How much towing capacity does a vehicle need to tow a 67 GS400?

Hi guys,

I have zilch experience with such things. My wife and I are in the market for an SUV here in New Zealand. I figure it makes sense to get a vehicle that could tow the Buick on a trailer. I know that the shipping weight of the 67 is 3199 lbs base curb weight. Does that mean that i need to be able to pull that plus 15%?

Thanks for your input.

 

Dont forget the weight of the trailer.

 

I'd want at least a 6500lb tow rating

 

Preferably 10,000lb minimum in my opinion. Can you get by with less, yes but always best to have a safety margin. Towing in flat geography vs mountainous terrain makes a big difference in needs. Also a factor is how often you will tow and how far. Never been to NZ but I think there are some pretty big mountains there?

 

3199 seems about 500 lbs light.

The best way to go is to figure the actual weight of the car and trailer. Take that and go shopping for the right rig. A 3/4 ton truck is hard to beat though.

 

That’s such a blanket statement. A new 1/2 ton f150 can tow as much as an older 3/4 ton with ease.


I towed my 1970 GS plus a uhaul trailer (which are not light) with my 01 Silverado 2wd 5.3. I think it was rated in the 8500lb area? Either way it did it no problem in both stopping, accelerating/maintaining speed and had no sway.

A trailer with electric brakes and a truck/suv with the capability of towing the weight of the vehicle plus trailer (plus cargo and occupants) will be just fine. I’ve always liked to be no more than 80% of the max towing but there’s a reason they have a max towing. A weight distributing hitch will also help the safety.

 

ditto the 1/2 ton .
GMC, 2014, 5.3,
H ave towed all over the USA, never any issues,
never struggled on any hill, or had any brake problems ( tlr has brakes)
355 hp, 383 lb torque,
rated 11,200 lbs towing.

 

I had a 99 Durango with a 5.9 liter and 3.90 gears. I towed my 69 all over east coast effortlessly. I would assume the newer Durangos are just as stout. My 99 had an 8K lb towing capacity.

 

Having owned 1/2, 3/4, and 1 tons, the 1/2 will get the job done, but bigger is obviously better, and I won't go back to a 1/2 ton ever. You don't want something that whatever you're towing can take over and have the tail wagging the dog....Now, the fact that the original poster is located in New Zealand probably has some effect on what he has available to him.......

 

Thanks for your replies. Most American rigs are unavailable or or prohibitively expensive unfortunately. I am looking at Choices like Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Jeep. I should have specified.

Anyone familiar with the Toyota highlander or mazda cx9? Nissan x trail? SUV Preference over truck. We have a baby on the way as well!

 

Towed my 72 Skylark on an open trailer with my '14 Ram 1500 to BG and back last week. Towed like a dream. Truck didn't hunt gears, was dead stable, no problems stopping, and eaked out almost 14 mpg's. If I was towing weekly I'd probably step up to a 3/4 ton, but for occasional towing, a modern 1/2 is no slouch. My truck is rated for just over 10k, so I was at maybe 60% (I did have probably another 500 pounds worth of stuff in the bed too). It does probably help I upgraded to 10ply e rated tires. Still, it depends on where you're going and how often your towing IMO.

 

I towed my 66 Skylark on a 2000lb trailer(figure between 5600-5800 total weight) behind my 2016 diesel Chevy Colorado without any issues to the GS Nats this year and last year. Got 16-17mpg doing it.

I know the diesel Colorado's have been available in Australia and SE Asia before they were available here in the US.

 

Well, a Google search has the Highlander's towing capacity pegged at 5,000, and the CX9 is 3,500. I wouldn't feel safe, and I don't think either one of those two would be very happy pulling 6,000+, anyway. You're kind of in a tough spot, might not be able to get a "do anything" rig over there. Might look into getting an SUV you like, and then a used truck for towing the car.

 

Ed if those listed above are your biggest choices for tow vehicles, you'll be better off driving the car instead of towing. Any mid size SUV won't have the capacity you need. If you can move up in size to a Toyota Sequoia you could probably get by. Those are probably between 7-8k capacity
A Toyota Tundra Truck would handle it sufficiently.

 

Ok, I think I was dreaming about being able to do it with a mid sized suv. I will appreciate the comments.

 

I don’t know if there’s an NZ equivalent but if it’s a vehicle available in both markets, trailerlife.com has great tow guides that lists tow capacities for each model year.

 

My next door neighbor has a Toyota Sequoia V8 (based on a full size Tundra pick up I believe?). A couple years ago his family was in Arkansas for Christmas and he ended up buying a ‘58 Chevy pick-up while he was there, rented a U-haul trailer and drug it home. He made it home safely but said it was all the Toyota wanted. Keep in mind he had 4 small kids and wife plus all their luggage for the week in the SUV as well. That’s the problem with SUV’s, they don’t have the payload capacity of a pick-up. You’ll be carrying close to 1,000 lbs of tongue weight on the vehicle. Personally I wouldn’t use anything smaller than a 1/2 ton based SUV or pick-up.

 

I tow my 70 Skylark on an 18 'tilt trailer short distances with my E250 van which has 6500 towing capacity. Trailer weighs 2500 , weighed the 70, she came in at 3852 with me in it. So I am really close to my limit but the dragstrip is only 8.1 miles away..... Jim