What do do about the tow vehicle

Shift518 Automotive
1

So I had picked up the bronco the summer before last, it was a beast 5.0 V8 lifted on big ass tires, put some work into it only to find out it had no umph behind that V8. With the thing fully loaded you could definitely feel it on the highway.

For the upcoming season I’m going to need something to tow my car around since some of the events are more than 10 hours away.

I have been looking into some older F-350s for under 3k since they come in turbo diesel and therefore should be able to pull my little car.

I guess my question is… what could I go with so that the least of the bronco goes to waste? Honestly the body of the bronco is pretty damn good for an '86. Is there anything turbo diesel I could drop the body right onto so I could travel in a bit more comfort than just a cab? Will the wheels/tires work on many other trucks? tow hitch? any of the other parts I just bought such as the steering gearbox, brake booster, or winshield?

I really don’t know jack about trucks so lets hear some ideas. I really like the fact that the Bonco was basically an enclosed pickup truck with a back seat.

2

put the money into the bronco ,the 5.0 in will pull your car and whatever else ya feel the need to do

3

You could swap in a 351 with minimal work and still use the same tranny/transfer case/etc.

What gears are in the Bronco now? A gear swap would probably wake it up enough to tow with it.

4

Really? the engine only had 42k miles on it and felt like it couldn’t pull shit. Passing on the highway without anything in tow seemed impossible.

Whatever stock is.
Whats would be the approximate cost of dropping in a 351 and gears?

Edit:

I should also mention the bronco needs at least $1k worth of work to it to get it on the road again.

5

Its probably got 2.73’s or 3.08’s. Swap in some 3.73’s.

6

never said it was the tougest around ,but wit some money it will do what ya want it to , i had a 92 f-150 wit a 5.0 in her and she worked her ass of pullin 4-8 place sled trailers and whatever else i wanted to do wit it

7

I wouldent change the gears, just freshen up the bottom end w/ a towing cam and a nice set of heads, headers, intake, etc.

8

im wit him

9

I was thinking it wasnt the motor thats the issue since its only got 42k. I know Ford tends to gear their vehicles low.

Going from 2.73’s to 4.10’s in my Mustang made a huge difference.

The truck’s got 3.55’s and theyre fine for my driving.

10

i know this may sound lame but, find like a 94-95 e350 ford van with the powerstroke, you can haul all your shit in the van and tow your car behind.

my dad’s boss had a 95pwrstroke van and no joke, he was getting 30+ mpg.

now he’s got a box van with the diesel and barley gets 20 on the highway.

you can find those van’s for not much.

plus a 5.0 will suck gas like crazy.

11

sounds expensive, but then again it may be cheaper than buying a new truck.

12

Why would you put motor mods on? It’s fine the way it is for a tow truck.

And absolutely dont put shorter gears in it. You’ll spend most of your time cruising on the highway.

13

Need to get the electrical sorted first on the poor thing. Honestly, at this point I think it’s going to be FAR cheaper to just bypass everything and put the ignition and accessories to a hard wired toggle and just use the key to unlock the column. Between the fried harness, cob jobed remote starter mess, and the hackjob of a mess that garage did under the dash you’ll(I’ll) be tracing stuff for a long time trying to sort the issues out.

The body mounts are repairable, no question on that. Will take some work but I’ve fixed far worse on the plow trucks up here. The rest of the truck is pretty solid otherwise.

It’s unfortunately buried until spring, the snow drift at the base of the house where the truck is currently parked is ~10 ft deep. My dad has an '88 Suburban that is completely hidden from view in that same bank.

14

hard wired toggle is no problem, neither is waiting till spring…

I guess it comes down to: Will it have enough balls to tow a car and trailer.

It seems most people feel like it should, I myself am not too sure.

15

oh snap… pete wants gloves’ van. :rofl

16

So adam, I’m curious. Was the wiring job on my sol worse than the hackjob the shops did on the bronco? :rofl

17

get one of these… :)its what we use to haul our cars… Fits 5 cars with room for tires and tools… Oh an if anyone is good with photoshop, if you come up with a design for vinyl for the trailer ill give you free shirts or something lol

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll140/JerseyCantSaveMe/rig2.jpg

18

how bout you guys just give me a lift. lol

19

if it’s only got 42k on it should have plenty of umph to pull ur honda.

my guess would be it geared to the mmon and the big tires are killing it even more .

put smaller tire back on it cheapest route to go or regear it. those r the 2 cheapest ways out.

20

:lol