TV: 1995 Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon ?

[drstock]

I am beginning to explore fiberglass trailers, and I am also researching tow vehicle requirements. I own a beautiful 1995 Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon that has been meticulously maintained. It is my pride and joy, and I plan on keeping it a long time. It is an extremely comfortable roadtrip car with plenty of cargo space and gets 20-22 mpg on long highway drives.

For those unfamiliar with it, it has a detuned LT1 engine and is rear wheel drive. My car has the optional towing package which is described as follows: The tow package adds 2.93 gears and a limited slip differential, heavy duty cooling system including oil and transmission coolers, and a factory installed self-leveling rear suspension consisting of air shocks, a height sensor between the rear axle and body and an on-board air compressor. The tow package combines one conventional fan driven mechanically from the engine alongside one electric fan, offset to the left.

The weight limit is stated as 5000 lbs, but I don't want to abuse the Buick. Based on input from my first post in the "Introductions" sub-forum, I have to rule out one of the bigger, heavier Big Foot models or a larger Escape if I use the station wagon as a TV.

I am wondering if there are any negatives to using this car to tow, say, a Scamp 16 or similar. Is anyone on this forum using a similar GM B-body wagon for towing?

[Bob Miller]

Your Buick is certainly the last of the Big Ones from Detroit and may do quite well with almost any of the small to mid sized FGRV's. Here's a link to a Buick group and a thread on this very topic:
1995 Buick Roadmaster - Why did I buy this? - Buick Forums

You didn't mention mileage but, if high, it might be a good time to look at less thought about components such as ball joints, u-joints and other suspension parts, not to mention tire age etc. before towing.

[MC1]

We are towing with a rear wheel drive car. Works great.

You will have no problem towing any glass egg assuming the car is in good condition.

[Mike Magee]

While a Bigfoot may (or may not) be a bit much for your Buick, I certainly would not hesitate to use that platform to tow a 19' Escape. And my only reservation about the 21' Escape would be possibly the tongue weight. (Same issue with the 17' Casita Deluxe, they are quite nose heavy.) You have a very capable tug.

[Steve Outlaw]

Have your transmission fluid changed prior to towing.

[MC1]

Here is a good blurb on a Road Master towing a TT.

Trailer Life Magazine Open Roads Forum: Tow Vehicles: New Tow Vehicle

[drstock]

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like I'm good to go with a light tongue weight trailer.

The car has 95,000 miles on it. About 2000 miles ago I had the shocks replaced and other suspension items checked out and refreshed as needed. I'll have the transmission serviced this month before it goes into winter storage (It is a North Carolina car and has never been exposed to Michigan winters, and I aim to keep it that way!)

Next summer when I return to Michigan and get it out of the garage and on the road again, I know I'll need to address the 100,000 mile maintenance list. This includes changing the Optispark, wires, plugs, etc.

When friends and relatives visit, everyone seems to want to ride in the wagon. I've had seven adults pile in, and then the on board compressor cranks up and balances the load, which the passengers find thrilling.

I keep visualizing my wagon towing something like the Lil Snoozy customized with "woody" panels on the trailer. I wish I was good at photo shop!

[Big O]

I towed my Casita FD16 from MA to FL last winter for two months with my 1988 Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon with no issues at all. You should be fine in the Roadmaster with most of the fiberglass campers.

[Bob Miller]

Sounds like a fun plan.
FWIW: Be aware of the overall width of the Little Snoozy axle, it's overall width is right at (if not over) the max. allowed.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

FWIW: Be aware of the overall width of the Little Snoozy axle, it's overall width is right at (if not over) the max. allowed.

That was true of Mike Magee's Lil Snoozy, which was inexplicably built with an axle (and matching fender positions) six inches too wide (102" overall); however, generally they are the manufacturer's specified width of 96". With the wheels outboard of the body, this is unusually wide, but not a problem for most owners.

[drstock]

Thanks for the photo, Big O. I have a soft spot for the Colony Park.

I have read about the issues with Mike Magee's trailer. I will be visiting Lil Snoozy this winter. I am kidding about the "woody" graphic, for me at least. The wagon often draws enough attention as it is.

Does the installed suspension system on my car mean that a weight distribution hitch will probably not be needed?

[Bob Miller]

Weight Distribution and Leveling are two different things. The former is intended to put more of the tongue weight on the front wheels, the latter is just to keep the vehicle level.

We have auto-leveling on the GMC Denali (Suburban) we tow the heavier (T.W. = 350 lbs) Coleman with, but we also use a Weight Distributing hitch.

BTW: You may have just opened a Pandora's Box of WD hitch discussions.

[MC1]

Your Buick has axle load limits which are displayed on info stickers or stamped plates usually found on the lower door post on the drivers side.

If when loaded ready for travel you are exceeding the rear axle rating then you need to lighten the load or get a WDH installed.

There are also other reasons to use a WDH.

[Brian B-P]

An interesting choice, of personal interest to me because some of childhood memories are of family trips in an earlier generation of the GM B-body wagon. For a more current perspective, these wagons are about the same weight and interior length as a current "minivan" such as my Sienna, although the old wagons were significantly longer in both the hood and rear overhang. The Roadmaster has a much larger engine than my Sienna, and about the same power as a current Sienna.

