Towing RV with Imperials (68)

["Grooms, James" <JGrooms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you for the info. If I can come to an agreeable price with the owner of 
the 68, I now know that it would make a good tow vehicle. The owner is still 
trying to locate the owner's manual. As I suspected it would have good info on 
towing and options. If he can't locate it I may take you up on offer for a copy 
of those relevant pages. 

Thanks, 
James 



-----Original Message-----
From: dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, June 09, 2003 9:14 AM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: Towing RV with Imperials (68)


James, there is a 68 4 door hardtop in Dallas for sale right now, as in a 
previous post.

I have 2 68's, but not for towing duties.  There was a "towing package" however 
available for 68.  It included a subframe that mounted the hitch to the rear 
unitbody subframe.  The towing package was recommended if the trailer was a 
certain weight up (don't recall the numbers, its in the owners mannual.  I can 
look it up if you want, but I think the threshold weight was 4,000-5,000 lbs.)  
A picture of the frame is in the owner's manual (which I could supply you with 
a copy).  Based on that, you can fabricate the frame with the help of a 
welder.  Also, the towing package did not include AC.  The condenser was 
replaced with a huge transmission cooler of the same size as the condenser.  I 
really doubt you need that big of a cooler.  I think that just adding an 
aftermarket large cooler n front of the condenser will suffice.  The towing 
package still maintained the 2.94 rear gears.

Also, in the Imperial world, the term "sedan" refers to the 4 door car with a B-
pillar.  This was very rare for the 67 and 68 model years.  It was the base 
model Imperial with only a few made (one of my 2 68's is a Sedan).  The most 
common 67 and 68 Imperial is the 4 door hardtop (no B-pillar,-i.e., no post 
between the doors).  Even the 2 doors were hardtops.  Also, the LeBaron (top of 
the line) for 67 and 68 was a hardtop, but the roof was a bit taller than the 
crown model (with the exception of the Sedan that shared the same roof line as 
the LeBaron, sorry for the confussion).

D^2

Quoting "Grooms, James" <JGrooms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Hello, 
> 
> I am considering a 68 sedan (440CID w/AC) as a tow vehicle for a 68 24 ft
> Airstream (approx 3900 lbs). Looking for information and advice. What made up
> the "towing package" from Chrysler for this vehicle? 
> Can anyone provide experience with setting up this vehicle with aftermarket
> hitch, trailer brakes, trans cooler, etc.? 
> 
> Thanks, 
> James 
> 
> 
>