Towing with half ton chevy

[Moose92]

I have a 92 chevy half ton short bed 4x4 with the 350. I recently bought a 1979 Jeep J20 weighing in at 4670lbs. I have a trailer I can use that weighs about 1500lbs with electric breaks. I'm planning on towing the jeep with my chevy. Is this a bad idea even if I invest in a break controller and add a leaf in the rear?

[Noah's Ark]

http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=4596

[Noah's Ark]

http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=8072

[gotsand?]

Definitly get a brake controller. You can get by without one but you have to give yourself plenty of time to stop....and dont follow to close behind other people.
I tow a 30 ft camping trailer and when fully loaded I am running close to 10K pounds, with my 90-1/2 ton chevy w/ the 350, and dont have any trouble. It will really work the truck, but she does it.
Look into your radiator though, in the early 90's if the truck was not ordered with the towing package, it came with an extremely small radiator. I upgraded mine to a larger one, and cooling is no longer an issue. Also make sure your have/get a tranny cooler, this is a must, or you WILL fry your transmission.
One last thing, you shouldnt need an add a leaf if you center what you are towing over the trailers axles, let the trailer carry the weight, not the tongue. If you get the load in the right spot, your truck will hardly squat at all.

[Mclovin]

U can tow i fine.. i towed my waggy (preatty close to the truck you're getting) with a half ton short bed 2wd chevy no problem. But DEFINATLY buy a controller. even if its a cheap one for now..

[badazzamc]

the weight wont much of an issue but you do want to get a brake controller. that is a lot of weight to stop with just the truck brakes.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by badazzamc

the weight wont much of an issue but you do want to get a brake controller. that is a lot of weight to stop with just the truck brakes.

X2

[Haggar]

You also should really look into sway control bars/height distributing hitch. With any half ton, they are important, but on a short box, even more so. You will really need to be well balanced, or you will run into issues on the highway. On one run, a buddy was towing with a ext cab 1/2 ton 4x4 chevy(mid 90s), and had to stop and swap vehicles (his S10 for our jeep) on the traielrs, because he couldn't get his S10 balanced well on the trailer he was using, and at 60mph on the highway, he was swaying all over the place.

[Moose92]

Ok so definitely getting a brake controller.

-GotSand?
Is a trans cooler necessary for the first trip? It should last 300 miles to new york, but eventually I'd get one.

Thanks guys.

[gotsand?]

well that all depend on how heavy the load is, how fast you drive, how many pit stops you make etc. alot of stop and go will hose you to.

Does your radiator have 2 extra lines going to it? other than the upper and lower radiator hoses, if there are to steel lines connected to the passenger side of the radiator, then your rad. has one built in. even the small stock one that I had, had the built in cooler.

good luck