. I've tried to turn around on a grassy slope/hill before and just about gotten into trouble because the tires couldn't get enough grip to back the car up the hill (going forward was at that location absolutely not a considerable option, there would have been a 1 foot drop off a retaining curb thing and a Lexus involved) - idk how I got out of that but to this day, and then after sliding off in the ice last winter, I definitely don't trust the Benz to move ANYWHERE where slick conditions might meet less than ideal car conditions.

I'm sure people with experience can do things like that. But if I was fooling with towing a boat, I'd be doing it with something like the aforementioned 4wd pickup or even SUV type vehicle.

[Hatterasguy]

Well I had a hitch for the SDL but I sold it with the SD. I was willing to tow a 14ft aluminum boat with the SDL but no more. Figure the boat, motor, and trailer weigh what 400 pounds? I can push the boat around the yard by myself.

The thought of drilling holes into the car stopped me from mounting the hitch.

BTW since you are south of me, have the Stripers started running?