Can a Maverick pull a trailer with a Maverick ?

...3.55 gears or lower, reinforced top shock mounts and air shocks to maintain ride height, and a box of Depends for the driver and especially the passengers.

Sorry. I didn't mean to leave that one out.

 

I would use:
Power disc brakes.
A 9" rear with full size rear drums. Think they were 11x2.5 drums...
Power steering
C6
Largest radiator I could find.
Tranny cooler
A trailer with electric brakes on BOTH axles.
A brake controller in the Mav.
Subframe connectors.
Frame mounted hitch.
Some serious rear leaf springs, and then an add-a-leaf on top of that.

Then either an I6 of at least 250 cubes, or a 351.
A 302 could be used, and probably just fine in such a light tow vehicle.
But a 302 in a pickup is not enough, so alot of folks are leary of them in a tow vehicle.
I can't think of a good overdrive tranny for towing, and I wouldn't use a C4 myself.
So that leaves a C6. An add on Gear Vendor OD would be cool, but expensive.
An E4OD is the tranny in trucks, but it is HUGE, and electronic. So the GV OD would probably end up cheaper and easier.

I go with the 9" because I have chewed up 8.8" and Dana 60/70 rears in towing apps myself. Minimum 9". An 8" wouldn't last.

Edit:
Hawco, I don't think air shocks would be needed with proper leaf springs. You want the springs supporting weight, and the shocks absorbing bumps. Don't let either of the two parts do the other's job, even a bit.

 

Mine pulled my buds F-350 from Miami to Cleveland 347 Stroker with a 5 speed and 373 rear gears,, pulled it like it was not even there,,, So I would say a Maverick with a stock 302 in good running condition and maybe a set of air shocks and the load centered properly its not a big deal,,

 

Basically, Ratio and I have designed a Maverick F-150. Would that qualify as redneck?

 

I am with all the "pucker" and "don't go down hill" comments if you don't set the car up properly. They are dead on and funny.

However, done right, it is more than possible, and plenty safe.

 

On a trailer?

 

That's funny!
I think we went more for the F250 Maverick though.
An F150 is not a great tow vehicle from my experience!

 

My 71 F100 with 4v 351w, 3 speed, and 3.50 gears pulled my Mav on a 16' trailer (along with half my household good packed around them).
We went from Charlotte to Memphis, which is very mountainous for the east coast, and I never downshifted.

 

I used to tow a 12 foot closed hull V-Bottom wooden boat with fiberglass overlay with an old (old = bigger) evenrude 10 HP outboard and all my fishing and crabbing gear, and gas for the boat, with an 88 escort GT 1.9 liter, on a regular basis and NEVER had any problem towing, I did however get it stuck in the sand launching off a beach on time.

The boat was 12 foot long 9 foot wide, custom made wooden boat with a closed bow and the entire wooden boat was overlayed in several layers of hand layed fiberglass. Plus the weight of the boat motor and all the gear. It towed great and stopped without a problem even in a couple panic slam on the brake situations. I would say the most imprtant thing in pulling a Maverick on a trailer, with another Maverick would be proper brake setup and control on the trailer and proper load leveling hitch. Towing it and getting up to speed would be easy with the proper engine, tranny and rear gears on the Maverick doing he towing. Like was said before stopping a rig like that especially in a panick situation would be a bitch if not setup properly.

I would use a trailer with brakes on ONE (1) axle. Brakes on both axles can be a trick to setup correctly and with such a light tow vehicle you want to eliminate as much problem area as possible. Get a good Electronic brake controller for the Mav that will be doing the towing. beef up the rear springs on the Tow Mav and use a good set of shock to keep your tires in good contact with the road. cheap or poorly maintained shocks on a tow vehicle is a problem waiting to happen. Hit a pot hole and things start bouncing up and down and next thing you know your contact patch on the tow vehicle's tires are leaving the road and it's all down hill from there.

Prior experience in driving/towing vehicles and trailers would be a MAJOR plus in this situation as well.

Overview. Proper Load leveling/anti-sway bar hitch and proper load placement on the trailer. Good dual axle trailer with good electric brakes on one axle along with a top of the line brake controller box in the tow vehicle. Beefed up springs and good NEW heavy duty shocks on tow vehicle and put good tires on the Tow vehicle.
Now that keeping it under control and stopping the rig is taken car of I would go with a 302 built for low end torque or stuff a nicely buit 240, I6 in there. I would go with the 302 personally. A properly put together 4 speed top loader or a well built C4 would do the gear shifting. I always prefer a manual tranny when towing if possible. Put some 3.25:1 or maybe one step taller rear gears with a good limited slip or add the more expesive powetrax locker would work well (you don't want to be doing the one wheel peel if you happen to have to take off on a hill) even in an 8 inch rear. Keep it all cool with a 3 or 4 core radiator (and properly flushed sytem, properly mixed good grade antifreeze, and new low temp thermostat 165 degree maybe??) and tranny cooler.

Anyway that is JMHO. Take it for what it's worth and considering what you paid for it, it's worth every penny you didn't have to spend LOLOLOLOL

 

F100 was just an F150 before the Gov't started mandating use of unleaded gas. I had 2, F-100 pickups and they both were built with just as much suspension (just as any springs) and just as beefy of a chasis as the early F150's of the era(late 70's). As a matter of fact My 73 F-100 would out haul my Dad's 1978 F150. It would carry more weight in the bed. It just didn't tow as many pounds (but it was close) because Dad's F150 had a 351W (C6? auto) and my 73 F100 had the 240., I6 and a three on the tree with a weak clutch.

Those F-100's were the truck to have back in the day.... Loved 'em....

 

I still don't believe you should pull with anything that weighs that little. Maybe a small trailer but not a trailer loaded with a car on it. Trying to stop from a highway speed could be construed as negligence. Especially if there was an accident and someone started looking in to the Mavericks towing capacity. JMO

 

I had a 72 F-100 that came with a 360 and a 4 speed...it was a short bed and you didn't want to tow with

I tried pulling my empty snowmobile trailer with my CJ7 in the rain. I tell you what I was at Pucker factor +10 by the time I got it home....

 

who had th dark green comet GT at the round up with the tow hitch mounted under the valence? wonder how hard he puts that to the test?

 

When I purchased my 73, it had a full hitch set up and the electric brake controller under the dash. I took all that stuff off and chucked it.