Originally Posted by drstock

Does the installed suspension system on my car mean that a weight distribution hitch will probably not be needed?

Maybe. It means that there's no need to use a WDH to avoid rear suspension sag, but the air suspension doesn't change the fact that the suspension has a capacity limit, known as the Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR). As already explained, this should be on a placard (sticker) on the driver's door jamb or door edge... if GM was doing that in 1995.

If the load on the rear axle is too high for it to handle (even though it looks fine since the air springs pump up), the only fixes are to reduce the cargo/passengers in the back of the car, reduce the tongue weight of the trailer, or use a WDH to shift load to the other axles. The trailers being considered are unlikely to have enough tongue weight to be a problem by themselves, but I don't know if the plan to carry piles of cast iron in the back of the car

This axle limitation and the purpose of a WDH is presumably why the owner's manual contains this statement (as referenced in the Wikipedia page; I don't have a copy of the manual):

Ordered with the towing package, the 94-96 Roadmaster was advertised to tow up to 5000 pounds, although the Estate Wagon owner's manual extended that to 7,000 lbs when using a weight distributing hitch, dual sway controls, increasing the rear tire pressure to 35 psi and disabling the Electronic Level Control.

The other limit to watch for is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) - the limit for the weight of the vehicle with passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight. This wagon is very much like a light-duty full-size pickup truck in size, construction, and components (but with a short wheelbase - only 115.9"). The capability of these vehicles increases with time, and yet owners of even current pickups are finding that they can't reach 5000 pounds of trailer plus their passengers and cargo in the truck without making the truck too heavy (exceeding GVWR).

We never towed with our old Chevy wagon; I can only guess that the Roadmaster would handle a ton or more of trailer without problems.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Weight Distribution and Leveling are two different things. The former is intended to put more of the tongue weight on the front wheels...

... and less on the rear wheels, putting more on the trailer wheels as a consequence.

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

You may have just opened a Pandora's Box of WD hitch discussions.

True. Perhaps if a WDH is not needed we can resist diving into another WDH discussion unnecessarily. Even if it is needed, linking to existing discussions should be sufficient.

[rgrugg]

Doesn't anybody have questions about the 2.93 axle ratibg for towing. Seems like that would be more of an MPG ratio.

[MC1]

You are right about the gearing as it is not ideal for towing but for a one ton glass egg he won't have a problem. We would also need to review what tranny is in the vehicle (gear ratios) and tire diameter. The op should not be putting on larger diameter tires as it would make the gearing problem worse.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

Doesn't anybody have questions about the 2.93 axle [ratio] for towing. Seems like that would be more of an MPG ratio.

It seems that way at first glance, but 2.93:1 is actually shorter gearing than the stock non-towing ratio for this year and model, which is 2.56:1.

Keep in mind that by today's standards this car has a large (5.7 L) slow-turning engine and small ( P225/75SR15 ) tires.

[drstock]

Thanks for all the posts. Since we are getting into the details, here's what I found on the door panel stickers and rear gate code specifications:

GAWR 5820
GAWR front 2554
GAWR rear 3266

4-speed4L60-Eautomatic (OD)
2.93 gears and limited-slip differential

Tires are 235/75 R15

Oh, and by the way, this OP is a "she". Motown car buff born and bred.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by drstock

Since we are getting into the details, here's what I found on the door panel stickers and rear gate code specifications:

GAWR 5820
GAWR front 2554
GAWR rear 3266

Thanks for the numbers!
That's GVWR = 5820, I assume.

The rear axle capacity is substantially greater than the front, which is appropriate for this type of vehicle and fortunate given how much load any weight on the hitch will add to the rear axle.

The total of the two axle capacities equals the GVWR, so the limit will be the rear axle capacity (or that and the front axle capacity if a WDH is used); this is unlike typical recent trucks which are having capacity issues, because their GVWR is the limiting factor (it is less than the sum of the axle ratings).

Guessing at a 60/40 empty weight distribution, the axle loads before adding people, cargo, and trailer would be about 2400-2600 pounds front and 1600-1800 pounds rear. About half the driver and front passenger weight, most of the rear passenger weight, and all of the rear cargo weight would pile on the rear axle, adding anything from one hundred to several hundred pounds more on the rear axle. A 300 pound trailer tongue would probably add another 450 pounds to the rear axle (and take 150 pounds off the front axle), so I can see getting up as high as 3000 pounds on the rear axle, but even that number is within the axle rating.

Personally, I would take the car to a scale, measure the hitch overhang (distance from ball to car's rear axle), list what I was going to carry, and work out a much more accurate estimate of rear axle load.

I think that reasonably configured trailers of the roughly 16-foot size class should be manageable without problems and without needing a WDH, although with that long rear overhang the trailer has lots of leverage to mess with the car, so some sort of sway control device might be helpful. A bit larger and especially front-heavy trailer could easily push the rear axle load over, and trigger the requirement for a WDH (or a weight-reduction plan )