Towing Capabilities

Ive been thinking alot of the towing capabilities of our trucks Ive searched to see what kind of weight people are pulling but found not much info. I do have a carbed SOHC 2.2 which nets 110 hp with 130 tq as spec brand NEW, but we all know that changes after so many miles on the engine haha. The goal is to tow my super light weight miata lol or other cars below 3,000 pound mark using either a full trailer if possible or a trailer/car dolly for track days/Auto X purposes. Actual Expierences, tips, mod suggestions would be great.



Jun

havent really towed anything heavy with a 86 b2k i had. i did tow home a 1klbs welder one time and it handled fairly good

I've towed with my fuel injected 2.6 a few different times

empty b2k/b22 single cabs (no extra weight beyond just a complete truck, around town/short distances)
A loaded in the moving process b2k (cross country tow)
18ft trailer empty to atlanta, loaded with an 87 rx7 convertible for the trip back

When I towed the trucks, they used a tow bar mounted to the in tow vehicle's frame rails where the bumper mounts up, and was a lighter way to tow since you're not carrying any extra weight on your suspension, just pulling the second vehicle. the 18ft trailer added quite a bit of weight to the back of my truck making it sag enough, and it was definitely something I could feel, whereas the tow bar didn't sag my suspension.

Thats interesting. A buddy of mines was looking up some youtube videos (being bored) and we came across a b2200 towing a mazda 323 on a trailer. After watching that it definitely made me feel alot better with what our trucks can do. Here is the link

I'd personally be iffy about using anything that didn't have the fi 2.6... Just not enough torque/horsepower for me to feel real comfortable. Even with my 2.6, I wish it had even another 20hp... That would probably be enough for me to feel better about towing heavier stuff with my truck...

I was planning on replacing the headers with pacesetter and maybe hollowing the cat to free up some Hp. I did read on that TQ may be lost with the exhaust mods though.

I have an '86 B2K with a Weber 32/38 ( or is it 32/36?...). I totally overloaded It on a moving trip last summer. Drove about 175 miles from Calhoun Falls, South Carolina to Atlanta. We loaded up a 5x10 trailer and the bed. I was able to maintain 55 up slight hills but would have to downshift to 4th at 55 if the hill was steep. The brakes impressed me, I was able to stop in a reasonable distance without drama. I tried to keep my speed around the speed limit of 65. I was able to cruise at 70 on level roads.
I scaled the truck at Pilot on I-285 when we got to Atlanta.
The truck weighed 3860 pounds loaded, attached to the trailer that weighed 1640 pounds. Unloaded and rescaled.
Truck weighed 2880 and the trailer was 440!!!
It was technically unsafe but, I did it. And I would do it again as long as I wasn't driving in too much traffic.
That is 1000 pounds on the trucks axles, and 1200 pounds on the trailer axle. I imagine the tongue weight was about 500 pounds and my payload was the other 500. That is a total pulled weight of 1700 pounds while carrying 500 in the bed.
Oh, and I averaged 18 mpg too.
I have a CDL and about 250,000 Safe miles in my log books. I haven't driven professionally in about 10 years though. I say that to show that I have an idea of what is safe and what is unsafe when it comes to hauling weight around on the highways.

The 2200 is rated by factory at 250 pounds tongue weight/1000 pounds bumper capacity. I have towed/carried much more than that-- brakes will handle it but its the rear bumper mounts that are suspect.bj

Good point. My towing was done on the bumper. I installed the bumper myself, with fresh bolts when I pulled it from a you pull it yard.

I should probably note that I have a class 3 reese hitch bolted to the rear frame rails of my truck... Not using a factory bumper/hitch setup...