I have a 1984 300 sd and I wonder about pulling a motorcycle trailor. Does anyone think it would cause premature hardships on the automatic transmission. The car has 375,000 miles. Thanks Jack

Whatever happens to that transmission, it wouldn't be premature.

If the motorcycle is heavy and you plan to tow it for thousands of miles, I would an a second transmission cooler.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Normally, apart from making sure the transmission is in good health, it should be fine as long as the trailer does not exceed the weight limits of the car's body structure. I used to tow my 900 and 750 cc motorcycles around with my 240 (individually), and have towed a VW rabbit almost 1500 miles behind one of these things.

With that mileage on the original tranny though, you may expect that harder service could possibly push an aging ailing transmission over the edge. Unless its been rebuilt, replaced, or meticulously maintained over the years.

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I would not pull over 100 miles at a time. It is a Harley and enclosed trailor.

Are you towing with a hitch like this:




I am interested in the same one for my 85. I would like to be able to pull a 5x8 trailer.

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----Adam

1985 300SD 322,000

I do that now with that hitch with my '85 SD. Tows like a champ!!

Would you like pics?

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123

Oh, sorry. @Jack: I have had NO issues except my MPG's go down and I can't accelerate as well when already at speed.

But even my old GMC Jimmy did not pull as strong as my SD does from a dead stop. I don't pull as much weight as I used to, but I'm not easy on it.

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123

Ha Ha. Nice one.

Ive pulled a 5x8 enclosed trailer full of beach implements on a road trip. It did ok but engine temps were pushing borderline high on a hot day.
Towing an open 5x8 with a dirt bike around town doesn't give any indication that the car is at its limit.
There was a thread here one time where a guy towed like three 55 gallon barrels of veggie oil for a road trip. That's easily over 1000 pounds so that kind of weight can be done.
Agreed that a $40 add on transmission radiator would be a good investment. A proper trans. fluid change with dropping the pan and changing the filter would be worth effort for the peach of mind it would bring too.

For a hitch I made my own. Metal plates under the bumper bolts welded to square cross tube and a 1 1/4" receiver in the middle.

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84 300SD 274K
38K miles on flatplate heat exchanger and various diesel/veg blends. prior to that 4K miles on unheated veggie blends with kero and DinoD.

I would love to see some pics!

I have read conflicting information on the hitch though. What is the max tongue weight for it? I have seen 100 to 200 lbs posted.

It would be nice to have SLS on my car, but, I really won't be pulling much weight.

I just want to know this for the trailer I am going to buy.

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----Adam

1985 300SD 322,000

I would also like to see some pictures of the homemade hitch or suggestions where to purchase one. It would be handy to move my lawnmore around with a 5by8 trailor. I have rental property with tenant problems. Pictures please. Thanks Jack

Here are pics of mine. I've also attached a PDF from a manufacturer.

Trailer I pull regularly:


Nice little adapter for five wires to four:


Hitch:


Label. It indeed states "2000lb trailer weight" and "200lb tongue weight".


How it's mounted:


We also use this to carry our bikes:

Attached Files

Trailer Hitch.pdf (115.8 KB, 115 views)

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123

I have one of those on my SD from "Da-Lan" hitches. Works great, I've towed a pretty heavily loaded utility trailer a good number of times with it with 0 issues. And a receiver mount bike rack too.

With 375k on the car....if that engine/trans are original, I'd be thinking about how much further it is going to reliably go!

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Thanks for the pics and info Ghoti.

__________________
----Adam

1985 300SD 322,000

I wasn't very comfortable with the style that pretty much just attached to the metal under the spare tire area so I commenced to making one.

First I made one for my 116 body. I haven't seen it in a while but it might still be around in the shed somewhere if someone wants it. (Chattanooga TN)

For my 126 body I decided that the bend to work around the exhaust was too much work so I just cut part of the exhaust tip off so it wouldn't rub.

Make your crossbar pretty heavily walled. I used whatever was handy in a scrap pile and it cost me a lot of extra work of having to go back and weld another piece on to it to make it stiffer.

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
84 300SD 274K
38K miles on flatplate heat exchanger and various diesel/veg blends. prior to that 4K miles on unheated veggie blends with kero and DinoD.

My pleasure!

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123