Trailering a 710?

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ChickenPinz
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Trailering a 710?

Post by ChickenPinz »

Most of my off-road adventures require a drive of 400 miles or so to reach the fun parts, and I'm exploring the options for towing the Pinz. My assumption is that a trailer is best, so that's my initial path. I can always fall back to driving it there as well, but the Pinz wasn't made for long highway drives.

The tow vehicle is a FJ Cruiser with MT6, and Pinz (4300lb) + trailer puts me at the high end of practical (not book) towing limits (factory towing package) so I'd want to keep the trailer light with some on-board braking.

What experiences do others have to share about moving your 710(K) long distances?
710K
Tomaboyd
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by Tomaboyd »

I pull mine with a 2011 F150 and a Uhaul car trailer with not problems at all.
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rmel
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by rmel »

You'd need to scale up your puller for a Pinz load -- e.g. FX50 or so.

You have to assume the worst case, you have at least 500 lbs of stuff in
addition to the Curb weight of an unloaded Pinz. Trailers capable of 4,500
to 5,000 lb loads are going to be at least 1,500 lbs all by themselves. So
your FJ is likely going to get a hernia pulling all that load. And with a
tongue weight at least 600 lbs for stability, your gonna be dragging your
rear end down. By way of example see Bigtextrailers below.

https://www.bigtextrailers.com/car-hauler-trailers

Assuming a powerful enough rig to pull a decent trailer, trailering a
Pinz has some +'s and -'s. The plus is you potentially get where your
going faster and in more comfort. The minus is, once you get there
then you have a trailer and a truck to leave somewhere with fees and
concerns about vandalism. Oh, BTW, you have to be very careful how
you lash a Pinz down on a trailer or you may find it taking flight.

IMHO a stock 710 Pinz is more than capable of a long haul HWY ride.
The issues are speed (average speed), noise, comfort, and wear and tear.
If you stay on top of maintenance, change your wheel drive gear oil frequently,
the wear out is not a huge issue. For a trip involving grades, your looking at
an average speed of ~50 mph, with 55-60 on flat land. Comfort is fixable,
replace the hemorrhoid making stock seats with a decent upgrades -- lots
of options for that. Sound deadening materials, AM/FM/CD player and away
you go.

Now, take a 712, your considerably slower.
Puller: 71' 710K 2.7L EFI aka Mozo
Follower: Sankey MK 3, 3/4 Tonne
Rescue Pinz: 73' 712MK

Driver: Ron // KO0Q
tgreening
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by tgreening »

rmel wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 9:09 pm You'd need to scale up your puller for a Pinz load -- e.g. FX50 or so.

Now, take a 712, your considerably slower.

Other than its weight, what makes the 712 that much slower?
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edzz
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by edzz »

tgreening wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 9:12 am
rmel wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 9:09 pm You'd need to scale up your puller for a Pinz load -- e.g. FX50 or so.

Now, take a 712, your considerably slower.

Other than its weight, what makes the 712 that much slower?
Lower gearing.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
Texas710
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by Texas710 »

Absolutely agree with needing a bigger truck. I've got a 1500 and it worked with a U-haul trailer bringing the Pinz back home from Arizona but just barely.

I had a nice pipe-top trailer that got stolen from me before I could use it to pull the Pinz. It was rated for 14,000# and was overkill, but the price was right at the time, the 1500 would struggle sometimes with just the trailer. So, i just drive, I gotta go 100 miles 1-way to get to my property, so I just leave early and take it slow. Has worked for the last few years.

I really do want to replace the trailer at some point with a tilt bed trailer just in case I ever had to rescue the Pinz due to a breakdown. Anyone have a thought on appropriate trailer length to properly balance a Pinz? Assuming I get a bigger truck, what would your dream trailer be?
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David Dunn
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by David Dunn »

ChickenPinz
You're not going to have much choice for a trailer, it should be 7000lbs and must have brakes on at least one axle. I would not use a FJ as a long distance tow vehicle. Even that it's within factory parameters, it is on the small size and light and the brakes are adequate only for the vehicle, not the car and trailer, though it may pull fine, your problems will be on the other end. The flatlands may be ok and possibly some problems pulling a grade, your problems will be on the down grades where the trailer will want to push the car and with a short wheelbase vehicle want to fishtail it. You also need to have 10 to 14% of the weight of the loaded trailer on the ball ( done by moving the load fore or aft to accomplish ). Do a search on this forum regarding securing the Pinz to the trailer. Do not use the front pin as a tie down point !

As for a tow vehicle, a F150, or whatever 1/2 ton pickup would do well IF ordered properly. In a "normal" setup, a 1/2 ton pickup is nothing more than a large car and needs to have the drivetrain ordered to tow properly. Standard engines and a 'high' rear axle ratios are for mileage. The factories produce a number of these to raise their national mpg averages. To get a higher towing rating, generally a heavier GVW package is needed for the addition trailer tongue weight, an engine with higher horsepower/torque and a lower rear axle ratio for pulling power. If you ever get into the specs at Ford for the pickups, they list the payload capacity, max trailer load for every combination of engine, transmission and rear end ratio for every configuration of truck.

Going up to a F250 or F350 will give you large brakes, a heavier payload capacity and an engine better suited for the use, but still have options to customize for better trailering.
.
The Trojan Horse... the 1st Pinz used to covertly carry troops into battle .




ATL Pinzgauer XM 718K TUM(HD) 6x6 FFR (aka The Green Grail)
ChickenPinz
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by ChickenPinz »

As originally stated, I'm not looking for an analysis of optimal tow vehicles, but rather people's individual experiences with what they've used and how the experience was for them.

Thanks all for the suggestions of buying a Ford pick-up.

Towing, like flying, is all about knowing your limitations and the allowed envelopes of operation. Consider the published towing capabilities of the Pinz of 5000kg on-road. That doesn't mean under all possible speed/road/weather conditions.
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Derrickbwg
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Re: Trailering a 710?

Post by Derrickbwg »

Ive towed the pinz's with a 2016 f-150 and a 1996 Toyota Landcruiser. F-150 did fine, but when the load gets that heavy (well below factory limits), Id still rather pull them with a 3/4 or a ton truck. The 80 series landcruiser has a tow capacity of 5,000lb. After a short tow, I saw why. Just because it could move it doesnt mean I should have been towing with it.

Im not sure what area you are towing in, maybe its flat and you will be comfortable using the FJ. My experience with a full size Landcruiser was poor enough that I never tried it again. You could always go rent a uhaul car hauler and make a judgement based on your experience.

I feel like the "practical" tow limit on most of my vehicles is actually below the published numbers. I too feel that towing is like flying, you should pay careful attention to the useful load numbers and the placement of that weight.
1975 710K
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