Hi, I have a 1990 Bonne LE w/236k on the orig trans and motor. Runs great. I was wondering if the car would be suitable to pull an open car trailer, with a 70'* muscle car on-board. Say like, a 3k pound Camaro? I would appreciate any advice or comments before I move forward on this. I hate driving the Camaro to shows all over the east coast and the Bonne is about all I have to drive for towing. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

No way. The Bonnie will die after a few miles. If you want to keep the car running, don't even attempt it. The car already weighs 3,500lbs, and another 3,500lbs [3,000lb car on 500lb trailer] will kill it. I would even stray away from 1,000lbs.. unless it was just through town. Get a truck, bud.


-justin

That'* three times the weight I would even remotely consider towing with a Bonneville.

Find a cheaper older truck or RWD Caprice (or comparable models like a Crown Vic, etc)... safer bet.

Well maybe, but leave it in drive (3rd gear which is 1:1) and install a seperate trans cooler. I have a good friend who towed a '69 Trans Am on a 22 foot tandem trailer from LA to Orlando behind a 2.8 Blazer.

He rebuilt the motor after arrival though.

Our '92 TranSport with essentially the same drivetrain is rated to tow up to 3,000 lbs.

what all and alll it wont do it and it Illegal?? and unsafe brakeing
with a load that heavy you need a class 3 receiver and trailer brakes much more
also you need class b truck plates

check with the dot for weight restrictions on pulling heavy loads

Rent a U-Haul truck, then you don't have to worry about anything. Nice big heavy truck, either a V8 or Diesel engine, and you'll never have to do the maintenance. If you are going to be somewhere for a couple days, return the truck to a u-haul place right when you get there, but make sure you have a reservation for a truck (it may be a different one) when you leave, that will save some money.

Check the U-Haul prices. Especially the "drop charge" if you do not return to the same place.

My biggest concern with towing with your Bonne is the over 200K - would not be good to have a major problem somewhere else.

Another possibility is a tow dolly instead of a trailer. Would need some "tow wheels" and have to drop the drive shaft but would be a lot less to tow.

As mentioned, the other option is to get a vehicle more suited to towing. My experience is that about the cheapest way to go is with an older full size station wagon. Unlike vans or pickups these often were not driven hard, can find low milage examples, and have very low value today.

For example an 88 Safari wagon was designed for towing and even optioned out is worth about a grand. Even better the drivetrain is thoroughly conventional.

Figure another $500 for a trans cooler, frame mount hitch, and remote trailer brake control and you are ready. The only way a U-haul is going to be less money is if they sponsor you.

Back when I was racing, I had a number of trailers - all were tandem axle (you do NOT want a single axle trailer for a car) but the best for towing was a lightweight lowboy. Of course back then I had a '72 station wagon with a 400. Tye secret is
1) be gentle
2) do nothing suddenly
3) anticipate
4) be patient
5) have lots of tiedowns
6) avoid situations where you need to back up
7) pay more attention to the temperature guage than the speedometer (that said I have pulled the Monteagle pass in mid July and never broke 200F (I pay a LOT of attention to cooling).

First 50 miles was always nerve-wracking and I would usually stop once or twice to make sure everything was tight but once you settle in it is not difficult to tow a car. Just different.