Towing with a 94 Lincoln Town Car

[CallDon]

Great info on this forum. I love vintage vehicles and just bought a '94 Lincoln Town Car from some friends. It only has 100,000 miles (7000/year) and rides like a dream. I have been looking but can't find anything regarding tow capacity. I was wondering if anyone had towed a Casita/Scamp type trailer with a Lincoln like that??

Thanks
D*

[Frederick L. Simson]

I was wondering if anyone had towed a Casita/Scamp type trailer with a Lincoln like that

There is a member here who USED to tow a 13' Boler with a Ford Crown Vic. That's the closest I'm aware of. I have friends who have a 1967 Mercury Monterey Convertible that they used to tow a 25' Stick Built trailer with. I would love to buy that to tow my Fiber Stream with.

[Scott,H]

Don,

I bought my 91 SD 16' from a musician here in Texas who used to tow it out to California and back several times a year with a similar year Lincoln Town car. he had over 200K on the tug and he did not have a brake controller, he said the TC had plenty of power and the ride was exceptional and was all stock EXCEPT for the radiator cooler. He said he never drove faster than 65 and he never had an issue towing.

Scott

[Bryan L.]

Looks like it's 2000 pounds.

http://www.theautochannel.com/vehicles/new...7/solo9704.html

[CallDon]

UPDATE ON THE LINCOLN TOW VEHICLE IDEA:

I actually forgot that I made this post almost two years ago. But I'm glad I asked the question when I did. Since then, I did discover the tow rating of the Town Car was suddenly downrated from 5000 lbs to 2000lbs around 1990, though the engine/drivetrain was the same. We can thank American lawyers for that change. Found out much more info from talking to people and asking questions. There are several folks pulling various trailers with the Panther platform Ford cars, the Crown Vic, the Mercury Grand Marquis and the Lincoln Town Car. Can-Am RV in London, Ontario helps modify various tow vehicles and creates hitches for special purposes.

The Casita has a dry weight of approx 2500 and a GVWR of approx 3500 lbs. For towing, I am thinking about getting a 2005 to 2008 Lincoln Town Car and modifying it to pull the Casita. Here are my thoughts...everything is still open for suggestions.

--- I am thinking about the "Equal-I-zer" hitch. Seems a simple solution. It also has the rear sway bar integrated.

--- I'm thinking about replacing the air bag suspension with coil springs??.

--- How about heavy duty gas charged shocks all around?? Munro Sensa Tracs?

--- What about tires on the '05 to '08 Town Car?

--- I think the rear end ratio is 3.27.

--- Transmission cooler?

--- Oil cooler?

--- Replace the radiator?

--- Alternator and battery?
--------------------------------------

I think it might be do-able. The smaller fiberglass trailers certainly fill a need. I recently made two trips to the Casita company. It seems to be a great trailer, built well and with hundreds of satisfied owners singing its praises. They seem to be doing great in business, with a 6 month waiting list!!

Don

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Originally Posted by CallDon

UPDATE ON THE LINCOLN TOW VEHICLE IDEA:

I actually forgot that I made this post almost two years ago. But I'm glad I asked the question when I did. Since then, I did discover the tow rating of the Town Car was suddenly downrated from 5000 lbs to 2000lbs around 1990, though the engine/drivetrain was the same. We can thank American lawyers for that change. Found out much more info from talking to people and asking questions. There are several folks pulling various trailers with the Panther platform Ford cars, the Crown Vic, the Mercury Grand Marquis and the Lincoln Town Car. Can-Am RV in London, Ontario helps modify various tow vehicles and creates hitches for special purposes.

The Casita has a dry weight of approx 2500 and a GVWR of approx 3500 lbs. For towing, I am thinking about getting a 2005 to 2008 Lincoln Town Car and modifying it to pull the Casita. Here are my thoughts...everything is still open for suggestions.

--- I am thinking about the "Equal-I-zer" hitch. Seems a simple solution. It also has the rear sway bar integrated.

--- I'm thinking about replacing the air bag suspension with coil springs??.

--- How about heavy duty gas charged shocks all around?? Munro Sensa Tracs?

--- What about tires on the '05 to '08 Town Car?

--- I think the rear end ratio is 3.27.

--- Transmission cooler?

--- Oil cooler?

--- Replace the radiator?

--- Alternator and battery?
--------------------------------------

I think it might be do-able. The smaller fiberglass trailers certainly fill a need. I recently made two trips to the Casita company. It seems to be a great trailer, built well and with hundreds of satisfied owners singing its praises. They seem to be doing great in business, with a 6 month waiting list!!

Don

I have a 96 Town Car that ended up with us when my parents passed away. It has the 4.6 liter V8 and would have plenty of power to pull our 16ft Scamp, but not in OverDrive.

The distance from the rear axle to the trailer ball is quite long, which might make it susceptible to sway. However the wheelbase of the car is quite long also which would lessen the effect.

Trailer hitches were available for $100 - $150 the last time I checked.

I have checked the MPG meter on level ground at approx 60 MPH and it will register about 25 - 27 in O.D. Shifting it into 3rd drops the MPG to 20 - 22 MPG. I would expect with our Scamp trailing, the mileage would be 14 - 16 MPG.

The weakest link, in my opinion is the automatic transmission. Adding an aux cooler would be mandatory. However, these cars shift very slowly and smoothly. This is great for a luxury car, but clutch wear during those smooth shifts would shorten the life of the transmission unless it were re-programmed.

Also, I've read that Ford allows a slight amount of lock-up torque convertor slip to occur in varying amounts during operation to smooth out engine torque I presume. I would hesitate to tow with this vehicle unless a firm lock-up could be re-programmed.

