[ihc] Details of towing home my Scout

["Joseph Shaw, II" <josephshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay, after telling the "setimental" side of the story of getting my new
Scout, here are the details for those of you that are interested in ways to
tow and how is best.

We were towing with a late 80's Suburban.  It was "officially" only a half
ton, but was equipped with a 455, 400 tranny, and a massive, frame mounted tow
hitch.

We were towing the Scout on a two-wheel dolly-it is an axle over two wheels,
and holds up two wheels of the towed vehicle off the ground, letting the other
two support their own weight and roll on the road.  I believe it was made by
"Towboy" or "Trailerboy" or some company like that-or that is its model name
or something.  It was rated for about 2200 lbs according to the tag on the
side, but the friend I borrowed it from assured me he had towed home several
trucks of different sizes and had never had a problem-he was sure it would be
fine with a Scout.

The Scout is a '68 body on a '77 Scout II frame with the diesel engine.  The
front driveshaft was already out of it, it was parked in a way that made
rear-end loading easier, so we went with this config-front wheels on the
ground in the back, rear wheels up on the dolly closest to the rear of the
Suburban.

We left for about a 550 or 600 mile trip, and most of it was to be on
interstates.  We drove about 40-45 miles, and stopped to gas up (hadn't done
it upon leaving, because I knew I would want to stop and check straps and
connections soon anyway.  As we pulled into the gas station, we had a
blowout.

We had noticed on the way down that the "pins" that held the ramps in (kind of
like hinge pins, but the ramps didn't pivot.  I had asked the owner of the
dolly if they were removable ramps and he said, "No, they just ride
there")would slide out after a couple hundred miles.  I figured maybe with the
weight of the Scout on it, they would stay in.  Turns out it was just the
contrary-apparently the increased weight caused more shaking and vibration or
something, and in only 40 miles, one had shaken so far out the side, it rubbed
on the tire and wore a groove into the sidewall, which when we turned into the
gas station, the increased lateral pressure popped out the whole side!!!  What
we did was duct taped several layers over the holes on the end of these pins
to try and hold them in place.  This got us the other 500 or so miles home
without further such incidence!

Well, it was not easy to find one of these undersized tires, but we eventually
did.  After about a 2-2.5 mile delay, we were back on the road.  The thing
towed very well with this set up up to about 60 MPH, but then would very
easily get swervy on you.  I know this is about as fast as you are SUPPOSED to
tow something like this anyway, but I have had rigs that towed so smoothly I
could average about 65 MPH while towing.  So, I tried to keep it pegged right
around 55-then when I got a little speedy I didn't really get over 55, and
when I got a little tired never really got under 50.

The other thing I forgot to mention was that the Suburban had all this tow
gear, but at some point someone had rewired the old tow harness-leaving out
the tow harness.  I had no brake lights, turn signals, taillights, etc on the
rig.  Thus, we had tried to get an early start and drive most of the way home
in daylight before having to do something else.  Between getting a later
start, and having the blowout, this was now not going to work!!!

It began to cloud up just as we were getting into Alabama, so at a rest
stop/restroom break, I put a battery in the Scout, turned on the running
lights and we started driving that way.  We made it all the way home without
being pulled over, or causing a serious accident, but I will admit I was on my
BEST behavior on the road, using hand signals as well when it helped, and
putting the Suburban turn signals, brakes, etc on WAY in advance, as the Burb
at that level was slightly wider than the Scout, and I knew the drivers behind
me could see those lights as well.

Now I do want to say that I would not have done all this this way if I had a
choice.  I was led to believe that the Suburban had a wiring harness, and as
it was borrowed from my girlfriend's family, I did not get it until the
morning we were leaving and going to pick up the tow dolly.  The rest of the
trip was carefully scheduled to be driven during the day, avoiding rush hours,
etc, and had it not been for the blowout, we cld have done this and not been
as irresponsible with the brake lights thing.  However, there was only one
weekend I could possibly do this trip, and I was not going to let this free
Scout get away from me!!!

So please forgive me those of you offended by the lights, but I am mainly
telling people all of this so they know what to check in advance next time!!!

And to let them know the handling capacity of a '80's Suburban pulling a Scout
backwards on a tow dolly on the freeway will be like!

Thanks!

Michael