The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support RTM Racing
Please Support Rix Racing

What do you use to pull your DSM?

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

eDeclpse92

10+ Year Contributor
351
4
Sep 6, 2008
Belleville, Illinois
I was just wanting some ideas/ suggestions with what you guys used to pull your car on a trailer. I'm kind of partial to older american trucks. I've been looking around and I found this and was pretty certain this would do the job plus it seems like a good deal. It only has 110,000 miles on it. The old body was bad so the guy took a better body off an F-150 and put it on the same year F-250 chassis. Any opinions/ advice is welcome. My car is done and ready, it is too far from being able to pass inspection and I'd rather trailer it anyways in case it breaks at the track.

1980 Ford F-250 4X4

Edit: I did test drive the truck and it did drive very good for as cheap as it is in my opinion. It had good low end torque and started on the first crank to my surprise.
 
it looks like a decent truck, I'm not sure how it would do towing a car though, my friend has a 2000 F550 7.3 turbo diesel that does a good job pulling the car, especially up here with all the mountains I'd perfer a diesel, I have an 06 silverado but it really drags the truck down to pull my 2g on our car trailer that weighs about 2000 lbs on its own.
 
That's a nice Dodge Ram! Congrats on the buy! I ultimately wanted a diesel but every one of them are so expensive. A little more than I wanted to pay for. I found an F-350 7.3L can't remember the year but early 90's I believe and it was 10,000 still. It did have lower miles on it. I saw it had a 400 CID motor in it and it has 8 lug axles so the base is 3/4 ton. I just don't want to be pulling my car and then see my trailer go another way.LOL

What motor is in your dodge ram? Any torque specs on it?

What is in the Silverado? 350?
 
I was looking specifications up on the 400M motor that ford was putting in these trucks and due to regulations, they had to seriously detune these trucks. The motor specifications I believe are as follow : 136 hp & 310 lbft. I see my torque spec would be around the same as your silverado but the horespower is way low. Would this engine not be good for towing then or would it be fine since I'm only using it every once in a while? I figured I'd maybe go to the track once a month as long as the talon doesn't break and each trip would cost roughly $100 in fuel alone.

I pulled my spyder with my Silverado 1500 that's probably the only time it'll be on a trailer though.

How did your truck handle it? Was it struggling or was it doing just fine?
 
if the way to your local racetrack is flat I.E. no mountains or long steep hills that truck would probably do ok. Up here you can't find flat ground and it makes my silverado struggle to pull that 5,000 lb load up a steep grade.
 
I use a 1999 1500 2wd suburban. Works great. I have trailered several cars and dsm's without an issue. Both of my awds (1g and 2g) my moms cutlass convertible, a fwd 1g, my sister's 2g and my other sisters 3g. All with no issues at all. Oh and a friends 4 door dodge coronet. But, I live in Kansas. Biggest thing we have is a slight hill.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.
 
Alright. I have two tracks that I am about an hour away from each. One is an 1/8th mile and that is pretty flat to get to. The other is a 1/4 mile and that one goes trough a couple of pretty good size hills. I guess I can try the 1/8th mile first and see how the truck acts (if I buy it) and then that will let me have a better choice on whether or not i want to go for the 1/4 mile track.
 
Alright. I have two tracks that I am about an hour away from each. One is an 1/8th mile and that is pretty flat to get to. The other is a 1/4 mile and that one goes trough a couple of pretty good size hills. I guess I can try the 1/8th mile first and see how the truck acts (if I buy it) and then that will let me have a better choice on whether or not i want to go for the 1/4 mile track.

Most of the cars I have towed was to pick them up. Most of which were about 2+ hours drive. My dad did tow a 1g from Kentucky this past summer with the burb and no issues. He actually enjoyed laying the back seats down to take a nap! It all depends on how you drive, trailer, and where your driving. Look at those and try to pick the best truck for your needs.
 
'01 F250 SD w/v10 engine. Would've gone diesel, but didn't want another vehicle I'd be tempted to modify. The V10 does well on it's own, so I'm not concerned that it doesn't take mods well. Pulling a 16' dovetail I can barely tell the car is back there.
 
Thanks for all the replies! It's giving me more confidence knowing what to look for when I buy a pulling truck. I definitely want to be comfortable and I'm more of a cruiser so I'd probably be going a bit slower than other people. If I could, I would go with a diesel but they are just too expensive initially and too expensive to fix if it broke down.

Do you guys know roughly how much weight is on the tongue with a car loaded?
 
it varries on the trailer and where you park the car, on our trailer the tonuge weight can be anywhere from just a couple hundred lbs up over 1000 depending on where the car is positioned over the axles.
 
Just to make sure I don't park it too far forward or too far back, the weight should be directly over the axles. Correct?

I guess I didn't act quick enough. The truck was taken off of craigslist so I presume it was sold.
 
it looks like a decent truck, I'm not sure how it would do towing a car though, my friend has a 2000 F550 7.3 turbo diesel that does a good job pulling the car, especially up here with all the mountains I'd perfer a diesel, I have an 06 silverado but it really drags the truck down to pull my 2g on our car trailer that weighs about 2000 lbs on its own.


I'll let you know i just got it and drove it for the first time, I'll be using a small uhaul flatbed trailer for my 2g I'm sure it will tow fine. My 2g weighs 2800
 
Last edited:
I use a 1991 Ford conversion van with a 351, love this thing horrible on gas while pulling but super low miles and rides like a caddy plus a fold down bed, t.v. and fridge. I also have used my 2009 chevy colorado with 3.7 5 cylinder and it does just fine also.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top