How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

M.M. has one, he might know.

How does it tow? I figure with front tire smoking drive, it likely does pretty well down the highway. Doubt it is much good pulling up a ramp, but that is ok as I don't do that anyway.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

My 74 pulls my boat reel nise.

It squishe down in back thow

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Good to know "Juan". What size/weight is the boat, double or triple axle trailor, and what is the official tow capacity of the Eldo. Air shocks in the back would solve the sag problem. Thanks!

I used to have a gorgeous 67 in firemist blue, with an air adjustable rear end and that thing used to stop traffic it was so pretty. I was interested to see that the 67 Eldo made the "ten coolest cars of all time" list last year.

Mine had the drum brakes which were really dumb on a 5,000 pound car. But, the 429/472? engine really moved it along nicely. The 500 Cu inch engine and disc brakes in the 1976 would be even better.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

This comment was in a post I made about a week ago in another thread- it was about a Boating Magazine article on tow rigs- probably in the early '80's. The guy had a late-70's (full size, 500cid) Eldo Biarritz convertible he was pulling a 28 Cigarette with. I'm sure he was grossly exceeding his towing capacity. I wouldn't think it would safely pull more than about 3,000#

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Thanks, but you might be surprised...... 1960s and 1970s Caddies used to rule the freeways, legally towing huge airstream trailers of 10,000 to 13,000 pounds.

They were the preferred tow machines of the time. The airstream trailor websites seem to have what I am looking for. So far class three hitches for eldos are pretty common, but I'd prefer a class five hitch. The 500 CI motors had something like 350 pounds torque, and are still the preferred Florida airboat engines.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

The late Eldo's were dogs when compared to the earlier cars. The post 72's had less than 200 HP due to low compression/ smog controls. The 500 ci cars suck when compared to a 472 Caddy's.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

I think the Eldo that was pulling the 28' Cigarette belonged to Lucky Strike, here on the board. I vaugely remember seeing a post with him pulling a Cig with a Caddy and thought it was pretty cool.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Thanks Jupiter, you are right. I know a few people that can fix that HP issue. <gg> My 1967 Eldo could smoke the front tires halfway down the block. I broke three motor mounts over time on the thing, and it only had three holdling the motor for stock. Wacky huh? Thought it was a way prettier car than my 1969 GTOS, fantastic land yacht on the freeway, felt like greased lightening.

Cig35 I have since talked to someone else who used an Eldo as a tow machine, said it was great! Actually looking more appealing than driving a dually around town for just two long tows north/south each year. Have to think about reliability issues though, and finding a caddy dealer who remembers how to fix such a thing.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

When you asked "how much" I assumed you meant legally/sensibly. It might get 10K-plus moving but it certainly won't stop it well and it definitely won't handle it in an emergency avoidance situation. In addition, when you do have a mishap, your insurance company will deny your claim as you were significantly exceeding the towing capacity of the vehicle. Then you have the civil and possible criminal ramifications if someone gets hurt.

Been alot of posts lately on towing with an under-capacity vehicle and I'm astonished at how many people think it's OK.

"...legally towing huge airstream trailers of 10,000 to 13,000 pounds." It takes a dually Superduty to LEGALLY pull this much weight. The tires on the Eldo weren't rated at anything near that weight, let alone anything else bolted to them.

"They were the preferred tow machines of the time." Maybe for a scant few who were more concerned with the appearance of their towing package. I was a mechanic at the local dealership back in the mid-70's and I don't recall too many people towing with them. These were big, mushy luxo-boats made for highway cruising.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

My dad used to pull a dual axle Holiday Rambler trailer with his mid 70's Caddy. He had no trouble, but he did have a weight distribution hitch on it too.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Never towed anything with mine, but it had some power! :cool:

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

For what it's worth...
I recall dad telling me that the manufacturer of the distribution system he used was tested on an Eldo. They were actually able to pull the rear wheels off the car and not have the rear end hit the ground. The hitch tied the car to the trailer that well.

Is a front wheel drive Eldo really strong enough to pull a trailer?
I heard horror stories about how weak the front drives were on those. They were close to impossible keep in alignment.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

The Eldo used a transmission called a HydraMatic Turbo 425- actually a transaxle based on the Turbo 400. Instead of a tailshaft, the output was to a chain gear with a leaf chain transmitting output power to the differential. The Turbo 400 was a fairly strong trans but the chain was definitely the weak link- that and the half-shafts and joints.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Luck is an interesting commodity. Some folks seem to have an abundance of it, others seem to run out of it at the least opportune of times.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

GMC built Motorhomes with that drive assy. for years....
Nobody had Dually pick-ups in the 60-70s...Cads & Buicks towed the load....

Trucks all had drum brakes and Awfull steering & tires

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Thanks for all the replies, still looking for the official GM word on towing capacity of that car. As per Iggy, there are some sweet class five hitches with sway dampers etc. Couple that with electric brakes on a triple axle trailer, and I don't see serious safety problems.

My 67 Eldo had no problems with the front end alignment, even after the caddy dealership somehow smashed the 5,000 beast into something. Never found out what, took them 6 months to fix it.

There is nothing like a long road trip with a bunch of friends in a big ol caddy.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

I've towed with a GT Convt. Mustang but never a Caddy!!!!! That was back in my waverunner days....... :rolleyes: Once saw a guy towing a jet-ski with a Corvette......and one time on the way to Sturgis I saw a Vette towing a Harley!!!

I do remember Chris Ledoux's old song "Horse trailer on a Cadillac" So if it's in a Country Song I'm sure its been done!!! :drink:

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Hey Erryl, watch this... <gg>

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

I used to tow a 272 Formula on a triple axel eagle trailer with a 67 CAD convertible. Torqued the drive train so hard coming up the ramp one time I broke a motor mount. It did tow very nice. Joe Murray

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Thanks Joe, do you remember what the "GM" tow rating for the caddy was?

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Try giving Reese Hitch a call--or the Airstream Tech Support people. They probably have all that stuff in the archives.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

hmmm a boat towing a boat

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Poorsche, thanks for tip on Reese hitch.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

I had a 76 Eldo convertible. It was one hell of a land yacht. Would cruise at 100mph all day and you wouldn't even feel it. I used to drive from Charleston SC to Atlanta all the time in that cruiser--and ran it all the way between 85 and 100 the whole way.

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

pulled my 27 mag and 28 cig all over the place. mt eagle tenn. no problem.....1974 cad. eldo....500cid frt wheel drive....class 3 reese hitch..trans cooler..........mark......marc bam used 1970 eldo to pull his mag..need air shocks in rear.........m.m.........$hit 30 years ago.....went like a blink...........mark..

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

the gmc motor home had same front end no?.....2 complete axels installed 2 weeks ago $650.00

Re: How much can a 1976 Eldo Convert Tow?
 

Sorry M.M., didn't mean to get you in trouble with Lucy. <gg>

Hey Lucy, be nice to him down there! Likely see you folks around FL in December.