As you might note, I'm not comfortable towing with automatic transmissions. Failure of this component has made my day, actually several days, on several vacations. Unfortunately it has happened each time in locations where it was very expensive to find a qualified shop, i.e., a very large towing bill added to the expensive rebuild.

So this old guy is ready and would love to purchase a brand new full size pickup, but instead is rebuilding his old one because it isn't possible to buy a new full size pickup with a manual transmission today, even with cash on the table I've been told by salesmen from the big three.

I understand a manual transmission from a Mustang will fit in the Town Car. Hmmmmmm!

[OscarD]

I still have a Hidden Hitch from my 94 town car.. has the bolts.. in S Calif. $50.

remember to turn off the suspension before hooking up the trailer-- switch in trunk

I thought the car drove better w the trailer-- (the front springs were replaced, air shocks added, and rear air bags)

Luxury ride -- meant to enjoy the road..

Oscar

Originally Posted by Loren G. Hedahl

I have a 96 Town Car that ended up with us when my parents passed away. It has the 4.6 liter V8 and would have plenty of power to pull our 16ft Scamp, but not in OverDrive.

The distance from the rear axle to the trailer ball is quite long, which might make it susceptible to sway. However the wheelbase of the car is quite long also which would lessen the effect.

Trailer hitches were available for $100 - $150 the last time I checked.

I have checked the MPG meter on level ground at approx 60 MPH and it will register about 25 - 27 in O.D. Shifting it into 3rd drops the MPG to 20 - 22 MPG. I would expect with our Scamp trailing, the mileage would be 14 - 16 MPG.

The weakest link, in my opinion is the automatic transmission. Adding an aux cooler would be mandatory. However, these cars shift very slowly and smoothly. This is great for a luxury car, but clutch wear during those smooth shifts would shorten the life of the transmission unless it were re-programmed.

Also, I've read that Ford allows a slight amount of lock-up torque convertor slip to occur in varying amounts during operation to smooth out engine torque I presume. I would hesitate to tow with this vehicle unless a firm lock-up could be re-programmed.

As you might note, I'm not comfortable towing with automatic transmissions. Failure of this component has made my day, actually several days, on several vacations. Unfortunately it has happened each time in locations where it was very expensive to find a qualified shop, i.e., a very large towing bill added to the expensive rebuild.

So this old guy is ready and would love to purchase a brand new full size pickup, but instead is rebuilding his old one because it isn't possible to buy a new full size pickup with a manual transmission today, even with cash on the table I've been told by salesmen from the big three.

I understand a manual transmission from a Mustang will fit in the Town Car. Hmmmmmm!

[Borden]

I am not an expert just some ideas to help with setup.
Axle to ball distance, trunk load, receiver draw bar or WD unit weight, tongue weight are factors was told by RV dealers and this is what is stated on Elite Eaz-Lift web site. Trunk load is added to draw bar or WD system weight, and tongue weight.
That is why trunk is empty when we pull, all items in the trailer.
This is based on our trailer:
Trunk load+WD draw bar system+tongue weight=WD limit needed. 0 + 250 lbs + 62 lbs = 312 so can use 350/3500 but 400/4000 better. Better to have a little extra.
The 400 unit works with 100 to 400 lb range or you can go with a 500/6000 or 600/10000; the 600/10000 unit works with range of 200 to 600 lb range in tongue weight this is from WD system web site.
The heavier units weigh more though.
The car has limits you still can only pull cars limit. "Your car is larger and has bigger motor"
We use a WD system with a Class III hitch did cost a lot more though than the 100-150 in your post; $650 for the custom class III hitch and then had to purchase the WD system they range $400 to $750 + draw bar, we had a sway bar already so did not have that cost, then had it setup by a specialist. Can-Am RV :: Home
Will also need a electric brake control module, with harness. You can get an electric brake module for about $100 and the harness is made for your car; just plugs in to harness runs forward to under dash installed for total of about $200.
You may want to have a transaxle cooler kit for hills and log trips as we push a lot of air dealer said we need this. "The Corolla has a 4 cyl engine and you have a v8 so your transmission is heavier built"
Our car was ordered from dealer with tow package that included the brake module, harness, and a hitch already installed.
B&M Shift Improver kits; most are dual and include RV/Towing and Street/Strip
"Transaxle cooler, brake module and WD system" worth it; consider all the years of fun you will have.
P.S. we have automatic transmission; again the Lincoln Town Car is heavier unit and the above is based on our car. Still electric brakes are a safety item worth it.

[mcbrew]

A big car with big engine like the Town Car should have no problem towing a Scamp or Casita. Make sure the brakes are up to date... and perform a trans service before towing with a car that old. Ideally, use the best trans fluid you can find. RedLine makes really high quality ATF. This will help the trans run cooler AND have longer life than conventional ATF.

People will argue with Euro towing specs... but to put things in perspective a bit, a Honda(1.5 liter in the US) and is rated to tow 990 pounds unbraked or 2,200 pounds braked. They would have trouble with the very high tongue weight of a Scamp or Casita, though. Euro caravans tend to have around 5-6% tongue weight (nose weight).

[Borden]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

A big car with big engine like the Town Car should have no problem towing a Scamp or Casita. Make sure the brakes are up to date... and perform a trans service before towing with a car that old. Ideally, use the best trans fluid you can find. RedLine makes really high quality ATF. This will help the trans run cooler AND have longer life than conventional ATF.

People will argue with Euro towing specs... but to put things in perspective a bit, a Honda(1.5 liter in the US) and is rated to tow 990 pounds unbraked or 2,200 pounds braked. They would have trouble with the very high tongue weight of a Scamp or Casita, though. Euro caravans tend to have around 5-6% tongue weight (nose weight).

Still if it was me would want the electric brakes for safety for any load over 500 lbs.